Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Poole
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Poole
Online counselling for drinking problems for Poole, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Poole, from the quay and the old town to the streets around the harbour, with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you
In and around Poole
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Poole, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Poole: from the quay and the old town to Branksome, Parkstone and Canford Heath
- Known for
- The harbour, Sandbanks and the quay
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Poole
Why people in Poole get in touch
There is always a reason to drink around a harbour. A boat coming in, a summer evening that goes on, a job finished, a season survived. Poole makes it look convivial, and for a while it is. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 621 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 611.7, and the alcohol-specific death rate reached 15.6 per 100,000 in 2024, well above the England average of 13.8. Those figures come from the drinking nobody sees: in Parkstone kitchens, in Canford Heath living rooms, and in the winter months when the boats are covered and the evenings run long and identical.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Poole
BranksomeParkstoneCanford HeathSandbanksHamworthyBroadstoneOakdaleCreekmoorLilliput
Wherever you are in Poole, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Poole
Official figures for Poole, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 621 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 611.7 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions (2023/24).
the alcohol-specific death rate was 15.6 per 100,000 in 2024, above the England average of 13.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Alcohol-specific mortality (2024).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens in counselling for drinking problems?
Counselling for drinking problems here looks beneath the habit at what drives it, you do not need to have hit rock bottom to begin, and signposts medical, detox and peer support where useful.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the main counselling for drinking problems page, with how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and qualifications, registration and ethics for registration and ethics.
How do online sessions actually work?
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link, held to the same BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call, you join from any private space on a phone, tablet or laptop.
This town is served entirely online by secure video, as Bradley works from Hove. That matters for alcohol in a specific way: nobody has to drive anywhere, and nobody has to be sober in a public waiting area. Sessions can be booked for the morning, when the previous night is still fresh, or for the evening, when the pull is strongest. Repetition does the most good.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
The cause, not the habit
Looking beneath the drinking to what drives it.
Anxiety and low mood
Working with what the alcohol has been managing.
Privacy at home
Sensitive support without anyone needing to know.
Signposting
Links to medical, detox and peer support where useful.
Without the anaesthetic
Reconnecting with the person beneath the drinking.
Counselling for Drinking Problems in Poole
Why people in Poole come for counselling for drinking problems
Abstinence is not a condition of starting, and a rock bottom is not a qualification. Waiting for either has cost people years they did not need to lose. Most of those who come here are still doing everything they are supposed to, which is exactly why nobody has raised it with them. What we look at is the job the drinking is doing: the unwinding, the boredom, the anxiety it quietens for an hour before it returns with interest. Some people decide to stop and some to change how they drink, and both are real outcomes. If drinking is heavy and daily, please talk to a doctor before you change it, because withdrawal from alcohol can be dangerous without supervision. BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services is the free route to that, delivered locally by We Are With You.
A free, unhurried first step
Not sure if it is right for you? A free fifteen-minute call is a no-obligation way to talk it through.
Book a free 15-minute callDrug, alcohol & addiction support in Poole
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Poole, free local drug and alcohol support is available through BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services.
For confidential information and advice, FRANK (on 0300 123 6600) and Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 are free, and Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery run peer-support meetings you can find online.
Other local and national support verified for this area includes:
If you need urgent help now
This is not a crisis service. If anyone is in immediate danger call 999. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. The Samaritans are free, day or night, on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
If you drink heavily or use drugs daily, do not stop suddenly on your own. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Speak to your GP or a local drug and alcohol service first, and they can arrange a safe, medically supported withdrawal. Counselling works alongside that, not instead of it.
Poole questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Poole: common questions
Nothing dramatic has happened. Should I still book?
Yes. Most of the useful work happens well before anything dramatic, and it is easier then. If you find yourself thinking about drinking during the day, or making promises to yourself about it, that already deserves an hour of honest attention.
What does it cost, and how long will I need?
An hour is £80, with £100 and £120 for the longer sessions, and a free 15-minute call first. Length genuinely varies. Some people need a couple of months to change something specific; others stay longer while a bigger picture gets sorted out.
What if I need medical support to stop drinking?
That belongs with your GP and with BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services, which leads to We Are With You for supervised withdrawal and prescribing, free of charge. Counselling cannot provide it. The two are designed to work together rather than as alternatives.
Can we meet at a time that avoids the family?
Usually, yes. Early mornings and later evenings are both available, and because nothing involves leaving the house, a session can fill a gap that would be too short for anything else. Headphones make it workable even in a busy household.
All my drinking happens at home in the evenings. Is that a problem?
It can be, and it is the hardest kind to judge, because there is no closing time and nobody else setting the pace. Home drinking grows slowly and quietly. What matters is not where it happens but whether you can leave it alone when you meant to.
I feel I should be coping in Poole, so admitting a drinking problem is hard. Can counselling help?
Yes. A confidential space with no need to keep up appearances is exactly where this can be looked at honestly. We meet online by secure video from home. The counselling room is in Hove, on the Sussex coast, so Poole is served online.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Poole?
Usually within days. We start with a free 15-minute consultation to see whether we are a good fit, then book your first full session. It is all online, so you can begin from anywhere in Poole, from Creekmoor to Lilliput, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Poole?
My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS alcohol support in Poole, through your GP or Poole Hospital, is free but can mean a wait, whereas private online sessions with me are paced around you.
Is online drinking problem counselling private, and can we meet in the evening in Poole?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Poole, including Branksome or Parkstone. I offer some evening slots for after work. My only in-person room is in Hove, so face-to-face suits those able to travel to the Sussex coast.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Poole, whenever you are ready
A free fifteen-minute call is the simplest place to start, no obligation, just a chance to see if we are the right fit.
Also available online across South West: Bournemouth. See all of South West.
If counselling for drinking problems is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling may fit better in Poole.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: why practice makes permanent and questioning “once an addict”.
Within reach of Sussex? counselling for drinking problems is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.