Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Sheffield
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Sheffield
Online counselling for drinking problems for Sheffield, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Sheffield, from the centre and Kelham Island to the streets around the Peak District edge, 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 Sheffield
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Sheffield, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Sheffield: from the centre and Kelham Island to Hillsborough, Crookes, Sharrow and Gleadless
- Known for
- The Peak District edge, the steel heritage and the two universities
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Sheffield City Council's drugs and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Sheffield
Why people in Sheffield get in touch
Sheffield drinks steadily rather than spectacularly, and that makes the drift harder to spot. Hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions ran at 630.1 per 100,000 in 2023/24 against an England average of 504.1, and the alcohol-specific death rate reached 17.8 per 100,000 in 2024 compared with 13.8 nationally. What that looks like day to day is unremarkable. Two glasses in Nether Edge that became most of a bottle. Cans after a long shift in Hillsborough that used to be one. A student in Crookes who has not had a fully sober week since October and assumes that is simply what university is.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Sheffield
Kelham IslandHillsboroughCrookesSharrowGleadlessEcclesallNether EdgeBroomhillWalkleyHeeleyWoodseats
Wherever you are in Sheffield, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Sheffield
Official figures for Sheffield, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 635 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 17.8 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 would we do together 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.
The method travels; only the geography changes. the main counselling for drinking problems page explains it properly, the practical side answers the practical questions, and how to check my registration shows how the practice is held to account.
What happens in an online session?
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.
All of this happens online by secure video, from wherever you are. Bradley works from Hove and there is no room anywhere in Sheffield to attend, which removes both the travel and the exposure. An evening session starts when you get home rather than after a bus across town, and a morning one can happen before anyone else is up. Woodseats, Sharrow, Walkley, it makes no difference at all. Begin with the free 15-minute call.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does counselling for drinking problems help with?
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 Sheffield
Why people in Sheffield come for counselling for drinking problems
Two assumptions keep people drinking far longer than they intended. One is that you must be prepared to give up completely before anybody will help. The other is that something has to go badly wrong first, ideally something visible. Neither is accurate, and both are costly. You can come while the job is fine and nobody has raised it. What we look at is the function: switching a working brain off, thawing out after a shift, softening the edge of an evening on your own, or dealing with something you have never described to anybody. Once the function is clear, cutting down stops being a matter of gritted teeth. Sheffield City Council's drugs and alcohol support and Likewise Sheffield both offer free alcohol help in the city. Stopping suddenly after heavy daily drinking carries medical risk, so speak to your GP first.
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 Sheffield
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Sheffield, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Sheffield City Council's drugs and alcohol support.
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.
Sheffield questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Sheffield: common questions
Can I aim to cut down rather than stop?
Yes. Reduction is a legitimate goal and for many people it is where the work begins. Some later decide that stopping is simpler and choose it freely, which holds far better than an abstinence agreed under pressure in the first fifteen minutes of a first session.
Everyone I know here drinks like this - what would make mine a problem?
The question is not quantity but grip. Can you leave it after one, does the day arrange itself around when you can start, do you drink to level out rather than to enjoy something. Compare yourself now with yourself several years ago instead of with your friends.
Where do I get free alcohol help in Sheffield?
Likewise Sheffield delivers free adult drug and alcohol treatment for the city and takes self-referrals, and Sheffield City Council's drugs and alcohol support describes how to make contact. Sheffield Mind can help where anxiety or low mood is tangled into the drinking.
I drink alone at home most evenings - is that different from going out?
It is easier to miss, mainly. Drinking by yourself has no social limit and no witness, so the volume rises without any obvious moment of change. It is also usually doing a specific job for the evening, and that job is what the sessions set out to understand.
Do you need me to keep a drink diary?
Only if you find it useful. Some people like the clarity of writing it down and others find it becomes another thing to fail at. What matters far more than recording units is noticing what happens just before you decide to open something.
What if I'm not sure my drinking is bad enough to need help?
That uncertainty is a common and reasonable place to start. You don't need a label or a rock-bottom moment. If drinking is on your mind enough to wonder about it, that's reason enough to talk it through and decide what, if anything, you'd like to change.
Can I start drinking problem counselling in Sheffield soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Sheffield online rather than from a room in the city. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then set a regular weekly slot for drinking support, usually starting within a week or two once you feel ready.
Do you offer in-person or evening drinking problem counselling in Sheffield?
For Sheffield it is online rather than in person, since my room is in Hove on the south coast. Many find secure video suits drinking work well, joining from home in Kelham Island or Crookes without a commute. I hold some daytime and early-evening slots, so we can usually find a regular time that fits.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Sheffield, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Rotherham, Barnsley, Leeds. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Also available in Sheffield: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about why practice makes permanent and questioning “once an addict”.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.