Daily or binge drinking
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Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Sunderland
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Sunderland
Online counselling for drinking problems for Sunderland, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Sunderland, from the city centre and the river to the streets around the river Wear, 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 Sunderland
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Sunderland, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Sunderland: from the city centre and the river to Roker, Hendon and Washington
- Known for
- The river Wear, Roker beach and the Stadium of Light
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Sunderland
Why do people in Sunderland reach out?
Alcohol harm in Sunderland is among the highest anywhere in the country. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions stood at 1167.1 per 100,000 in 2023/24 against an England average of 611.7, and the alcohol-specific death rate was 25.4 per 100,000 in 2024 compared with 13.8 nationally. Very little of that is dramatic at the time. It is a few cans to come down after a shift at Nissan, a bottle opened at Seaburn on a wet Tuesday because the evening is long, a habit that started as a reward and turned into the only reliable full stop at the end of a day.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Sunderland
RokerSeaburnHendonWashingtonSouthwickFulwellMillfieldSilksworthRyhopeHoughton-le-Spring
Wherever you are in Sunderland, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Sunderland
Official figures for Sunderland, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 1167.1 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 25.4 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 is counselling for drinking problems, in practice?
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 everything on counselling for drinking problems, with how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and qualifications, registration and ethics for registration and ethics.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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.
Sessions are held online by secure video, so nobody crosses the city on an evening when leaving the house already feels like too much. There is no room here; Bradley works from Hove. That also means no car outside a recognisable building and no familiar face in a corridor. People join from Houghton-le-Spring, Washington, Southwick and everywhere between, using headphones and a shut door. That first 15-minute conversation is free of any charge.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling for drinking problems in Sunderland 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 Sunderland
Why people in Sunderland come for counselling for drinking problems
You do not have to be in crisis to be entitled to talk about your drinking, and you do not have to want to stop for good. Those two beliefs keep an enormous number of people quiet while the amount climbs, and both fall apart on examination. Coming while work is intact and nobody has commented is not premature, it is sensible. What we look at is the job the alcohol has taken on: shutting down a body still running on shift adrenaline, blunting money worry, filling the hole left where a workplace or a routine used to be, quieting grief that has never been spoken about. When some of that job is met another way, the drink stops being a fight. Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support and Wear Recovery offer free local help. Heavy daily drinking is not safe to stop abruptly, so speak to your GP.
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 Sunderland
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Sunderland, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse 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.
Sunderland questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Sunderland: common questions
Do I have to hit a crisis before this is worth doing?
No, and the wait for one is what makes the eventual work so much longer. Everything you still have intact is something the counselling can build on. Coming early is a sign that you are paying attention, not a sign of making a fuss over nothing.
Drinking is just what people do round here - how do I judge my own?
By what it is for rather than how it compares. Whether one leads automatically to four, whether the day quietly organises itself around when you can start, whether you drink to feel normal rather than to feel better. Your own history is the only fair benchmark.
Which free alcohol service covers Sunderland?
Wear Recovery is the city's integrated drug and alcohol service, delivered by Change Grow Live, and it takes self-referrals for alcohol. Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support sets out the route, and Sunderland Mind helps where mood is involved.
I drink after night shifts and sleep all morning - can sessions work round that?
They can. Afternoon and evening appointments are available, and because there is no journey the session happens wherever you have woken up. Sleep wrecked by shift work is frequently part of what keeps the drinking in place, so it becomes part of the work itself.
Can I do this without telling my family yet?
You can. Plenty of people want to understand what is happening before they open it up at home, and whether to tell anyone is often something we work on together. Headphones and a slot chosen while the house is out handle the practical side of it.
Do I have to stop drinking completely to start?
No. Counselling isn't about handing you rules. Some people aim for abstinence, others to cut back or make sense of their drinking. We start from where you are and what you want, and work out together what change would genuinely help you.
Can I start drinking problem counselling in Sunderland soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Sunderland 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 Sunderland?
For Sunderland 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 Roker or Seaburn 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 Sunderland, 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: Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Durham. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Related work in Sunderland: 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”.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same counselling for drinking problems is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.