Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Swindon
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Swindon
Online counselling for drinking problems for Swindon, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Swindon, from the Old Town and the centre to the streets around the railway heritage, 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 Swindon
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Swindon, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Swindon: from the Old Town and the centre to Old Walcot, Stratton and West Swindon
- Known for
- The railway heritage, the Magic Roundabout and the Old Town
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Swindon
Why people in Swindon get in touch
Swindon's alcohol figures deserve attention. Hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions were 605.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 504.1, and the alcohol-specific death rate reached 16.4 per 100,000 in 2024, well above the England average of 13.8. Those are not the numbers of a town with a visible problem. They are the numbers of a town where a great many people drink privately at the end of long days. A commute that ends late, a shift that ends later, and a house in Gorse Hill or Park North where the evening only really begins once something is open.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Swindon
Old TownOld WalcotStrattonWest SwindonGorse HillRodbourneFreshbrookToothillPark NorthWroughton
Wherever you are in Swindon, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Swindon
Official figures for Swindon, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 592.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below 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 16.4 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 does counselling for drinking problems involve?
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 counselling for drinking problems page explains it properly, how I work answers the practical questions, and professional standards and registration shows how the practice is held to account.
What do I need for 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.
Because Bradley works from Hove, every Swindon appointment happens by secure video. For drinking that solves a real problem: an evening session does not require driving, and a morning one does not require explaining. There is no waiting area and nothing to be seen entering. Sessions sit at whichever end of the day is hardest, and the weekly repetition gives the drinking something to answer to.
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 Swindon
Why people in Swindon come for counselling for drinking problems
Nothing about this requires abstinence, and nothing requires a disaster first. You can come while you are still drinking every night, still going to work, and still unsure whether any of it counts. Most people who start are in precisely that position. We look at what the alcohol is doing rather than how much of it there is: the decompression after a commute, the boredom of a town you moved to for a job, the anxiety it settles for an hour at a time. Some people go on to stop and others change the pattern, and both count as progress. If your drinking is heavy and daily, please speak to a doctor before you alter it, because alcohol withdrawal can be medically serious. Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services is the free route and Change Grow Live provides the treatment.
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 Swindon
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Swindon, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Swindon Borough 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.
Swindon questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Swindon: common questions
I drink every evening but never in the day. Is that a problem?
It might be, and the timing is not the test. What matters is whether the evening drink is optional, what happens on a night you skip it, and whether the amount has crept upwards without any decision ever being made about it.
What are sessions priced at?
Sixty minutes costs £80, 90 minutes costs £100 and two hours costs £120, with a free 15-minute conversation before you commit to anything. Nothing is paid upfront. Most people take the hour weekly, and stopping requires nothing more than saying so.
What can Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services do for me?
It is the free local route, delivered by Change Grow Live, covering medically supervised withdrawal, prescribing and structured programmes. If you are physically dependent, start there or with your GP. Counselling is the weekly conversation running alongside, not a substitute for it.
Can this fit around a long commute?
Yes, and that is one reason working online suits this town. An appointment takes an hour rather than an hour plus travel at either end. Early sessions before you leave and later ones after you get back are both perfectly workable.
I moved here for work and barely know anyone. Is that connected?
Very often it is. Drinking fills the space where a social life would otherwise be, and a town people arrive in for jobs contains a lot of that space. Working on the isolation usually does more than attacking the drinking directly ever will.
After a long commute I drink to unwind. When does that become a problem?
If the evening drink has become something you rely on, plan around, or struggle to skip, it is worth exploring. Counselling offers a space to look honestly, with no extra travel. We meet by secure video; the room is in Hove.
How quickly can I get help for a drinking problem in Swindon?
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 Swindon, from Toothill to Park North, without joining a local waiting list.
What will drinking problem counselling cost, and is NHS help available in Swindon?
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 Swindon, through your GP, 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 Swindon?
Yes. Online sessions are discreet, and you speak from home rather than a clinic anywhere in Swindon, including Wroughton or Old Town. 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 Swindon, 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: Bristol, Bath, Reading. See all of South West.
Close to this in Swindon, there is addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.