Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · York
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in York
Online counselling for drinking problems for York, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across York, from within the walls and the centre to the streets around the Minster, 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 York
Counselling for Drinking Problems for York, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of York: from within the walls and the centre to Clifton, Acomb and Heworth
- Known for
- The Minster, the city walls and the Shambles
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- City of York Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in York
Why people in York get in touch
York drinks in public and worries in private. Hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 808.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, well above the England average of 611.7, even though the alcohol-specific death rate of 11.4 per 100,000 in 2024 sat below the national 13.8. In a city built around hospitality, alcohol is never far away and is rarely questioned. A drink after a shift becomes three. A bottle shared over supper in Fulford becomes a bottle each. Students in Heslington assume that a permanently blurred term is simply how university is supposed to feel, and nobody around them says otherwise.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around York
CliftonAcombHeworthBishopthorpeFulfordFishergateHolgateDringhousesHuntingtonHeslington
Wherever you are in York, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in York
Official figures for York, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 808.9 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 11.4 per 100,000 in 2024, below 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the counselling for drinking problems page, with the practical side for the practical questions and how to check my registration 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 online by secure video, so there is nothing to attend and nothing to explain to anyone. Bradley is in Hove and holds no room in this city. That is worth a good deal where the streets are small and familiar and where you might otherwise walk past somebody you serve every week. People join from bedrooms, kitchens and parked cars in Acomb, Clifton or anywhere else. The first 15-minute call is free of charge.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can counselling for drinking problems in York 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 York
Why people in York come for counselling for drinking problems
You are allowed to look at your drinking before it has cost you anything visible. The belief that help belongs to people who have lost a job or a licence keeps a very large number of drinkers waiting for permission that never arrives. Equally, you are not required to promise abstinence at the door. Some people cut down, some change the settings in which they drink, and some eventually stop and are glad of it. What the sessions look at is the job the alcohol does for you: coming down after a late finish, taking the edge off the cost of living here, or making a quiet evening bearable in a city that appears to be enjoying itself around you. City of York Council's alcohol and drugs support and York Drug and Alcohol Service both provide free help. If you drink heavily each day, speak with your GP before cutting back.
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 York
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In York, free local drug and alcohol support is available through City of York Council's alcohol and drugs 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.
York questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in York: common questions
I drink after every late shift - is that a problem or just the job?
It can be both, and that is what makes it easy to leave unexamined. Coming down after service is a real need, and alcohol meets it quickly. The question is whether anything else is still able to do that job, and what happens on the nights you try to skip it.
Do I have to stop completely to start counselling?
No. Abstinence is a possible outcome, never an admission requirement. A good deal of useful work happens with people who are still drinking and simply want to understand why the second drink leads so reliably to the fifth. You set the direction as we go.
What free alcohol help is there in York?
York Drug and Alcohol Service, delivered by Change Grow Live, is the city's free confidential service and accepts self-referrals for alcohol. City of York Council's alcohol and drugs support explains how to reach it, and York Mind can help where mood is involved too.
Everyone around me is on holiday and drinking - does that make it harder?
It genuinely does. Living somewhere permanently festive means the cues never let up, and turning a drink down looks eccentric rather than sensible. Part of the work is building something sturdy enough to survive a Saturday afternoon in a city centre full of people celebrating.
Can sessions be discreet if I share a flat?
Yes. Headphones keep the conversation one-sided to anyone else in the flat, and a bedroom door is normally enough for an hour. Nothing is posted to the address and nothing appears on your GP record unless you decide to raise it there yourself.
Do I have to stop drinking completely to start counselling?
No. Counselling isn't about being handed rules. Some people aim for abstinence, others to cut back or understand their drinking better. We start from where you are and what you want, and figure out together what change would actually help you.
Can I start drinking problem counselling in York soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across York 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 York?
For York 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 Clifton or Acomb 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 York, 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: Leeds, Hull, Harrogate. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Related work in York: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.
Within reach of Sussex? counselling for drinking problems is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.