Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Aberdeen
Online Substance Use Counselling in Aberdeen
Online substance use counselling for Aberdeen, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour to the streets around the granite architecture, 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 Aberdeen
Substance Use Counselling for Aberdeen, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Aberdeen: from the granite centre and the harbour to Old Aberdeen, Torry and Bridge of Don
- Known for
- The granite architecture, the harbour and the North Sea
- Region
- Scotland (Scotland)
- Local NHS / support route
- Local council drug & alcohol service (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Aberdeen
Why people in Aberdeen reach out
Aberdeen, the granite city on the north-east coast, has lived through the booms and busts of the oil and energy industry, and that volatility brings real insecurity. Long rotas offshore, the strain on families left behind and the remoteness of the far north-east all shape what people here carry.
Aberdeen is built from granite that glitters in the sun and turns steel-grey in the rain, a city set between two rivers on the cold edge of the North Sea. For decades its fortunes have risen and fallen with the oil and gas industry, and that rhythm shapes everything: the workers flying out to the rigs on long rotas, the families counting the weeks until they are home, and the anxiety that ripples through the city whenever the energy price turns. Beyond the harbour and the corporate offices sit the old cobbled streets of Footdee, the student quarter of Old Aberdeen, and the tight-knit community of Torry across the water. It can be a hard place to feel settled when so much depends on forces far offshore.
Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.
Aberdeen is the centre of the UK's North Sea oil and gas industry and home to the University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the main hospital for NHS Grampian.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Aberdeen
Old AberdeenTorryBridge of DonRosemountFerryhillMannofieldFootdeeDyceCultsKincorth
Wherever you are in Aberdeen, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Aberdeen
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Aberdeen are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in Aberdeen City averaged 23.3 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, slightly above the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
The substance use counselling itself
Substance use counselling here is non-judgemental and one-to-one, working with the pain, fear or loneliness the substance has been managing, at a pace that protects your sense of safety.
The approach is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main substance use counselling page and on how I work.
How online sessions work
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
Aberdeen sits a long way north, and specialist counselling can be harder to reach here than in the central belt, with NHS Grampian talking therapies often carrying a wait. Offshore rotas make fixed weekly appointments difficult too. Secure video changes that: sessions can reach a flat in the city, a room at home, or wherever you have signal and privacy. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work with clients across Scotland and the UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Aberdeen can help
The false self
Letting go of the protective self that no longer serves you.
Specialised attention
One-to-one sessions shaped entirely around you.
Self-discovery
Rediscovering the authentic self beneath the coping.
Anxiety and low mood
Treating what the substance has been masking.
Sustainable change
Growing into recovery rather than forcing it.
Substance Use Counselling in Aberdeen
Why people in Aberdeen come for substance use counselling
On long offshore stretches and in the intense weeks back onshore, substances can become a way to switch on, switch off, or bridge the gap between two very different lives. Cocaine, cannabis, stimulants or prescription pills can slip into that pattern before you have clocked how much you are relying on them. This work carries no judgement and no labels. By secure video, arranged around your rota, we look honestly at what the substance does for you across those cycles of home and away, and how to change your relationship with it in a way that fits the life you actually lead.
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 Aberdeen
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Aberdeen, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.
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 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Aberdeen questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Aberdeen: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Aberdeen?
Yes. I work with people right across Aberdeen, from the granite centre and the harbour outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Can I get support while I'm still using?
Yes. This is non-judgemental, one-to-one work that meets you where you are, and it can run alongside any medical or detox support you have.
How is this different from a group or 12-step programme?
It is individual and shaped entirely around you. Some people use it instead of groups, others alongside them.
Will you tell my GP or employer?
No. What you share is confidential within the BACP framework; nothing goes to anyone else without your consent.
Does the drug scene around the industry mean this is common?
You are certainly not the only one, and there is no shame in it. Many people in the energy world lean on something to manage the demands of the work. We look at your own situation without judgement, at a pace that fits your rota and your life.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Aberdeen quickly?
Yes. After a free 15-minute consultation we can usually book your first video session within days. There is no referral to wait on and no long drive across the north east, so wherever you are in Aberdeen you can make an early start from home.
How much does substance use counselling cost compared with Aberdeen services?
My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, following a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Grampian support is free but can mean a wait, and specialist help is scarcer this far north; private sessions carry a fee and start promptly.
How are online substance use sessions delivered for Aberdeen clients?
Through secure, confidential video from wherever you have signal and privacy, a room at home in Rosemount, or a quiet space between offshore weeks. Evening slots are available, and there is no clinic to travel to, which spares the long distances many here would otherwise face.
Can counselling work around an offshore rota?
Yes. Because sessions are held by secure video, we can arrange times that fit your onshore weeks, and pick up again when you're back. There's no clinic to get to, so the pattern of your work matters far less than having a private hour and a connection.
Do you see people in Aberdeen face to face?
No. I work from Hove on the English south coast and see clients across Scotland entirely online. For anyone in Aberdeen that means secure video sessions, which spares the long distances many here would otherwise travel for specialist support.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Aberdeen, 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 Scotland: Dundee, Perth. See all of Scotland.
All counselling & therapy in Aberdeen: Addiction · Drinking Problems · Anxiety · Depression · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.