Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Blackpool
Online Substance Use Counselling in Blackpool
Online substance use counselling for Blackpool, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Blackpool, from the Golden Mile and the Tower to the streets around the Pleasure Beach, 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 Blackpool
Substance Use Counselling for Blackpool, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Blackpool: from the Golden Mile and the Tower to Bispham, Marton and Layton
- Known for
- The Tower, the Pleasure Beach and the illuminations
- Region
- North West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Blackpool Council's drugs support (Healthier Blackpool)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Blackpool
What is going on for people in Blackpool?
Drug use in Blackpool sits inside a town that empties. From the outside it is Blackpool Tower and the lights; from the inside it can be a mate's flat in North Shore, a bag split three ways, a Tuesday that quietly turned into a Thursday. Housing here is often short-term, so people arrive for a season and move on, and the friendships that form around using are intense and easily lost. Support services are stretched thin. Once the promenade goes quiet, what is left is a great deal of time, cheap availability, and very little to interrupt a pattern that has started to run on its own.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Blackpool
the seafront and town centreBisphamMartonLaytonSouth ShoreNorth ShoreGrange ParkSquires Gate
Wherever you are in Blackpool, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Blackpool
Official figures for Blackpool, for context rather than as a description of you.
11.4 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5 per 1,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Adults in treatment at specialist drug misuse services (2020/21).
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 21.3 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together in substance use counselling?
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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the substance use counselling page for the methods, the practical side for fees and session lengths, and qualifications, registration and ethics if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
There is no room in Blackpool, and Bradley works from Hove by secure video. For drug use that means no reception desk, no sign-in, and nobody local watching you go in anywhere. It also means the work travels. If you move from South Shore to Bispham, or out of the town altogether, the appointment holds. All it needs is a phone or laptop, a signal, and an hour where you will not be interrupted.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Blackpool
Why people in Blackpool come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused work, and it does not require you to have stopped anything. Blackpool carries a heavy load: the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 21.3 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, against an England average of 5.8 per 100,000. A figure like that can make a person feel like a statistic rather than someone with a life and a name. The counselling goes the other way. It asks what the using does for you on a wet February night, what it costs by the following afternoon, and what else could ever carry any of that weight. Nothing here involves telling you how to cut down or come off. That is medical ground, and Horizon Blackpool and Blackpool Council's drugs support are where it belongs. What is on offer is an hour to think clearly out loud, with someone who has no reason to flinch and no interest in judging you.
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 Blackpool
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Blackpool, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Blackpool Council's drugs support (Healthier Blackpool).
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.
Blackpool questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Blackpool: common questions
Can I come if I am using now and not planning to stop?
Yes. There is no requirement to be abstinent, and no expectation that you announce a target at the first session. Being able to describe what you actually do, in the amounts you actually do it, is more useful than a promise made to get through the door.
How do I get into Horizon Blackpool if I decide I need more than talking?
Blackpool Council's drugs support pages carry the current route in and the contact details for Horizon Blackpool, the town's drug, alcohol and sexual health service. It can cover more than one thing at once. Bradley will help you think through whether it is the right step, though the contact itself is yours to make, and you can do both.
What are the fees, and can I pay session by session?
Session by session is how it works. A free 15-minute consultation first, then £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, each paid as it comes. Nothing is signed, nothing rolls over, and a gap of a few weeks does not cost you anything.
My housing keeps changing. Will I have to start again with someone new each time?
No, and that is one of the better arguments for working online. The counselling is not tied to a Blackpool address or a catchment area, so a move from a seasonal let, or out of the town entirely, does not end it. The same person, the same hour, wherever you have landed.
Will you report what I tell you about drugs to anyone?
No. What you describe about your own use stays between us, and there is no routine reporting to police, employers or the council. The limits are the ordinary ones any counsellor works to, around serious risk to life, and Bradley will set them out plainly before you start.
My housing situation isn't stable. Can I still have sessions?
Yes. All you need is a private spot and a phone or internet connection. We can work by phone if video isn't practical, and if things shift we adjust the arrangements together. Unsettled housing shouldn't stop you getting support, and it doesn't have to.
How quickly can substance use counselling start online in Blackpool?
Usually within a week of a free 15-minute consultation, once we have checked we are a good fit. Everything runs online from my Hove base, so whether you are in Marton, Layton or over towards Cleveleys, there is nothing to travel to.
Is substance use counselling free on the NHS in Blackpool, or do you charge?
The Fylde coast has free NHS drug and alcohol services, which can carry a wait. I am independent, with clear fees: a free 15-minute consultation, then £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours.
Can we meet online in the evening rather than a Blackpool clinic?
Yes. I have no Blackpool premises; I work from Hove online. Evening sessions are usually available, and because seasonal work moves the hours around, we can adjust when the calendar demands it so support stays steady through the quieter winter months.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Blackpool, 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 North West: Preston, Lancaster. See all of North West.
Also available in Blackpool: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
You may also find it useful to read about calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.