Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Bournemouth
Online Substance Use Counselling in Bournemouth
Online substance use counselling for Bournemouth, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bournemouth, from the seafront and the centre to the streets around the pier, 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 Bournemouth
Substance Use Counselling for Bournemouth, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bournemouth: from the seafront and the centre to Boscombe, Winton and Charminster
- Known for
- The pier, the beaches and the pines
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Bournemouth
What is going on for people in Bournemouth?
The drug picture here is not the one the beach photographs suggest. Deaths from drug misuse in the town ran at 11.5 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, well above the England average of 5.8, and that number sits underneath a place known for its summers. Use spreads across very different lives: bar and hotel staff getting through back-to-back shifts, students in Winton and Charminster, professionals whose weekends have quietly acquired a chemical routine. Transience makes it harder to see. People arrive, use, leave, and nobody joins the dots. Longer-term residents in Springbourne and Pokesdown live with the other version, the one that stays put and gets heavier.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bournemouth
BoscombeWintonCharminsterWestbourneSouthbourneSpringbourneKinsonThroopPokesdown
Wherever you are in Bournemouth, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bournemouth
Official figures for Bournemouth, for context rather than as a description of you.
5.3 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 11.5 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 everything on substance use counselling for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost for fees and session lengths, and professional standards and registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
Everything for Bournemouth happens by secure video, since Bradley works from Hove. For drug work in particular, this removes the moment people dread: being seen entering somewhere that announces why you are there. You choose the setting and you choose who knows. Sessions also survive a move, which counts in a town people pass through. If you go elsewhere for a season of work, the weekly hour travels with you.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Bournemouth help with?
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 Bournemouth
Why people in Bournemouth come for substance use counselling
You will not be asked to stop before you are ready, and you will not be asked to defend still using. The work starts from where you actually are. Some people want to cut down, some want to understand a habit that has outlived whatever started it, and some simply want one honest hour a week with someone who is not going to flinch. Cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, stimulants and prescribed medication all come up here, and so does the mood that follows them. The local scale is real: 5.3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5. Anything clinical belongs with BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services, which leads to We Are With You for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area. Nothing said here is reported to them, or to anyone.
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 Bournemouth
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bournemouth, free local drug and alcohol support is available through BCP 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.
Bournemouth questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Bournemouth: common questions
Can I get help without stopping first?
Yes. Abstinence is not a condition of coming and it is not assumed to be the aim. Some people change their use, some stop, and some want to understand it before deciding either way. You will not be pushed towards a decision you have not made yourself.
How much is it, and is there anything free first?
The 15-minute consultation at the start carries no fee. After that, sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours. If money is the obstacle, BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services is free at the point of use and worth ringing.
What is the difference between this and We Are With You?
We Are With You is the commissioned drug and alcohol service for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, reached through BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services. It provides structured treatment, harm reduction and prescribing. This is the weekly talking beside it, private and paid for directly.
Will my employer or my university ever hear about this?
No. There is no entry on any NHS system, nothing reaches your GP, and nothing reaches Bournemouth University or a workplace. Confidentiality follows the BACP Ethical Framework, with the narrow exception that applies everywhere, where somebody is at serious risk of harm.
I use to get through double shifts in hospitality. Is that a problem?
It may be a solution that has started charging interest. Long seasons and late finishes make stimulants attractive, and hospitality supplies both. The question worth sitting with is what happens on the days you try to work without. That is usually where the conversation begins.
I'm a student or on a language course in Bournemouth. Can we meet online about my substance use?
Yes. Online sessions fit around study and can be taken privately from your accommodation without travelling into the centre. We meet by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Bournemouth is served online rather than in person.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Bournemouth this week?
Often yes. After a short message we set up a free 15-minute call, then arrange your first session, frequently within the same week. Because we meet online, you can talk from home anywhere in Bournemouth, whether that is Charminster, Westbourne or Southbourne, with no waiting list to join.
How much does private substance use counselling cost compared with NHS options in Bournemouth?
I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, and the initial 15-minute consultation is free. NHS drug services and GP referrals in Bournemouth are free of charge but often have waits, while private sessions can start quickly and stay flexible around you.
Do you offer evening online sessions for substance use counselling in Bournemouth?
I hold some appointments later in the day, which helps if you work shifts or long hours around Bournemouth. Sessions are online, so you join from wherever feels private, from Springbourne to Kinson. In-person work is only at my Hove room, for those who can reach the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Bournemouth, 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: Poole, Southampton. See all of South West.
If substance use counselling is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling may fit better in Bournemouth.
There is more on this in my writing: once an addict, always an addict? and three ways to handle a craving.
For anyone near the coast, the same substance use counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.