Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Bristol
Online Substance Use Counselling in Bristol
Online substance use counselling for Bristol, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Bristol, from the harbourside and the centre to the streets around the Suspension Bridge, 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 Bristol
Substance Use Counselling for Bristol, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Bristol: from the harbourside and the centre to Clifton, Bedminster, Stokes Croft and Easton
- Known for
- The Suspension Bridge, the harbourside and the Downs
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Bristol
What brings people in Bristol to counselling?
Bristol has an old and open relationship with drugs, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Use runs from students in Redland and Bishopston to people working long hours in the harbourside creative and media sector, from weekend cocaine in Southville to something far heavier and older in Easton and St Pauls. The rates bear it out. Deaths from drug misuse stood at 10.3 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, close to twice the England average of 5.8. What a number cannot show is how ordinary it feels from the inside: something that began as part of the city's culture and gradually stopped asking your permission.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Bristol
CliftonBedminsterStokes CroftEastonBishopstonSouthvilleRedlandMontpelierFishpondsKnowleHorfieldSt Pauls
Wherever you are in Bristol, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Bristol
Official figures for Bristol, for context rather than as a description of you.
7.8 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 10.3 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 does substance use counselling involve?
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 full substance use counselling page for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost 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.
Sessions run by secure video, since Bradley works from Hove. None of it requires you to cross the city, sit in a waiting area, or give your name at a desk. It also means the work does not stop if your housing does, which with rents like these is not a small consideration. People take the hour wherever they can close a door. Headphones and a quiet 60 minutes are the only real requirements.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does substance use counselling 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 Bristol
Why people in Bristol come for substance use counselling
You do not have to be in recovery to come here, or planning to be. This is drug-specific work that starts by taking your use seriously rather than treating it as a moral failure. Cocaine that has crept from monthly to weekly, cannabis that has become the only way to switch off, ketamine, stimulants, opioids, prescribed medication used in ways it was never meant for: all of that can be discussed plainly. More people are in treatment here than in most places, with 7.8 adults per 1,000 at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 against the England average of 4.5. If you want that route, Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol support connects you with Bristol Drugs Project for harm reduction and prescribing. Counselling asks a different question altogether: what the using is for.
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 Bristol
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Bristol, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol 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.
Bristol questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Bristol: common questions
Do I have to want to stop?
No. Wanting to understand is enough to begin with. Some people leave with a plan to stop, others with a much smaller change and a clearer head. Deciding in advance what the outcome has to be tends to make the conversation less useful rather than more.
What are the fees, and do I have to book a course?
There is no course to buy. Sessions are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, and the first 15-minute call is free. You book week by week and stop when you want to, with no notice period or cancellation charge.
How does Bristol Drugs Project fit with this?
Bristol Drugs Project is the main local drug service, reached through Bristol City Council's drug and alcohol support. It offers structured treatment, harm reduction and clinical care at no cost. This is private weekly counselling. The two are complementary, and plenty of people use both.
Can I do a session from a house share?
Yes, and a lot of people in this city have to. Headphones matter more than the surroundings. Taking the hour in a car, a garden or an empty meeting space is all normal. If timing is the obstacle, early morning and evening slots are usually available.
I use most weekends and my job is fine. Is that still worth bringing?
It is. Plenty of people who come here are functioning perfectly well on paper. The interesting part is usually what happens in the gaps: the Tuesday mood, money that never quite adds up, plans quietly arranged around the next time it happens.
I'm a student in Bristol worried about my drug use. Is online counselling suitable?
It often is. Many students find secure video sessions easier to fit around lectures and can take them privately from halls or a shared house. We meet online wherever you are in the city; the counselling room itself is in Hove.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Bristol 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 Bristol, whether that is Stokes Croft, Easton or Bishopston, with no waiting list to join.
How much does private substance use counselling cost compared with NHS options in Bristol?
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 Bristol 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 Bristol?
I hold some appointments later in the day, which helps if you work shifts or long hours around Bristol. Sessions are online, so you join from wherever feels private, from Southville to Redland. In-person work is only at my Hove room, for those who can reach the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Bristol, 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: Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Gloucester. See all of South West.
Close to this in Bristol, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.