Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Canterbury
Online Substance Use Counselling in Canterbury
Online substance use counselling for Canterbury, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Canterbury, from the city walls and the centre to the streets around the cathedral, 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 Canterbury
Substance Use Counselling for Canterbury, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Canterbury: from the city walls and the centre to Wincheap, St Stephen's and Hales Place
- Known for
- The cathedral, the city walls and the Stour
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- 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 Canterbury
Why people in Canterbury reach out
Canterbury blends a world-famous cathedral city with a large student population across its universities, and the two worlds bring different strains: the academic pressure and homesickness of student life, and a high cost of living in a small, historic city. For many, being surrounded by people their own age does little to ease a deeper sense of being unmoored.
Canterbury threads its old streets between the cathedral and the city walls, a place where a world-famous historic core meets a large and lively student population. The University of Kent looks down from the hill, Canterbury Christ Church fills the centre, and the Marlowe Theatre and the Kent and Canterbury Hospital add their own rhythms, while the Stour winds quietly through it all. The two worlds bring different strains: the deadlines and homesickness of student life around Hales Place and St Stephen's, and a high cost of living in a compact, tourist-heavy city. For many, being surrounded by people their own age does little to ease a deeper sense of feeling unmoored, and a confidential space to talk, away from campus and housemates, can steady things considerably.
Beneath a calm, historic surface, struggle can be hard to voice; a confidential online hour asks nothing of appearances.
Canterbury is a UNESCO cathedral city home to the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, and the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Canterbury
WincheapSt Stephen'sHales PlaceThaningtonBleanSt Dunstan'sSturryBarton
Wherever you are in Canterbury, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Canterbury
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Canterbury are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 4.8 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, below the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
2.6 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, below the England average of 4.5 per 1,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Adults in treatment at specialist drug misuse services (2020/21).
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.
Canterbury's high-speed trains run mainly towards St Pancras, and getting to counselling elsewhere in Kent can swallow a good part of the day. Online sessions do away with the journey, letting you join securely from your room or home between lectures, shifts or seminars. The practice room is in Hove, an option if you can travel down to the Sussex coast for an in-person meeting, but for Canterbury the work is done online around the university term.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Canterbury 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 Canterbury
Why people in Canterbury come for substance use counselling
Student life in Canterbury can look sociable from the outside while feeling unmoored underneath, and substances can quietly become the way to fill that gap, to manage the deadlines, or to keep up with the nights out. It is worth talking through before it settles into a routine you rely on. Sessions are held securely online with a male counsellor based in Hove, taken privately from your room with nothing to walk into on campus. Nothing goes on any university record, you set the pace, and everything stays confidential between us.
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 Canterbury
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Canterbury, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Kent County 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.
Canterbury questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Canterbury: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Canterbury?
Yes. I work with people right across Canterbury, from the city walls and the centre outwards, and anywhere else in London & South East, 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.
If I get substance-use support, will my university find out?
No. This is private, independent counselling with nothing shared with your university or written into any record. You join securely from your own room, and everything stays confidential. Many students in Canterbury value knowing they can be honest without it touching their studies.
Can I get online substance use counselling quickly in Canterbury?
Generally yes. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then a regular time, often within a week. There is no clinic to reach across Kent and no referral queue, so you can join securely from your room or home, around lectures, shifts or the working week.
Is substance use counselling free on the NHS in Canterbury?
There are free routes: your GP can refer you, Kent's drug and alcohol service takes self-referrals, and FRANK gives confidential national advice. Students can use university welfare too. This counselling is private, at £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free consultation.
Feeling unmoored among people my own age. Is online easier to fit around student life?
Often, yes. When being surrounded by peers does little to ease a deeper sense of feeling adrift, an online session reaches you between seminars with no journey, at a regular time held for you. Evenings work well. In-person is possible in Hove, a train down to the Sussex coast, if you prefer.
I'm at university here but feel unsettled and homesick. Is that something counselling covers?
Very much so. Feeling adrift even while surrounded by other students is one of the most common things people at Canterbury's universities raise. Online sessions let you talk it through privately from your own room, fitted around your timetable, with nothing to walk into on campus.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Canterbury, 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 London & South East: Ashford, Margate, Maidstone. See all of London & South East.
All counselling & therapy in Canterbury: 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.