Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Craigavon
Online Substance Use Counselling in Craigavon
Online substance use counselling for Craigavon, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Craigavon, from Lurgan and Portadown to the streets around the lakes, 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 Craigavon
Substance Use Counselling for Craigavon, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Craigavon: from Lurgan and Portadown to Brownlow and the linked centre
- Known for
- The lakes, the linen heritage and the Lough Neagh shore
- Region
- Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland)
- 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 Craigavon
Why people in Craigavon reach out
Craigavon is a planned new town stitching together Lurgan and Portadown in County Armagh, and its dispersed, planned layout can make it harder to feel rooted. Insecure work, the legacy of division and the spread-out geography all shape what people here carry.
Craigavon was planned in the 1960s to join Lurgan and Portadown into a single new town, and its wide roads, roundabouts and two man-made lakes still give it that deliberate, spread-out shape. Oxford Island reaches out into Lough Neagh nearby, a nature reserve of reed beds and birdlife on the shore of the largest lake in the British Isles, while the City Park lakes and Lurgan Park offer green space between the estates. Rushmere draws shoppers to the centre that ties the two older towns together, and both Lurgan and Portadown keep their own markets, linen history and stations on the Belfast to Dublin line. It is a County Armagh place of scattered communities, motorway links and the quiet water of the lough.
In a fast-grown town where many people arrived for work or housing without family close by, online counselling offers a steady, confidential connection while you put down roots.
Craigavon is served by Craigavon Area Hospital, a major acute hospital of the Southern HSC Trust, and is home to the headquarters of pharmaceutical company Almac Group.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Craigavon
LurganPortadownBrownlowBlearyLegahoryMandevilleDrumgaskTullygally
Wherever you are in Craigavon, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Craigavon
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Craigavon are living with, and why local support matters.
There were 14 drug-related deaths registered in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon council area in 2023, out of 169 across Northern Ireland (NI age-standardised rate 9.1 per 100,000). Source: NISRA - Drug-related and drug misuse deaths in Northern Ireland, 2023 (2023).
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.
Support in Craigavon does not depend on reaching a service across its spread-out layout. Sessions are held online, by secure video, throughout Northern Ireland, so the dispersed roads and roundabouts are no barrier to getting help. The counsellor is based in Hove and works UK-wide by video rather than in person, meaning you can talk from home in Lurgan, Portadown or Brownlow without a journey across town.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Craigavon 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 Craigavon
Why people in Craigavon come for substance use counselling
Across Craigavon's scattered estates and the older towns it joins, substance use can go unspoken, tangled up with insecure work and the legacy of a divided past. The spread-out geography that makes the place hard to feel part of can also put help at a distance. Online substance use counselling reaches you at home by secure video, with no drive across town and no being seen at a local service. From Legahory to Bleary or Tullygally, it offers an honest, patient space to look at what is happening and, when you are ready, what you might want to change.
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 Craigavon
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Craigavon, 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 Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Craigavon questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Craigavon: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Craigavon?
Yes. I work with people right across Craigavon, from Lurgan and Portadown outwards, and anywhere else in Northern Ireland, 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.
Do I have to stop using before counselling can help?
No. Counselling starts wherever you are, whether or not you have cut down. There is nothing to prove first. Held online by secure video across Northern Ireland, sessions let you talk honestly from home in Craigavon, working gently towards change at your own pace.
How quickly can substance use counselling begin in Craigavon?
Often within days. A free 15-minute call helps us see whether this feels right, then we set a first session soon after. It is all online by secure video, so the dispersed layout makes no difference to how soon you can start from home in Craigavon.
Is substance use counselling free on the NHS in Craigavon?
NHS drug and alcohol services here sit within the Southern Trust and cost nothing, though access can take time. My sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first and no waiting to begin.
Are evening online substance use sessions available for Craigavon?
Yes. An evening hour from home saves driving between the scattered communities that make up the town. Sessions run by secure video, so from Brownlow to Bleary you can take part in private, needing only a quiet space and a reliable connection to join.
Craigavon is so spread out - how do I reach support?
You do not have to travel across it at all. Sessions are online by secure video, so you can take part from home in Lurgan, Portadown or Brownlow. The counsellor is based in Hove and works across Northern Ireland by video, so the dispersed layout makes no difference.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Craigavon, 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 Northern Ireland: Lisburn, Newry. See all of Northern Ireland.
All counselling & therapy in Craigavon: 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.