Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Dudley
Online Substance Use Counselling in Dudley
Online substance use counselling for Dudley, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Dudley, from the town centre and the castle to the streets around the Black Country Living Museum, 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 Dudley
Substance Use Counselling for Dudley, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Dudley: from the town centre and the castle to Brierley Hill, Sedgley and Netherton
- Known for
- Dudley Castle, the Black Country Living Museum and the Clent Hills
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Healthy Dudley's substance misuse support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Dudley
Why do people in Dudley reach out?
Drugs in Dudley do not look much like a city scene. Use here often happens indoors and on your own, in a house in Coseley or Woodsetton, between shifts in work that is less secure than it used to be. Cannabis to get to sleep, cocaine at the weekend, prescription tablets bought from somewhere they should never have come from. Deaths from drug misuse in the borough ran at 5 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, below the England average of 5.8 per 100,000, which is worth knowing if the word addiction has been frightening you off. Most use does not end that way at all. It simply takes over more of the week than you ever intended.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Dudley
Brierley HillSedgleyNethertonGornalKingswinfordCoseleyQuarry BankLyeWoodsettonHolly Hall
Wherever you are in Dudley, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Dudley
Official figures for Dudley, for context rather than as a description of you.
4.9 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 5 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).
Reviewed June 2026.
What is substance use counselling, in practice?
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 method travels; only the geography changes. everything on substance use counselling explains it properly, the practical side answers the practical questions, and qualifications, registration and ethics shows how the practice is held to account.
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.
Bradley is in Hove and Dudley is covered by video, which is the honest position rather than a compromise. For drug work it carries some real advantages. Nobody sees you go into anywhere, nothing local holds your appointment, and an hour can be arranged around a shift or dropped in a week when things are difficult. Headphones and a shut door are the practical requirements, and a car serves as well as a room.
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 Dudley
Why people in Dudley come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused work, and it takes no position on whether you ought to still be using. You might be using every day, only at weekends, less than you were, or not at all any more and struggling with the space it left behind. What matters first is being able to say what it does for you without anybody flinching. Dudley keeps slightly more people in treatment than the country as a whole, with 4.9 adults per 1,000 in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5 per 1,000. Healthy Dudley's substance misuse support is the route into that, and the Atlantic Recovery Centre in Dudley delivers it. What counselling adds is time: time to look at what began when, what the substance replaced, and what it would take to need less of it.
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 Dudley
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Dudley, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Healthy Dudley's substance misuse 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.
Dudley questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Dudley: common questions
Will you push me towards rehab or a group?
No. Suggestions get made where they might be useful, but nothing is pushed and nothing is a condition. Some people find groups steadying and others find them impossible, and both responses are reasonable. The direction is set by you, session by session, not by a programme.
How much are the sessions here?
An hour is £80 / 60 min and that is the standard arrangement. Longer options exist at £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min when there is a great deal to cover. Nothing is charged for the initial 15-minute consultation, and payment happens as you go along.
Does Healthy Dudley's substance misuse support have to know I am doing this?
No. There is no shared record and no notification of any sort. If you are also with the Atlantic Recovery Centre in Dudley, you can mention counselling to them or not, entirely as you prefer. Nothing passes between the two without your say-so.
I have young children at home. When could I realistically do this?
School hours are the most workable stretch for many parents, and daytime slots are generally easier to get than evenings. Since no travel is involved, an hour really is an hour. Some people take theirs sitting in a parked car during a lunch break instead.
Is being honest about drugs risky? Could you report me?
Telling a counsellor what you use is not reported to the police, your employer or social services as a matter of course. The exceptions are narrow, they concern serious risk of harm, and they would be talked through with you rather than sprung on you.
How do I start substance use counselling from Dudley?
You simply get in touch to arrange a first session. Everything is online, so there is nothing to travel to. You will need a private space and a reliable connection, and the first meeting is a chance to talk over what is going on at your pace.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Dudley?
Usually within a week. Substance use counselling for Dudley is delivered online from Hove, so you avoid a local queue and the car-and-bus reliance of getting about town. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then your first session is booked when it works.
What does substance use counselling cost against NHS drug services in Dudley?
Fees are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first. Dudley's NHS drug services are free but often busy, whereas private sessions offer earlier appointments and the same counsellor each time.
Is substance use counselling online, and does that help without a station in Dudley?
Yes. The consulting room is in Hove and Dudley is served by video, so there is no need to reach a station or drive across town. You meet from home in Brierley Hill or Gornal, which many find far easier, and evening slots can often be arranged.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Dudley, 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 Midlands: Wolverhampton, Walsall, Birmingham. See all of Midlands.
Close to this in Dudley, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
For anyone near the coast, the same substance use counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.