Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Dundee
Online Substance Use Counselling in Dundee
Online substance use counselling for Dundee, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Dundee, from the waterfront and the centre to the streets around the V&A, 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 Dundee
Substance Use Counselling for Dundee, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Dundee: from the waterfront and the centre to Lochee, Broughty Ferry and the Hilltown
- Known for
- The V&A, the Tay and the design quarter
- Region
- Scotland (Scotland)
- 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 Dundee
Why people in Dundee reach out
Dundee has reinvented itself around design, games and its universities, but the city on the Tay also carries some of the sharpest deprivation in Scotland. Insecure work, money pressure and the contrast between the gleaming waterfront and hard-pressed neighbourhoods all shape the pressures people here carry.
Dundee has spent the last decade remaking itself. The waterfront that once shipped jute around the world now holds the V&A design museum, and the city trades on games, science and the two universities that fill its centre with students. The old nicknames, jute, jam and journalism, still linger, and DC Thomson's presses keep the comics and papers coming. Yet the city on the Tay carries some of the sharpest hardship in Scotland, and the gleaming new buildings by the river sit close to neighbourhoods like the Hilltown and Lochee where life is a great deal tougher. Broughty Ferry offers a gentler seaside edge to the east. It is a proud, creative, resilient place that also holds a lot of quiet struggle.
On the coast the nearest specialist can be a long way inland; a secure video link closes that distance completely.
Dundee is home to the University of Dundee, the major teaching hospital Ninewells, and V&A Dundee, the city's design museum on the waterfront.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Dundee
LocheeBroughty FerryHilltownStobswellWest EndMenzieshillMaryfieldDouglasFintry
Wherever you are in Dundee, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Dundee
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Dundee are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in Dundee City averaged 35.6 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, far above the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
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.
Dundee has counselling services and the universities offer support to students, but NHS Tayside talking therapy can involve a wait, and not everyone wants to be seen going into a local service. Secure video sessions sidestep both, reaching anywhere in the city with a quiet corner and a connection. I work from Hove on the south coast of England, seeing people across Scotland and the wider UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Dundee 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 Dundee
Why people in Dundee come for substance use counselling
Between the thousands of students filling the city centre and the pressures carried in neighbourhoods like the Hilltown and Lochee, substances touch a lot of lives in Dundee, cannabis, cocaine, stimulants, prescription pills. What begins as part of student life or a way to get through a hard stretch can quietly become something you lean on. This work is non-judgemental and label-free. By secure video from your flat, halls or wherever feels private, we look at what the substance gives you and what it takes, and find a realistic way to change your relationship with 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 Dundee
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Dundee, 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 NHS 24 on 111 for urgent mental health support. Breathing Space is free on 0800 83 85 87, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Dundee questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Dundee: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Dundee?
Yes. I work with people right across Dundee, from the waterfront and the centre outwards, and anywhere else in Scotland, 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.
I am a student in Dundee, can I keep this separate from my university?
Yes. Alongside any support your university offers, these are private sessions by secure video from your flat or halls. Many students prefer keeping counselling entirely separate from campus, and video makes that straightforward wherever you are living in the city.
I am a student in Dundee, how soon can I start substance use counselling online?
Usually within days of a free 15-minute consultation. Alongside your university's support, you can arrange private video sessions from your flat or halls. There is no referral to wait on and nothing to travel to, so you can begin quickly and keep it separate from campus.
How much does substance use counselling cost next to NHS services in Dundee?
Fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Tayside support is free but often carries a wait; private sessions carry a fee and can start promptly, with a free consultation to begin.
How are online substance use sessions delivered for Dundee clients?
By secure, confidential video from anywhere private, a room at home in Lochee or a quiet flat by the Tay. Evening slots are available around work or study, and there is no local service to be seen entering, which many people in Dundee prefer.
I'm a student in Dundee, can I still see you?
Yes. Alongside the support your university offers, you can arrange private sessions by secure video from your flat or halls. Many students prefer keeping counselling separate from campus, and video makes that straightforward wherever you're living in the city.
Are you based in Dundee?
No, I'm based in Hove in southern England and work with clients throughout Scotland and the UK by video. For Dundee that means online sessions rather than a room in the city, private, flexible, and with no journey across town to manage.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Dundee, 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 Scotland: Perth, Aberdeen, Kirkcaldy. See all of Scotland.
All counselling & therapy in Dundee: 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.