Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Durham
Online Substance Use Counselling in Durham
Online substance use counselling for Durham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Durham, from the peninsula 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 Durham
Substance Use Counselling for Durham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Durham: from the peninsula and the centre to Gilesgate, Neville's Cross and Framwellgate
- Known for
- The cathedral, the castle and the river Wear
- Region
- Yorkshire & North 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 Durham
Why people in Durham reach out
Durham's great cathedral and ancient university give the city a calm, storied face, but behind it sit intense academic pressure and a county still living with the loss of its coal industry. The gap between the gleaming university and the hard-pressed former pit villages around it shapes much of what people carry.
Durham is one of the great sights of northern England, its Norman cathedral and castle standing together on a wooded peninsula almost encircled by a loop of the river Wear, together a World Heritage Site. The cathedral, a masterpiece of Romanesque building, has drawn pilgrims for nearly a thousand years and, more recently, film crews. Around it winds a compact medieval city of narrow vennels, the market place and the colleges of Durham University, one of England's oldest. The city is also the spiritual home of the Durham coalfield: each July the Miners' Gala still fills the streets with banners and brass bands, honouring the pit communities of the surrounding county. Beyond, the former mining villages of County Durham spread across the hills.
Beneath a calm, historic surface, struggle can be hard to voice; a confidential online hour asks nothing of appearances.
Durham is home to Durham University and to University Hospital of North Durham (County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust); its Norman cathedral and castle form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the surrounding county still bears the legacy of its coal-mining past.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Durham
GilesgateNeville's CrossFramwellgate MoorBelmontCrossgateElvetSherburnBearparkUshaw MoorNewton Hall
Wherever you are in Durham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Durham
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Durham are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 11.4 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).
5.2 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).
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.
I'm based in Hove, far to the south, and work with people in and around Durham online, by secure video, rather than in person. You meet from home in the city or out in the county villages, with no journey to fit in. We'd keep a regular weekly time that works around study, work or family, the distance simply doesn't come into it by video.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Durham 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 Durham
Why people in Durham come for substance use counselling
With one of England's oldest universities in the heart of the city, substance use in Durham can look like ordinary student life until it starts to cost more than it gives. Beyond the colleges, it can be the thing that fills the quiet. I'm Bradley, working online from Hove with people in and around Durham by secure video. There's no clinic to attend and nothing anyone locally need know. We look honestly at what you're using and why, and at what you'd like to be different - moving at a pace that feels right rather than forcing a change before you're ready.
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 Durham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Durham, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Durham County Council's drugs 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.
Durham questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Durham: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Durham?
Yes. I work with people right across Durham, from the peninsula and the centre outwards, and anywhere else in Yorkshire & North 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.
I'm a Durham student - can this fit around my course?
Yes. Working online means term times, vacations and trips home don't interrupt things - we carry on by video wherever you are. I'm a private counsellor, separate from the university's own college and wellbeing support, which you're also welcome to use alongside this.
Can I start substance use counselling in Durham soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Durham online rather than from a room in the city. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then set a regular weekly slot for substance use support, usually starting within a week or two once you feel ready.
What do you charge for substance use counselling in Durham, and is there an NHS option?
My fees are 80 pounds for a 60-minute session, 100 pounds for 90 minutes and 120 pounds for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation. In Durham you can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies or ask your GP; that route is free, though waits for substance use help vary, so private work often starts sooner.
Do you offer in-person or evening substance use counselling in Durham?
For Durham it is online rather than in person, since my room is in Hove on the south coast. Many find secure video suits substance use work well, joining from home in Gilesgate or Framwellgate Moor without a commute. I hold some daytime and early-evening slots, so we can usually find a regular time that fits.
I'm a student at Durham University, can you help?
Yes. Online sessions carry on through term, vacations and placements wherever you are, so moving between Durham and home doesn't interrupt things. I work privately, separate from the university and college welfare teams, which you can also draw on alongside this.
Are you based in Durham?
No. I work from Hove on the south coast and see Durham clients by secure video call. For people out in the former pit villages especially, meeting online removes a journey into the city and makes a weekly session much easier to keep up.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Durham, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Darlington. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
All counselling & therapy in Durham: 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.