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
- Durham County Council's drugs and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Durham
What is going on for people in Durham?
Two very different sorts of drug use sit side by side in Durham and rarely meet. There is the student version, cheerful, sociable and assumed to be temporary, running through Crossgate and the centre in term time. And there is the older, quieter kind out through Sherburn, Framwellgate Moor and the former pit villages, which nobody calls temporary and nobody talks about at all. Both leave people alone with it. The city looks so settled from the outside that admitting to a substance problem here can feel oddly out of place, as though you have got the wrong address for that sort of trouble.
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
Official figures for Durham, for context rather than as a description of you.
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).
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).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens in substance use counselling?
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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: everything on substance use counselling sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and how to check my registration covers accountability.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
Because this runs by secure video from Hove, the geography of the county stops being a problem. Nobody has to travel in from Belmont or a village on the edge, and nobody is seen arriving anywhere. Appointments can sit in the early morning, the late evening or between lectures. If you have used before we speak, tell me and we work with it; there is nothing to be caught out at here.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does substance use counselling address?
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
Drug-focused counselling that does not begin with an ultimatum. The county has more people in formal treatment than the national picture, at 5.2 adults per 1,000 at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 against an England average of 4.5 per 1,000, and the harm remains severe, with deaths from drug misuse at 11.4 per 100,000 over 2022 - 24 compared with 5.8 nationally. I am not a prescribing or testing service; the County Durham Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service does that, via Durham County Council's drugs and alcohol support, and it belongs in the picture wherever the physical side needs managing. What our sessions add is the meaning. When did this stop being a choice and start being a structure? What is it protecting you from, and what happens to that if the substance goes? Those questions cannot be answered in a ten-minute review.
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.
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.
Durham questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Durham: common questions
Will you insist I come off everything before we start?
No, and I would not trust the work if I did. Insisting on abstinence up front filters out most of the people who most need somewhere to think. Come as you are, tell me the truth about it, and we start from that rather than from a promise.
I am at university here and worried about my degree. Is this confidential?
Completely, within the usual safety limits. Nothing goes to Durham University, your department or anyone else, and there is no disciplinary route that this feeds into. What you say in session stays there unless life is at immediate risk. Plenty of people study and have counselling at the same time without either one knowing about the other.
What are the fees, and can I stop whenever I like?
Fees are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, and yes, you can stop at any point with no penalty. Nothing is bought in advance. The first 15-minute consultation is free and carries no obligation to book anything after it.
Can I be seen while I am waiting for the county recovery service?
Yes, and waiting time is often a useful time to start. The County Durham Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service handles the treatment side when it comes through, and counselling in the meantime keeps something moving rather than leaving you sitting with it alone.
Does this work for someone who uses only occasionally?
It does. Frequency is a poor guide to how much trouble something is causing. Occasional use that reliably wrecks the next three days, or that only ever happens when you are at your lowest, tells us plenty that daily use might not.
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.
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.
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.
Close to this in Durham, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: once an addict, always an addict? and three ways to handle a craving.
For anyone near the coast, the same substance use counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.