Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Edinburgh
Online Substance Use Counselling in Edinburgh
Online substance use counselling for Edinburgh, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Edinburgh, from the Old Town and New Town to the streets around the castle, 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 Edinburgh
Substance Use Counselling for Edinburgh, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Edinburgh: from the Old Town and New Town to Leith, Morningside and Portobello
- Known for
- The castle, Arthur's Seat and the Royal Mile
- 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 Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh reach out
Edinburgh balances a historic capital with a high-pressure professional, financial and festival life, and behind the elegant facades sit some of the highest living costs in Scotland. The intensity of work, study and the city's seasonal crowds can make it hard to find space for yourself.
Edinburgh wears two faces at once: the medieval closes and wynds tumbling down from the castle in the Old Town, and the ordered Georgian terraces of the New Town below. Life here runs between them. Office workers in the financial district around St Andrew Square, students filling the pubs of the Southside, and families walking the sands at Portobello all share a city that swells enormously each August when the Festival and Fringe arrive. The tourist crowds, the steep cost of a flat in Marchmont or Stockbridge, and the long professional hours in law, finance and government can leave residents feeling they are performing in a city that is always on show. Behind the elegant frontages, plenty of people are quietly worn out.
Capital-city life is exhilarating and exhausting at once, with time and privacy always short; an hour that comes to you is often what makes therapy possible.
Home to the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (NHS Lothian), Edinburgh is also one of the UK's largest financial centres, which shapes a high-pressure professional and student population.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Edinburgh
Old TownNew TownLeithMorningsidePortobelloStockbridgeBruntsfieldMarchmontCorstorphineNewington
Wherever you are in Edinburgh, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Edinburgh
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Edinburgh are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in the City of Edinburgh averaged 20.6 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, below 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.
Edinburgh has more counselling and NHS mental health provision than most of Scotland, yet waits for talking therapy through NHS Lothian can still stretch on, and a busy diary rarely leaves room to travel across town for an appointment. Because these sessions happen by secure video, they reach any flat or quiet room in the city. I work from Hove on the south coast of England, seeing clients across the whole UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh
Why people in Edinburgh come for substance use counselling
Edinburgh's student quarters and its round-the-clock festival months make substances easy to reach and easy to lean on, whether that is cannabis to switch off after long shifts, cocaine on the professional social scene, or prescription pills to keep pace. What starts as unwinding can quietly become something you rely on. This work is non-judgemental: there is no lecture and no label. Instead, by secure video from your own space in the city, we look at what the substance does for you, what it is costing, and how to change your relationship with it at a pace that feels realistic.
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 Edinburgh
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Edinburgh, 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.
Edinburgh questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Edinburgh: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Edinburgh?
Yes. I work with people right across Edinburgh, from the Old Town and New Town 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 do not see myself as an addict, is substance use counselling still for me?
Absolutely. You do not need a label to come. Many people simply feel a substance has crept into more of their life than they would like. We start from where you are, without judgement, looking honestly at its place in your week and what you would want to shift.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Edinburgh quickly?
Yes. After a free 15-minute consultation we can usually book your first video session within days. There is no referral to wait on and no journey across the city, so wherever you are in Edinburgh, from Newington to Corstorphine, you can make an early start from home.
How much does substance use counselling cost compared with local Edinburgh options?
My fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, following a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Lothian support is free of charge but often involves a wait, while private sessions carry a fee and can begin promptly.
How are online substance use sessions delivered for Edinburgh clients?
Through secure, confidential video from wherever you have privacy, a quiet room at home, or even a parked car on a break. Evening slots are available around work, and there is no clinic in the city to reach, which many Edinburgh clients find more discreet.
Can I have counselling in Edinburgh if I can't get time off work?
Yes. Sessions run by secure video, so you can join from home, from a parked car, or from a quiet room on a lunch break anywhere in the city. There's no journey across Edinburgh to fit in, which makes a regular appointment far easier to keep.
Do you have a room in Edinburgh?
No. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work with people across Scotland and the wider UK entirely online. For Edinburgh clients that means video sessions rather than a room in the city, which many people find more private and easier to arrange.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Edinburgh, 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: Glasgow, Dunfermline, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
All counselling & therapy in Edinburgh: 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.