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
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS inform's drugs and drug use pages
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Edinburgh
What brings people in Edinburgh to counselling?
Cocaine is unremarkable in parts of Edinburgh. It appears at work dinners, after client events, in flats in the New Town and among people whose professional lives could not survive it becoming known. Students around Marchmont and Newington use ketamine and pills and treat it as ordinary. In Leith the picture is more mixed and much older, with patterns that predate the regeneration of the waterfront. What connects them is the silence: a city with this much to lose is not a city where people talk about their drug use, and the isolation that produces is often worse than the drug itself.
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
Official figures for Edinburgh, for context rather than as a description of you.
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).
In the City of Edinburgh, 4.0% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Scotland average of 6.1%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
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 approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the substance use counselling page, alongside session lengths and fees and professional standards and registration.
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.
There is no Edinburgh address to attend, because Bradley works from Hove and sees people here online by secure video. Starting does not require you to have stopped, cut down or decided anything. Appointments can be arranged around shifts, term dates or a demanding job, and taken from anywhere with a closed door. The free 15-minute consultation is when to ask what gets recorded and who could ever see it.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does substance use counselling help with?
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
Nothing about this work depends on you being finished with drugs. Most people arrive somewhere in the middle, using and uneasy about it, wanting to think clearly before deciding anything. We go through the sequence honestly: what it does at the moment you take it, what it costs the following day, and what the situations are that make it feel inevitable. The drug-misuse death rate in the City of Edinburgh averaged 20.6 per 100,000 during 2020-2024, under the Scotland average of 22.5, which says nothing at all about a professional or a student whose use is climbing quietly. Counselling is not medical care, prescribes nothing and offers no reduction plan. The North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre and the Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership hubs provide local treatment and support, and your GP handles anything physical.
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 drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through NHS inform's drugs and drug use pages.
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, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can 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.
Edinburgh questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Edinburgh: common questions
Will using cocaine be held against me in the room?
No. Judgement produces a version of events designed to keep me comfortable, and that is useless to both of us. What you use is information, not character, and the work depends on you being able to describe it accurately without watching my reaction.
How much does it cost, and can I pay per session?
You can. It is £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, settled each time rather than as a course. Nothing is committed to in advance. The free 15-minute consultation lets you judge whether the money would be well spent before you spend any.
What is the drug treatment route in Edinburgh?
Your GP can refer you, and the Edinburgh Alcohol and Drug Partnership operates locality Recovery Hubs across the city. The North Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Centre covers the north specifically. The NHS 'find a service' directory lists what is available, and Breathing Space Scotland is free on 0800 83 85 87.
Can I do this from a shared student flat in Marchmont?
Regularly done. Headphones make the difference, and a session works from a bedroom, a library study room or a parked car. Flatmates hear nothing of what I say, and there is no letter, appointment card or building visit to explain to anyone.
I work in finance and use at weekends. What is the risk in talking about it?
Nothing goes to your employer, your compliance team or a regulator from these sessions. If you have reporting duties of your own, we can think them through carefully, and any decision about disclosure remains yours to make in your own time.
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.
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.
If substance use counselling is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling may fit better in Edinburgh.
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.