Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Gateshead
Online Substance Use Counselling in Gateshead
Online substance use counselling for Gateshead, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Gateshead, from the Quays and the centre to the streets around the Angel of the North, 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 Gateshead
Substance Use Counselling for Gateshead, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Gateshead: from the Quays and the centre to Low Fell, Felling and Dunston
- Known for
- The Angel of the North, the Sage and the Millennium Bridge
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Gateshead
Why do people in Gateshead reach out?
Drug use across Gateshead is mostly unremarkable to look at. It is someone in Whickham or Birtley who works, drives, sees family and uses in the hours nobody accounts for. Cocaine sits alongside drink at weekends and then stops confining itself to weekends. Prescribed medication drifts. In neighbourhoods that have been talked down for decades, saying out loud that you have a drug problem can feel like handing someone else the argument, so it stays private and grows heavier. The result is a lot of people managing something significant on their own, competently, and for far too long. The point at which people ring is usually not a disaster but a small, undeniable moment of noticing.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Gateshead
Low FellFellingDunstonBenshamSaltwellWhickhamBlaydonBirtleyWrekentonWinlaton
Wherever you are in Gateshead, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Gateshead
Official figures for Gateshead, for context rather than as a description of you.
8.4 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 14.2 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: the full substance use counselling page sets out the methods, how I work covers the practicalities, and how to check my registration covers accountability.
What do I need for an online session?
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.
Bradley sees people from Hove, so this is delivered entirely by secure video. For substance-use work in a borough where everyone seems to know somebody, the absence of a local door is the point. We can meet before a shift, after one, or on a day off, and if you have used that day it stays part of the conversation rather than a reason to end it. All you need is somewhere you can talk uninterrupted.
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 Gateshead
Why people in Gateshead come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused counselling, and it makes no demand that you stop first. Gateshead already has unusually high engagement with formal services, at 8.4 adults per 1,000 in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 against an England average of 4.5 per 1,000, and the risk is correspondingly serious, with deaths from drug misuse at 14.2 per 100,000 across 2022 - 24 compared with 5.8 nationally. I do not prescribe, test or supply equipment. Gateshead Recovery Partnership does all of that through Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs support, and having them involved alongside this is usually the strongest arrangement. Our hour goes somewhere else entirely. We look at what the substance does at the precise moment you reach for it, what happened around the time it became necessary, and what could realistically take its place.
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 Gateshead
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Gateshead, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs 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.
Gateshead questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Gateshead: common questions
Will I be judged in session for still using?
No. You will meet somebody who has heard a great deal and is not shocked by any of it. Judgement stops people telling the truth, and without the truth there is nothing useful to work with. What you use and how much is information, not a character reference.
Do I need a referral from Gateshead Recovery Partnership to see you?
Not at all. You can come directly, whether or not you have any contact with local services. Some people arrive before approaching them, some during, and some long afterwards. Gateshead Council's alcohol and drugs support remains there whenever you want the treatment side.
What are the costs, and is anything free?
The 15-minute consultation costs nothing and puts you under no obligation. Sessions after that are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, paid individually. You will not be asked to buy a block or sign up for a fixed run of weeks.
Can I speak from a flat in Bensham where the walls are thin?
Yes. Headphones deal with most of it, and you only need to speak quietly on your end. Where that still is not enough, people use a car, a park bench or an hour when the flat is empty. We can work around whatever is actually possible.
I use to cope with pain. Does that change things?
It changes the conversation but not the welcome. Pain, sleeplessness and medication get tangled together very easily, and untangling them needs your doctor as well as counselling. I would never advise you to alter a prescription; that decision belongs with them.
Is this separate from the NHS?
Yes. I'm an independent private counsellor, arranged directly with you, not part of any local NHS or council service. You're welcome to use NHS talking therapies alongside or instead - I'm simply another option, available by video at a time that suits your week.
Can I start substance use counselling in Gateshead soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Gateshead 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 Gateshead?
For Gateshead 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 Low Fell or Whickham 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 Gateshead, 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, Durham. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
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 Gateshead.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
For anyone near the coast, the same substance use counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.