Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Glasgow
Online Substance Use Counselling in Glasgow
Online substance use counselling for Glasgow, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Glasgow, from the city centre and the West End to the streets around the Clyde, 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 Glasgow
Substance Use Counselling for Glasgow, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Glasgow: from the city centre and the West End to the Southside, Dennistoun and Govan
- Known for
- The Clyde, the galleries and the music scene
- 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 Glasgow
Why do people in Glasgow reach out?
Glasgow has lost more people to drugs than anywhere else in Scotland, and everybody here knows it. That knowledge produces a particular kind of shame: the sense of being a statistic before you have opened your mouth. Use looks different across the city, from tenement flats in Maryhill and Govan where patterns go back thirty years, to weekend cocaine in Finnieston bars among people who would never describe themselves as users. The West End student population adds another layer again. What runs through all of it is the assumption that there is no point saying anything, because the situation is already understood and already judged.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Glasgow
West EndSouthsideDennistounGovanPartickShawlandsFinniestonMerchant CityMaryhillPollokshields
Wherever you are in Glasgow, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Glasgow
Official figures for Glasgow, for context rather than as a description of you.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in Glasgow City averaged 41.1 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, far above the Scotland average of 22.5 Source: National Records of Scotland, Drug-related deaths in Scotland 2024 (Table C4) (2020-2024).
In Glasgow City, 7.7% 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 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see everything on substance use counselling for the methods, session lengths and fees for fees and session lengths, and my credentials and registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
What happens in 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 is based in Hove and there is no address here to attend, so this is secure video wherever you are in the city. Nothing about the arrangement requires you to have stopped, reduced or made a decision. You can join from a flat, a friend's place or a car, and no one sees you go in anywhere. The free 15-minute consultation is a straightforward way to ask what happens to what you tell me.
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 Glasgow
Why people in Glasgow come for substance use counselling
What this work needs is honesty, not abstinence, and certainly not remorse performed for my benefit. Drug-misuse deaths in Glasgow City averaged 41.1 per 100,000 during 2020-2024, far above the Scotland average of 22.5, and that history means many people arrive expecting a lecture they have heard before. Sessions do something quieter. We go through the shape of a day, what the drug does at each point in it, when it stopped being a decision, and what you believe would happen if it were gone. Bereavement is often part of it here, because a great many people have lost friends to the same thing. Nothing medical happens in session. Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services handles NHS treatment, the NHS 'find a service' directory lists options, and your GP covers 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 Glasgow
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Glasgow, 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.
Glasgow questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Glasgow: common questions
Will you tell me to stop?
No. That decision belongs to you and usually arrives from understanding rather than instruction. My part is to help you see the pattern accurately, including what it gives you, which is the bit that moralising conversations always leave out and which matters most.
What does it cost, and is there free support too?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, paid individually. Free support is available through Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services and your GP, and there is no reason not to use both. My 15-minute consultation is free of charge.
How do I access NHS drug treatment in Glasgow?
Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services provides it, and you can be referred by your GP or approach the service about self-referral. The NHS 'find a service' directory sets out what treatment exists, and Breathing Space Scotland is free on 0800 83 85 87 out of hours.
I have lost friends to this. Can I bring that too?
Please do. Grief and drug use are tangled together for a lot of people in this city, and trying to separate them artificially rarely works. Losing people to the same thing you are doing carries a particular weight and deserves proper attention in its own right.
Is a video session private if I live in a shared flat?
It generally is. Headphones mean only your side is audible, and people use a bedroom, a parked car or an empty office. There is no post, no phone call to the flat and nothing afterwards that a flatmate could stumble across.
Will I be judged for the substances I have been using?
No. Judgement helps no one, and you will meet none here. Whatever you have been using, and however long for, we start from understanding rather than blame, looking at what the substance does for you and what you would genuinely like to change.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Glasgow this week?
Often yes. After a free 15-minute consultation we can usually arrange your first video session within days. There is no referral to wait on and nothing to travel to across the city, so wherever you are in Glasgow you can make an early, private start.
How much does substance use counselling cost next to NHS services in Glasgow?
Fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, following a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde support is free of charge but often carries a long wait, while paying privately means a cost and a sooner start.
How are online substance use sessions delivered for people in Glasgow?
By secure, confidential video from anywhere you have privacy at home, from Finnieston to Maryhill. Evening slots are available around work, and there is no clinic across the city to reach, which spares the journey and often feels more discreet than a local service.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Glasgow, 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: Paisley, East Kilbride, Falkirk. See all of Scotland.
Close to this in Glasgow, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.