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 (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 Glasgow
Why people in Glasgow reach out
Glasgow is Scotland's largest city, famous for its warmth, art and humour, and shaped by the long aftermath of heavy industry's decline. Real and persistent deprivation, insecure work and deep health inequalities sit beneath the city's energy, and the culture of coping can make reaching out hard.
Glasgow is Scotland's biggest city and its most sociable, a place where strangers talk to you at bus stops and the humour is quick and dark. The grand Victorian centre gives way to the bars and music venues of Finnieston, the tenement flats of Dennistoun and the West End around the university, and the Southside neighbourhoods of Shawlands and Pollokshields. The Clyde that once built the world's ships now runs quiet past the SEC and the old yards of Govan. For all its warmth, the city carries deep hardship in places, and a proud culture of getting on with things. That same pride can make it hard to say out loud when you are struggling, even to the people closest to you.
Where the old industries have gone and there is a strong culture of just getting on with things, online keeps support discreet and within reach however stretched the week.
Glasgow is home to the University of Glasgow and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, one of the largest acute hospital campuses in the UK and Europe.
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
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Glasgow are living with, and why local support matters.
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).
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.
Glasgow has real counselling provision, but demand is high and NHS talking therapy through Greater Glasgow and Clyde can mean a long wait. Getting across a large, busy city to an appointment is not always easy either. Secure video sessions reach any part of Glasgow, from the West End to the Southside, without the journey. I work from Hove in southern England, seeing clients right across Scotland and the UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Glasgow 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 Glasgow
Why people in Glasgow come for substance use counselling
Glasgow knows the harm that drugs can do, and it also knows how easily judgement gets in the way of help. If a substance, whether cocaine, street drugs, cannabis or prescription medication, has taken up more room in your life than you want, you deserve support that does not lecture or write you off. This work meets you without judgement. By secure video from wherever feels private in the city, we look at what the substance is doing for you, what it is taking, and how to shift things at a pace you can actually manage, one honest step at a time.
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 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.
Glasgow questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Glasgow: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Glasgow?
Yes. I work with people right across Glasgow, from the city centre and the West End 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.
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.
Is online counselling as good as seeing someone in person in Glasgow?
For most people, yes. Once a session begins, talking to someone over secure video quickly feels natural, and you get the same steady, confidential hour. It also saves crossing the city, and many people find it easier to speak openly from their own front room.
Where are you based?
I'm based in Hove, on the south coast of England, and work with people all over Scotland and the UK by video. I don't have premises in Glasgow, so our work together would be online rather than face to face in the city.
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.
All counselling & therapy in Glasgow: 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.