Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Halifax
Online Substance Use Counselling in Halifax
Online substance use counselling for Halifax, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Halifax, from the Piece Hall and the centre to the streets around the Minster, 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 Halifax
Substance Use Counselling for Halifax, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Halifax: from the Piece Hall and the centre to King Cross, Sowerby Bridge and Illingworth
- Known for
- The Piece Hall, the Minster and the Calderdale hills
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Calderdale Council's drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Halifax
Why do people in Halifax reach out?
Drug use around Halifax rarely announces itself. It looks like someone in Pellon or Boothtown who works, pays the rent and uses in the evening when the day finally lets go. It looks like weekend cocaine that has quietly annexed a Tuesday. The valley towns are close enough for gossip and far enough apart to leave people isolated, and both of those work against saying anything. What generally happens is that people cope alone for years, managing the practicalities well, while the reasons underneath go completely unexamined. That is usually the point at which somebody decides they want to think out loud with a stranger.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Halifax
King CrossSowerby BridgeIllingworthOvendenPellonSavile ParkSkircoatWarleyBoothtownMixenden
Wherever you are in Halifax, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Halifax
Official figures for Halifax, for context rather than as a description of you.
5.4 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 11 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 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the main substance use counselling page, with how I work for the practical questions and how to check my registration for registration and ethics.
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.
Sessions run by secure video, since Bradley works from Hove and there is no space of his here. For drug work in a place with a strong local grapevine, that distance is genuinely protective. We can meet at whatever hour fits, including late, and the weather on the Calderdale hills never becomes a reason to cancel. If you have used on the day, it stays part of what we are examining rather than a rule you have broken.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Halifax 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 Halifax
Why people in Halifax come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused work that begins without preconditions. More people here are engaged with formal help than nationally, with 5.4 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 danger is considerable, with deaths from drug misuse at 11 per 100,000 across 2022 - 24 compared with 5.8 nationally. Those two facts together describe a place where help exists and harm persists anyway. I do not prescribe, test or supply equipment; Calderdale Recovery Steps does that from the Halifax hub, via Calderdale Council's drugs support. Our sessions look at function rather than quantity. What is the substance doing for you at the hour you reach for it, when did it become load-bearing, and what would have to be in place before it could safely take less weight.
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 Halifax
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Halifax, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Calderdale Council's 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.
Halifax questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Halifax: common questions
Do I need to be clean before you will take me on?
No. That requirement would exclude most of the people who need this most. Whether you use every day, occasionally, or stopped recently, there is useful work available. What matters is that you can be straight with me about what is actually happening.
Is my drug use passed on to anyone at Calderdale Royal Hospital or my surgery?
It is not. Nothing goes to Calderdale Royal Hospital, your GP, your employer or your family without your agreement. The single exception is a serious and immediate threat to life, which I would try to discuss with you before doing anything.
What are the fees for this?
Charges are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, paid one appointment at a time rather than up front. The introductory 15-minute consultation is free and has no strings attached. You can stop whenever you want without explaining yourself.
Can I do sessions from a shared house in King Cross?
Yes, and plenty of people do. Headphones cover most situations, and where they do not, a parked car or an hour when the house is empty usually will. Tell me when you can really talk and we will fix the slot around that.
I use to get to sleep. Is that still substance-use counselling?
It is, and it is a very common route in. Anything used nightly to force sleep tends to damage the sleep it was meant to rescue, so the dose climbs. We would look at the sleep itself alongside the substance rather than tackling one in isolation.
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 in Calderdale. 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.
How soon could I begin substance use counselling from Halifax?
Usually fairly soon. Working online means I am not tied to Halifax clinic hours, so we can find a slot that fits around Dean Clough and the Piece Hall quarter. It starts with a free 15-minute consultation about your substance use, then a regular weekly session once we agree things suit you.
Is private substance use counselling in Halifax worth it over the NHS route?
Privately I charge £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute call first. Halifax also has NHS routes, through your GP or Calderdale Royal Hospital, at no cost; those can involve a wait, so private sessions suit anyone wanting to begin substance use work now.
Can substance use counselling fit around work in Halifax, and is it online?
Sessions with me are online only for Halifax, as I am based in Hove. People working near Dean Clough and the Piece Hall quarter often prefer this, fitting substance use counselling around the day without travel across the city. I offer daytime and some early-evening appointments, and we would keep the same weekly slot wherever possible.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Halifax, 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: Huddersfield, Bradford. 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 Halifax.
There is more on this in my writing: calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
Within reach of Sussex? substance use counselling is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.