Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Hull
Online Substance Use Counselling in Hull
Online substance use counselling for Hull, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Hull, from the Old Town and the marina to the streets around the Deep, 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 Hull
Substance Use Counselling for Hull, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Hull: from the Old Town and the marina to Newland Avenue, Bransholme and Hessle Road
- Known for
- The marina, the Deep and the Humber Bridge
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Hull City Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Hull
What brings people in Hull to counselling?
Hull carries a heavier load than most places. The rate of deaths from drug misuse was 10.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24 against an England average of 5.8, and 10.6 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 compared with 4.5 nationally. Behind those numbers sits an ordinary spread of lives: powder on a Friday around the Old Town bars, weed to get to sleep before an early start, prescribed painkillers that stopped being about pain somewhere in the last two years. Some of it is student use around the Avenues. Much of it is older, steadier and entirely private.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Hull
Old TownNewland AvenuePrinces AvenueHessle RoadAvenuesSpring BankBransholmeAnlaby RoadSuttonMarfleet
Wherever you are in Hull, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Hull
Official figures for Hull, for context rather than as a description of you.
10.6 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 10.1 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, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and how to check my registration covers accountability.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
This is online-only work by video; Bradley is in Hove and holds no room anywhere in the city. For substance use that is an advantage, not a compromise. Nobody sees you arrive, nobody clocks the building you walked into, and you can talk from Sutton or Marfleet without a bus fare or a lost afternoon. There is no drug testing, no attendance record and no requirement to be clean on the day. The free 15-minute consultation lets you test the water first.
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 Hull
Why people in Hull come for substance use counselling
Plenty of people arrive here uncertain whether they even want to stop, and that is an honest place to begin rather than a disqualification. The question I am more interested in is what the substance is holding together for you: sleep, nerve, company, the ability to face a shift at all. Once that is on the table we can look at cost, at what you are trading away, and at what would have to be in place before any change felt survivable. Some people move towards stopping. Others reduce risk, or change the circumstances around use, or work on what preceded it. Hull City Council's drug and alcohol support is the route to free structured treatment, and ReNew Hull, run by Change Grow Live, works confidentially with people who are still using. I do not give advice on withdrawal or dosage; that belongs with your GP or a prescriber.
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 Hull
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Hull, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Hull City Council's drug and alcohol 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.
Hull questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Hull: common questions
Do I need to have stopped using before you would see me?
No. You can be using today and still do useful work in the session tomorrow. Being asked to arrive already sorted is exactly what keeps people away for years. I would only ask that you are not intoxicated during the hour itself, so that what we say actually stays with you.
Will anything I say get passed to Hull City Council or the police?
No. Sessions are confidential and I keep no shared record with any local service. The narrow exceptions are the ones every BACP counsellor works to, involving serious risk to a child or to life. Choosing to contact ReNew Hull remains entirely yours to make or refuse.
I am a student near Newland Avenue and it is only weekends - is that worth a session?
It is. Weekend-only use still shapes the other five days: the flat sleep, the Wednesday dread, the money that quietly disappears. Coming early, before anything has broken, tends to make the work shorter and simpler rather than premature or self-indulgent.
How do the fees work if I am on an insecure contract?
Each session is £80 / 60 min, with £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min for longer work, paid one at a time rather than as a block. Nothing is signed up front. The free 15-minute consultation costs nothing and can point you towards ReNew Hull instead if that fits better.
Can counselling run alongside a prescription from a drug service?
Yes, and it often works best that way. The prescribing side stays with your prescriber and I do not comment on doses. What I add is the part medication cannot reach: why the pull returns, what it is protecting you from, and how to hold a life steady around it.
I work shifts - can sessions fit awkward hours?
Yes. Because everything is online, we can find a time that works around rotas rather than office-time appointments. If a shift changes, moving a video session is far simpler than rearranging a trip across the city, so a regular slot is easy to keep.
Can I start substance use counselling in Hull soon?
Yes. I'm Bradley Riddell, a counsellor based in Hove, and I see people across Hull 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 Hull?
For Hull 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 the Avenues or Newland Avenue 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 Hull, 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: York, Leeds. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Close to this in Hull, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
You may also find it useful to read about calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.