Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Inverness
Online Substance Use Counselling in Inverness
Online substance use counselling for Inverness, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Inverness, from the centre and the castle to the streets around the river Ness, 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 Inverness
Substance Use Counselling for Inverness, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Inverness: from the centre and the castle to Crown, Hilton and Inshes
- Known for
- The castle, the river Ness and the Highlands beyond
- 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 Inverness
Why people in Inverness reach out
Inverness is the capital of the Highlands, a small city serving a vast and sparsely populated region where the nearest specialist can be hundreds of miles away. That remoteness, the long dark winters and the isolation of rural Highland life all shape what people here carry.
Inverness is a small city with an enormous job: it serves as the capital of the Highlands, a region that stretches for hundreds of miles of glen, loch and coast. People travel in from Skye, Wester Ross and the far north to shop, to study or to reach Raigmore Hospital, and for many the city is the nearest thing to a centre for a long way in any direction. The River Ness runs through the middle, the castle looks down from its hill, and Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal lie just beyond. Winters are long and dark this far north, and the isolation of rural Highland life, where a neighbour might be miles away, can weigh heavily on people through the quiet months.
Across the rural Highlands the nearest counsellor can be hours away and the winters long and dark; online sessions bring experienced support to you wherever you are.
Inverness is the capital of the Highlands, serving NHS Highland from Raigmore Hospital, and is a hub of the University of the Highlands and Islands across a vast rural region.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Inverness
CrownHiltonInshesMerkinchDalneighCullodenSmithtonRaigmoreWesthill
Wherever you are in Inverness, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Inverness
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Inverness are living with, and why local support matters.
the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate in the Highland council area averaged 14.6 per 100,000 over 2020-2024, well below 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.
In the Highlands, the nearest specialist can be a very long drive, and NHS Highland covers a vast, thinly populated area where waits and travel are real barriers. This is where online work makes the biggest difference: a secure video session reaches Inverness, and the glens and villages around it, without anyone facing a round trip of hours. I'm based in Hove on the south coast of England and see clients across the Highlands and the whole UK online.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Inverness 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 Inverness
Why people in Inverness come for substance use counselling
In a region this remote, substance use can be easy to hide and hard to get help for, the nearest service far off, and everyone in a small community knowing everyone else. Whether it is cannabis, prescription medication, cocaine or something else that has taken up more room than you would like, distance should not decide whether you get support. This work is private and non-judgemental. By secure video, reaching Inverness and the surrounding glens alike, we look honestly at what the substance does for you and how to change your relationship with it, without a long journey or anyone local needing to know.
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 Inverness
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Inverness, 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.
Inverness questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Inverness: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Inverness?
Yes. I work with people right across Inverness, from the centre and the castle 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.
In a small Highland community, will anyone find out?
That worry is very understandable here. Working by secure video means there is no local service to be seen entering and no waiting room to sit in. Sessions happen privately from your own home, wherever you are in the Highlands, entirely confidentially.
I live outside Inverness in the Highlands, how soon can substance use counselling start online?
Usually within days of a free 15-minute consultation. As long as you have a phone or internet connection and somewhere private, secure video reaches you wherever you are in the Highlands, far more easily than a long drive into Inverness for an appointment.
How much does substance use counselling cost compared with Highland NHS services?
Fees are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. NHS Highland support is free but thinly spread across a huge region with real waits; private sessions carry a fee and can begin promptly.
How are online substance use sessions delivered for people around Inverness?
Through secure, confidential video from home, whether in the city or miles out in Wester Ross or the far north. Evening slots are available, and there is no long journey to a specialist, which removes the distance that makes in-person help so hard to reach here.
I live outside Inverness in the Highlands, can I still have sessions?
Yes. As long as you have a reasonable internet or phone connection and somewhere private, secure video reaches you wherever you are in the Highlands. That's often far easier than a long drive into the city, especially through the winter months.
Do you travel to the Highlands to see people?
No. I'm based in Hove in the south of England and work entirely online with clients across the Highlands and the rest of the UK. For this part of Scotland especially, video sessions remove the distances that make in-person specialist help so hard to reach.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Inverness, 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: Aberdeen, Perth. See all of Scotland.
All counselling & therapy in Inverness: 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.