Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Leeds
Online Substance Use Counselling in Leeds
Online substance use counselling for Leeds, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Leeds, from the centre and the waterfront to the streets around the arcades, 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 Leeds
Substance Use Counselling for Leeds, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Leeds: from the centre and the waterfront to Headingley, Chapeltown, Armley and Roundhay
- Known for
- The arcades, the waterfront and the universities
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Leeds
What is going on for people in Leeds?
Drug use in Leeds spreads across the whole social map. The rate of deaths from drug misuse was 9.3 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24 against an England average of 5.8, and 6.3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 compared with 4.5 across England. That covers a graduate in Kirkstall using cocaine to keep up with a Friday that starts at six, a student near Hyde Park who has been smoking daily since first year, and someone in Beeston whose use began with a prescription and never stopped. Very different lives, one thing in common: none of them talk about it.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Leeds
HeadingleyHyde ParkChapel AllertonRoundhayKirkstallMeanwoodHorsforthArmleyBeestonHolbeckMorleyPudsey
Wherever you are in Leeds, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Leeds
Official figures for Leeds, for context rather than as a description of you.
6.3 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 9.3 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.
The approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on everything on substance use counselling, alongside session lengths and fees and professional standards and registration.
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.
Work is online only, by video. Bradley holds no room in Leeds and there is nothing to travel to, which removes the awkwardness of walking into a building somebody might recognise. You can speak from a flat in Kirkstall, a spare room in Roundhay or a car parked anywhere quiet. There is no testing, no attendance sheet and no expectation that you arrive having already stopped. The opening 15-minute conversation is free and commits you to nothing.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Leeds 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 Leeds
Why people in Leeds come for substance use counselling
Ambivalence is the normal starting point, not a sign you are not ready. Most people want two contradictory things at once, and being told to resolve that before the first session is precisely what stalls them for years. So we begin with what the substance does for you. Confidence in a room full of sharp people. Sleep after a day that will not switch off. Distance from something older that has never been spoken about. From there the conversation can turn to risk, cost and what a different arrangement might look like, at a pace you set. Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service provides free structured treatment across the city, and Forward Leeds accepts self-referrals from people who are still using. I do not advise on doses, tapering or withdrawal; that sits with a prescriber or your GP, and counselling runs alongside it.
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 Leeds
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Leeds, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service.
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.
Leeds questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Leeds: common questions
Will you push me to stop before I am ready?
No. Pushing tends to produce agreement during a session and nothing outside it. My interest is in what the substance is solving, and whether there is another way to solve it. If you decide to stop, that decision will hold better for having been yours from the beginning.
I use socially in the city centre most weekends - is that really an issue?
It may not be. Weekend use still deserves a look when the recovery days are getting longer, when plans are chosen for what will be available, or when the spending has become something you avoid adding up. Coming early usually means shorter work, not wasted work.
What is the free service in Leeds, and can I use both?
Forward Leeds is the city's free alcohol and drug service and takes self-referrals; Leeds City Council's Forward Leeds drug and alcohol service is the same route described on the council side. Many people use it for structured treatment and keep counselling for what sits underneath.
Do you keep notes, and could they follow me around?
I keep brief private notes to work from, held securely under the BACP Ethical Framework. They are not shared with Leeds Mind, a drug service, an employer or your GP. The only exceptions are the standard ones concerning serious risk to life or to a child.
How much is it and do I pay for a block of sessions?
It is £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, paid session by session. There is no block booking and no minimum number agreed at the start. If the free 15-minute consultation suggests a free local service fits you better, I will say so.
I'm a student in Leeds - can you help alongside university support?
Yes. I'm a private counsellor, separate from your university's wellbeing service, and online sessions carry on through term, placements and trips home wherever you are. Many people use both together, and nothing about our work needs to be visible to anyone at your university.
Is there substance use counselling available in Leeds, and how quickly?
There is no consulting room in Leeds, but I work right across the area by secure video from Hove. Whether you are near Headingley or Roundhay, we can arrange a free 15-minute call first and then a weekly time for substance use counselling, often within days of you getting in touch.
Is substance use counselling for Leeds done online or face to face?
I do not offer face-to-face sessions in Leeds; everything is by confidential video call. For substance use, that often helps, as you can speak openly from a private space rather than a waiting room. I keep a few evening slots alongside daytime ones, so working around Wellington Place and the legal quarter is manageable.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Leeds, 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: Bradford, Wakefield, Sheffield. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Also available in Leeds: 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.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.