Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Leicester
Online Substance Use Counselling in Leicester
Online substance use counselling for Leicester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Leicester, from the centre and the Cultural Quarter to the streets around the market, 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 Leicester
Substance Use Counselling for Leicester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Leicester: from the centre and the Cultural Quarter to Belgrave, Highfields and Clarendon Park
- Known for
- The market, the King Richard III centre and the universities
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Leicester City Council's alcohol and drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Leicester
Why do people in Leicester reach out?
Drug use in Leicester crosses every part of the city, and none of the stereotypes hold up. It runs through student houses near De Montfort University, through shift workers coming off long hours, through people in Westcotes or Aylestone who began using socially and now use alone. Cocaine, cannabis, ketamine and prescription tablets bought online all turn up. Deaths from drug misuse ran at 6.5 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Alongside that, 5.9 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, so a good number of people here are already getting help.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Leicester
BelgraveHighfieldsClarendon ParkEvingtonKnightonAylestoneBraunstoneStoneygateWestcotesOadby
Wherever you are in Leicester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Leicester
Official figures for Leicester, for context rather than as a description of you.
5.9 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 6.5 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 does substance use counselling involve?
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 session lengths and fees for the practical questions and how to check my registration for registration and ethics.
How does meeting by video work in practice?
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.
There is no room in Leicester and no pretending otherwise, so the work is done by secure video from Hove. For drug use that carries clear benefits. You are not recognised walking into a service in a city where communities overlap, and nothing local records that you attended anything. Appointments can be arranged around shifts, lectures or a difficult week, and rearranged when necessary without fuss.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does substance use counselling address?
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 Leicester
Why people in Leicester come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused work and it is deliberately non-judgemental about where you currently are with it. Using daily, using now and then, cutting down, or stopped and unsteady: every one of those is a legitimate starting point and none of them earns a lecture. The first thing we do is get an accurate account of what the substance provides. Sleep, confidence, distance from a memory, relief from a household where you have to perform. Only after that does the cost make any real sense. Leicester City Council's alcohol and drugs support is the way into the treatment system here, with Turning Point Leicester delivering the service, and prescribing or structured care comes from there. What counselling offers is somewhere to think about why the drug earned its place and what would have to take that place instead.
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 Leicester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Leicester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Leicester City Council's alcohol and 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.
Leicester questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Leicester: common questions
Do I have to be drug-free to start?
No, and most people are not. You can begin while you are still using, and the sessions do not test, check or require anything of you. What is asked for is honesty about what is happening, which comes easier without a fear of being told off.
What are the fees, and can I pay weekly?
Weekly payment is the normal arrangement. Sessions are £80 / 60 min, with £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min for longer appointments where those help. The first 15-minute consultation is free of charge and there is nothing at all to pay in advance.
How is Turning Point Leicester different from this?
It is the local drug and alcohol service, reached through Leicester City Council's alcohol and drugs support, and it provides prescribing, testing, groups and medical oversight. None of that comes from counselling. What counselling gives you is a private, unhurried hour with nothing to prove in it.
I live with extended family. How do I get an hour on my own?
It takes some planning and it is very often solvable. Some people use a lunch break, some sit in a car, some book a slot when the house empties for work or school. Headphones make a considerable difference, and the session can be quiet at your end.
I am doing well at university but using more than I admit. Does that qualify?
It qualifies. Doing well and using heavily are perfectly capable of coexisting for a long stretch, which is precisely what makes it easy to postpone. Raising it while things still look fine is a great deal easier than raising it after a term goes wrong.
Is online counselling private enough in a close community?
Yes. Because sessions are online, you choose where you join from, so there is no clinic to be seen entering and no local waiting room. Everything discussed stays confidential. For many people in Leicester that added discretion is exactly what makes reaching out feel possible.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Leicester?
Usually within a week. Substance use counselling for Leicester is delivered online from Hove, so you avoid a local queue. We begin with a free 15-minute consultation, then book your first session when it suits, whether you study at De Montfort or work in the city.
What does substance use counselling cost against NHS drug services in Leicester?
Fees are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first. Leicester's NHS drug services are free but often stretched, whereas private sessions offer sooner appointments and continuity with the same counsellor throughout.
Is substance use counselling online, and can it stay private in Leicester?
Yes. The consulting room is in Hove and Leicester is served by video, so you join from wherever feels most private, from Highfields to Clarendon Park. There is no clinic to be seen entering, and evening slots can often be arranged around your week.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Leicester, 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 Midlands: Nottingham, Coventry, Derby. See all of Midlands.
Related work in Leicester: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: once an addict, always an addict? and three ways to handle a craving.
Within reach of Sussex? substance use counselling is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.