Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Lincoln
Online Substance Use Counselling in Lincoln
Online substance use counselling for Lincoln, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Lincoln, from the historic Bailgate and the cathedral to the streets around the castle, 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 Lincoln
Substance Use Counselling for Lincoln, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Lincoln: from the historic Bailgate and the cathedral to Ermine, St Giles and the city centre below the hill
- Known for
- The cathedral, the castle and Steep Hill
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Connect to Support Lincolnshire (Lincolnshire County Council)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Lincoln
What brings people in Lincoln to counselling?
Drug use in Lincoln is not confined to the city, and it tends to be better hidden than it would be somewhere larger. Students around the University of Lincoln, workers in the engineering and gas turbine industry, people in Birchwood or Hartsholme using at home because there is nowhere else to go: the pattern varies and the privacy does not. Out in the villages the nearest anything is a drive away, so a habit can run for years without ever meeting a professional. Deaths from drug misuse ran at 6.1 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Distance protects nobody from that.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Lincoln
BailgateErmineSt GilesUphillBracebridgeBoulthamBirchwoodHartsholmeMonks RoadCarholme
Wherever you are in Lincoln, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Lincoln
Official figures for Lincoln, for context rather than as a description of you.
3.8 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, below 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 6.1 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.
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 substance use counselling in detail, alongside how sessions run and what they cost and my BACP registration.
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.
Lincoln is covered by secure video from Hove, which for drug work in a rural county is a genuine advantage rather than second best. The nearest specialist service may be a long way off; this one is not. Sessions can be taken from a flat off Monks Road, a car in a lay-by, or a bedroom at your parents' house with headphones in. If a week goes badly, the time can be moved without anybody chasing you.
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 Lincoln
Why people in Lincoln come for substance use counselling
Nothing starts with a demand that you stop. You might be using every day, using to get to sleep, using only at weekends, or already stopped and unnerved by how much time there suddenly is. Each of those is a real place to begin. What the drug does for you gets looked at first, plainly and without a wince, and then what it charges you for it. The county's low treatment rate matters to this. Only 3.8 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, below the England average of 4.5 per 1,000, which means a lot of people are managing alone who need not be. Connect to Support Lincolnshire is the way into county provision and We Are With You, Lincolnshire delivers it. Counselling adds the thinking that treatment rarely has room for.
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 Lincoln
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Lincoln, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Connect to Support Lincolnshire (Lincolnshire County Council).
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.
Lincoln questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Lincoln: common questions
Do I need to have stopped before I get in touch?
No. You can be using the same day and still make good use of an hour, provided you can follow the conversation. Nothing is measured, tested or reported. What the work needs is an accurate account, not a clean one.
What are the fees for sessions?
An hour costs £80 / 60 min. Ninety minutes is £100 / 90 min and two hours is £120 / 120 min if a longer stretch would help. The first 15-minute consultation costs nothing, and sessions after it are paid for individually rather than as a course.
What does We Are With You, Lincolnshire provide that this does not?
Prescribing, structured treatment, testing, groups and medical oversight, reached through Connect to Support Lincolnshire. Counselling offers none of those and is not trying to. It offers an unhurried hour to work out what the substance has been doing and what would have to change.
The nearest service is miles away. Is video really as good?
For talking work, yes. The research on remote counselling is reassuring and the practical gain out here is obvious, since a session no longer costs you a tank of fuel and half a day. What is lost is a shared room, which most people stop noticing quickly.
I use at home in the evenings and nobody knows. Is that a problem?
Only you can judge that, but private use is the sort that grows without interruption, because nothing external ever pushes back on it. If you have started thinking about it more than you would like, that thought is worth somewhere to go.
Getting to appointments from rural Lincolnshire is hard, does online solve that?
Yes. Because sessions are by video, there is no journey at all, however far out you live. That removes the long drives that put many people off seeking help in a rural county. You need only a private space at home and a reliable connection.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Lincoln?
Usually within a week. Substance use counselling for Lincoln is delivered online from Hove, so you avoid a local queue and a long journey. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then your first session is booked when it works, wherever you are in the county.
What does substance use counselling cost against NHS drug services in Lincoln?
Fees are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first. Lincoln's NHS drug services are free but often stretched across a large rural county, whereas private sessions offer earlier appointments and the same counsellor each time.
Is substance use counselling online, and does that help out in the county around Lincoln?
Yes. The consulting room is in Hove and Lincoln is served by video, so distance stops mattering. Whether in the Bailgate or a village well away from the city, you meet from home with no long drive, and evening slots can often be arranged.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Lincoln, 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, Peterborough. See all of Midlands.
Also available in Lincoln: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: once an addict, always an addict? and three ways to handle a craving.
For anyone near the coast, the same substance use counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.