Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Lisburn
Online Substance Use Counselling in Lisburn
Online substance use counselling for Lisburn, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Lisburn, from the city centre and the cathedral to the streets around the Lagan, 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 Lisburn
Substance Use Counselling for Lisburn, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Lisburn: from the city centre and the cathedral to Old Warren, Lagmore and nearby Hillsborough
- Known for
- The cathedral, the Lagan and the linen heritage
- Region
- Northern Ireland
- Local NHS / support route
- ASCERT, which supports people across Northern Ireland with drug and alcohol use
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Lisburn
What brings people in Lisburn to counselling?
Drug use around Lisburn keeps office hours more often than people assume. There is cocaine at the weekend among commuters who are up at six on Monday morning. There are tablets that started after an injury and turned into the thing that makes an evening bearable. Younger use in Lagmore or Knockmore begins socially and narrows over time to a few people and one reliable supply. The city looks entirely settled from outside: Christ Church Cathedral, Wallace Park, the walks in Lagan Valley Regional Park, the linen history kept in the museum. None of that scenery hints at what a fair number of households are managing alone.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Lisburn
Old WarrenLagmoreHildenWallace ParkKnockmoreBallymacashHillsboroughDunmurryBlaris
Wherever you are in Lisburn, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Lisburn
Official figures for Lisburn, for context rather than as a description of you.
There were 7 drug-related deaths registered in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council area in 2023, out of 169 across Northern Ireland (NI age-standardised rate 9.1 per 100,000). Source: NISRA - Drug-related and drug misuse deaths in Northern Ireland, 2023 (2023).
In Lisburn and Castlereagh, 5.9% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Northern Ireland average of 5.2%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
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.
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 the practical side and qualifications, registration and ethics.
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.
There is no room in Lisburn, so all of this happens by secure video with Bradley in Hove. With drug use that removes the two obstacles which stop people most often, namely getting somewhere and being seen once you are there. Nothing is signed and nothing goes onto a local system. Appointments fit round shift work and commuting, and the telephone is available in any week when video is impossible or simply unwanted.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Lisburn 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 Lisburn
Why people in Lisburn come for substance use counselling
You are welcome here while still using, and nothing in a first session depends on a decision you have not made yet. Most people arrive somewhere in the middle, wanting less of it without knowing what becomes of the rest of their life when it goes. That is the honest place to begin. We look at what the drug manages, whether that is anxiety, sleep, pain, boredom, or a memory that behaves better when you are not entirely present. We also look at what fills the space afterwards, because an empty space tends to refill with the same thing. There were 7 drug-related deaths registered in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council area in 2023, part of 169 across Northern Ireland. Prescribing and medical care belong with your GP through Health and Social Care, while ASCERT provides drug and alcohol support and the NHS find a service directory shows what else is nearby.
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 Lisburn
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Lisburn, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through ASCERT, which supports people across Northern Ireland with drug and alcohol use.
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 Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, the Samaritans are on 116 123, and you can 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.
Lisburn questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Lisburn: common questions
Do I need to have a goal before the first session?
Not at all. Arriving without a goal is normal and it is usually more honest than arriving with one borrowed from somebody else. The early hours are spent establishing what is actually happening, and the aim tends to define itself once that picture is clear.
What is the cost per session?
It is £80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two hours, with the first 15-minute consultation free. Fees do not vary with the substance, the history or the number of previous attempts, and nothing is charged for the initial email exchange.
Which official service handles drugs in Northern Ireland?
Health and Social Care, reached through a GP referral, is the statutory route, and ASCERT offers drug and alcohol support across Northern Ireland without one. Anything involving medication, withdrawal or physical health sits with them. This work runs alongside and deals with the reasons underneath.
I have a job that would end tomorrow if this came out. How careful is it?
Careful. Nothing is disclosed to an employer, an occupational health team or a professional body because you attended, and the confidentiality limits are set out plainly at the start. Working online also means no appointment card, no waiting room and nothing to be seen entering.
Is weekend-only use worth bringing to counselling?
Frequently, yes. The pattern matters more than the calendar, and a habit confined to two days can still shape the other five through recovery, spending and secrecy. If the first two days of the working week are quietly ruined every time, the weekend is not really contained at all.
Is online counselling as effective as being seen in person?
Many people find a video session from their own front room just as helpful, and often easier to attend. All you need is a private space and a steady connection. The counsellor works across Northern Ireland online from a Hove base.
How quickly can substance use counselling begin in Lisburn?
Often within days. A free 15-minute call lets us see whether this feels right, then we arrange a first session soon after. Everything is online by secure video, so wherever you are in Lisburn, from Lagmore to Dunmurry, you can begin without a queue or a trip out.
Is substance use counselling free on the NHS in Lisburn?
NHS drug and alcohol services here sit within the South Eastern Trust and cost nothing, though access can be slow. My sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first and no waiting to get started.
Are evening online substance use sessions available for Lisburn?
Yes. After a long commute to and from Belfast, an evening session from home is far easier than another journey out. Sessions run by secure video, so from Hilden to Ballymacash you can take part in private with only a quiet room and a reliable connection.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Lisburn, 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 Northern Ireland: Belfast, Craigavon. See all of Northern Ireland.
If substance use counselling is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling may fit better in Lisburn.
You may also find it useful to read about calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.