Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Merthyr Tydfil
Online Substance Use Counselling in Merthyr Tydfil
Online substance use counselling for Merthyr Tydfil, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Merthyr Tydfil, from the town centre to the streets around the ironworks heritage, 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 Merthyr Tydfil
Substance Use Counselling for Merthyr Tydfil, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Merthyr Tydfil: from the town centre to Gurnos, Dowlais and Troedyrhiw
- Known for
- The ironworks heritage, the Brecon Beacons edge and the Taff
- Region
- Wales
- Local NHS / support route
- DAN 24/7, the Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Merthyr Tydfil
Why people in Merthyr Tydfil get in touch
Merthyr has one of the harder drug pictures in Wales, and the figures for 2022 to 2024 put its drug-misuse death rate well above the Wales average. Behind that are streets in Gurnos and Dowlais where people know exactly who has died and how young they were. Use here is often not recreational in any meaningful sense. It is pain relief, for bodies worn out by work that no longer exists and for minds carrying things nobody has ever asked about. It moves between generations in the same household. And it is talked about constantly in the abstract, in the news and in gossip, while being almost never discussed honestly by the person doing it.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Merthyr Tydfil
GurnosDowlaisTroedyrhiwPenydarrenGeorgetownTwynyrodynGalon UchafCefn CoedTreharris
Wherever you are in Merthyr Tydfil, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Merthyr Tydfil
Official figures for Merthyr Tydfil, for context rather than as a description of you.
In Merthyr Tydfil the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate was 14.5 per 100,000 in 2022 to 2024, well above the Wales average of 8.5 per 100,000. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Deaths related to drug poisoning by local authority, England and Wales (drug misuse, Table 6) (2022 to 2024).
In Merthyr Tydfil, 5.1% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, compared with a Wales average of 6.9%, a difference the survey's margin of error does not confirm. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together 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.
Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the full substance use counselling page sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and qualifications, registration and ethics covers accountability.
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.
All of this is delivered by video, since Hove is where Bradley works. In a town where a service can mean a journey down the valley at a fixed hour, an appointment that arrives on a screen removes several reasons to give up on it. There is no waiting area, nobody in the corridor from your street, and no explaining yourself at a desk. The same slot each week, with telephone as a fallback if the signal drops.
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 Merthyr Tydfil
Why people in Merthyr Tydfil come for substance use counselling
You will not be turned away for still using, and you will not be asked to promise anything before the first session. That matters here, because the expectation of being judged is the main reason people who need this most never make the call. The conversation begins with your own account: what you use, when, and what it does that nothing else has managed to do. Then, gently, what it takes. Nothing about detox, dosage or medication is decided in this room; that belongs with a doctor, with DASPA on 0300 333 0000 or with the Cwm Taf Integrated Substance Use Service, and the NHS find a service directory will point you at what is closest. DAN 24/7, on 0808 808 2234, is answered at any hour of the night.
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 Merthyr Tydfil
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Merthyr Tydfil, your GP can refer you to local drug and alcohol services, and you can find support through DAN 24/7, the Wales Drug and Alcohol Helpline.
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 press 2 for urgent mental health support. The CALL Helpline for Wales is free on 0800 132 737, 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.
Merthyr Tydfil questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Merthyr Tydfil: common questions
Will you judge me for what I use?
No, and that is not a polite formula. People who use drugs are used to being spoken to as a problem to be managed, which teaches them to say very little. What you describe here is met as information about your life, not as evidence against you.
What are the charges for counselling?
The rate is £80 per hour, rising to £100 at 90 minutes and £120 at two hours. The introductory call of 15 minutes costs nothing. There is no charge for asking questions, and no obligation to book anything afterwards if it does not feel like the right fit.
Which local service should I contact about drug treatment?
DASPA is the single point of access for drug and alcohol support covering Merthyr Tydfil, on 0300 333 0000, and the Cwm Taf Integrated Substance Use Service is delivered by Barod. The NHS find a service directory lists what is available near your postcode.
Several people in my family use. Can counselling still help me?
It can, and that situation comes up often in the valleys. When use is part of the household, stopping can feel like a betrayal as much as a decision. We look at your own position within that carefully, without asking you to condemn anybody you love.
I have tried services before and stopped going. Why would this differ?
Possibly because nothing here depends on you performing progress. There are no targets to hit and nobody is measuring your compliance. If you miss a week, you come back to the same hour and we pick up where we left off.
Is online counselling really suitable up here?
For most people, yes. You need only a private space and a steady connection. Working by secure video means support reaches you at home in Merthyr, which many find easier and steadier than travelling down the valley or into Cardiff for appointments.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Merthyr Tydfil?
Often the same week. After a free 15-minute consultation to check we fit, we arrange your first session. Because everything is by secure video, being at the head of the Taff valley rather than down towards Cardiff makes no difference to how soon we start.
Is substance use counselling cheaper on the NHS in Merthyr Tydfil?
NHS drug services through Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board are free, and Dan 24/7 gives free all-Wales advice, though demand is high. Privately I charge £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation.
What is online substance use counselling like for someone in Merthyr Tydfil?
You join by secure video from a private space at home, whether in Troedyrhiw, Twynyrodyn or Treharris, needing only a steady connection. I keep some evening appointments, so the long journey down the valley or into Cardiff for specialist help is no longer needed.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Merthyr Tydfil, 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 Wales: Pontypridd, Cwmbran, Cardiff. See all of Wales.
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 Merthyr Tydfil.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.