Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Middlesbrough
Online Substance Use Counselling in Middlesbrough
Online substance use counselling for Middlesbrough, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Middlesbrough, from the centre and the Transporter to the streets around the Transporter Bridge, 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 Middlesbrough
Substance Use Counselling for Middlesbrough, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Middlesbrough: from the centre and the Transporter to Linthorpe, Acklam and Ormesby
- Known for
- The Transporter Bridge, the Riverside and the Cleveland Hills
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Middlesbrough Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Middlesbrough
What brings people in Middlesbrough to counselling?
Teesside carries some of the heaviest drug harm in the country and the figures do not soften it. The rate of deaths from drug misuse in Middlesbrough was 12.5 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24 against an England average of 5.8, and 15.4 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 compared with 4.5 nationally. That second figure says something hopeful as well: a great many people here are already in contact with help. Around Gresham and North Ormesby that contact is often long-standing. Elsewhere, in Linthorpe or Coulby Newham, use stays entirely hidden behind a working week.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Middlesbrough
LinthorpeAcklamOrmesbyMartonNunthorpeBerwick HillsGrove HillCoulby NewhamNorth OrmesbyGresham
Wherever you are in Middlesbrough, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Middlesbrough
Official figures for Middlesbrough, for context rather than as a description of you.
15.4 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 12.5 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 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.
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 the substance use counselling page, alongside how I work 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.
This is video work only; Bradley is in Hove and keeps no room on Teesside. Nobody sees you arrive because there is nowhere to arrive at, and a bus fare is not the thing standing between you and an appointment. You can be using and still attend. There is no testing, no register of attendance and no conditions attached to booking. Try the free 15-minute conversation before deciding whether any of this is for you.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What sort of things do people bring?
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 Middlesbrough
Why people in Middlesbrough come for substance use counselling
Judgement is what keeps people out of counselling, and there is none of it here. If you are using today, we work from where you actually are. Often the substance has been the most reliable thing in a life where work, money and health have all been unreliable, and pretending otherwise gets us nowhere. So we start with function. What it steadies, what it blocks out, what happens on the days without it. Then we look at risk and at what would need to be true for anything to shift. Some people move towards stopping and some towards using more safely; both are legitimate work. Middlesbrough Council's drug and alcohol support opens the door to free structured treatment, and Middlesbrough Recovering Together works with people who have not stopped. Prescribing, reduction and withdrawal belong with your prescriber or GP, never with me.
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 Middlesbrough
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Middlesbrough, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Middlesbrough Council's drug and alcohol 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.
Middlesbrough questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Middlesbrough: common questions
Would you report me for using?
No. Nothing you tell me goes to the police, the council or a treatment service. Confidentiality holds except where there is serious risk to a child or to someone's life, which is the same limit every BACP counsellor works within, and I would talk to you about it first.
Can I get counselling while I am on a script from a local service?
Yes, and the two fit together well. Your prescriber handles the medical side and I do not comment on it. What we cover is the part a prescription cannot: the pull itself, what set it going, and how to build a week that does not collapse around it.
Is it worth starting if I have relapsed several times already?
It is often the best time to start. Repeated attempts tell us a great deal about what your particular pattern needs and what it cannot survive without. Treating those as failures rather than information is usually the thing that makes the next attempt go the same way.
What does it cost and is there a free option in Middlesbrough?
Sessions cost £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, paid one at a time, and the first 15-minute consultation is free. Middlesbrough Recovering Together provides free confidential drug treatment for the town if paying is not realistic right now.
I live with family in Berwick Hills - can I do this without them hearing?
Most people can. Headphones mean only your voice is audible, and a bedroom with the door shut is usually sufficient for an hour. Sessions can also be booked while the house is at work or school, and nothing is ever posted to your address.
I work shifts - can sessions fit awkward hours?
Yes. Because everything is online, we can find a time that works around rotas rather than office-hours appointments. If a shift changes, moving a video session is far simpler than rearranging a trip across Teesside, so a regular slot is easy to keep.
Is there substance use counselling available in Middlesbrough, and how quickly?
There is no consulting room in Middlesbrough, but I work right across the area by secure video from Hove. Whether you are near Linthorpe or Acklam, 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 Middlesbrough done online or face to face?
I do not offer face-to-face sessions in Middlesbrough; 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 the Teesside chemical and process industry is manageable.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Middlesbrough, 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: Darlington, Sunderland, Durham. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Close to this in Middlesbrough, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person, in Brighton, or see every area I cover.