Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Nottingham
Online Substance Use Counselling in Nottingham
Online substance use counselling for Nottingham, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Nottingham, from the centre and the Lace Market 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 Nottingham
Substance Use Counselling for Nottingham, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Nottingham: from the centre and the Lace Market to Hyson Green, Sneinton and Beeston
- Known for
- The castle, the Old Market Square and the two universities
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS drug & alcohol service finder (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Nottingham
What is going on for people in Nottingham?
Drug use in Nottingham rarely looks like the picture people carry around with them. It is a postgraduate at Nottingham Trent University keeping pace with a deadline, a bar worker in the Lace Market creative quarter getting through a double shift, a couple in Sherwood whose weekend has quietly widened until it takes in Wednesday. Shared houses make use social before it becomes routine, and routine is very hard to see from the inside. Meanwhile the city presents itself as busy and cheerful, which leaves an honest conversation about drugs sounding out of tune with everything around it. That gap between what is happening and what can be said out loud is where a lot of people stall.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Nottingham
Lace MarketHyson GreenSneintonBeestonThe ParkSherwoodMapperleyWest BridgfordRadfordWollatonLenton
Wherever you are in Nottingham, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Nottingham
Official figures for Nottingham, for context rather than as a description of you.
7.1 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 7.8 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 is substance use counselling, in practice?
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 full substance use counselling page, alongside session lengths and fees and how to check my 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.
These sessions run online because Bradley is in Hove and there is no room in Nottingham. For drug work that carries a practical advantage: you are not walking into a named building, and you are not sitting in a shared space where somebody might place you. People talk from a bedroom in Radford, from a parked car, from a kitchen once the house has emptied out. If you go home for the summer or leave the city altogether, the hour stays exactly where it is.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Nottingham 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 Nottingham
Why people in Nottingham come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused work and it does not ask you to have stopped first. You can come while you are still using. Abstinence is not the entry fee, and it is not assumed to be the destination either. Some people arrive wanting out. Others want to work out why the amount keeps creeping up, what the comedown is doing to their mood by Tuesday, or how cocaine attached itself to every social evening. Cannabis, ketamine, stimulants, opioids and prescribed medication all get discussed here without a lecture attached. The local scale is not small: 7.1 adults per 1,000 were in specialist drug-misuse treatment in 2020/21 against an England average of 4.5 per 1,000, and deaths from drug misuse reached 7.8 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024. For prescribing, harm reduction or structured treatment, Nottingham Recovery Network and the NHS find a service directory are the ways in. Counselling runs beside them.
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 Nottingham
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. You can find your nearest free NHS-funded drug and alcohol service via the NHS “find a service” directory (search “Nottingham”).
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.
Nottingham questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Nottingham: common questions
Can I come while I am still using?
Yes. Nothing here is conditional on having stopped, and you will not be turned away for a decision you have not made. Working out what the using is for tends to come before any change to it. Honesty is more useful in the room than a clean fortnight you had to manufacture first.
How much are sessions, and do I pay each week?
A 60-minute session is £80, paid week by week rather than bought as a block. Longer sessions are £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours. The first 15-minute conversation is not charged for. There is no package to commit to and no minimum number of weeks you have to agree to up front.
Is this the same as what Nottingham Recovery Network offers?
No, and it is not designed to replace it. Nottingham Recovery Network provides assessment, structured treatment, prescribing and harm reduction across the city, and the NHS find a service directory lists it. What happens here is confidential talking work at your own pace. Plenty of people do both at once.
Can I do this from a shared house in Lenton without my housemates knowing?
Usually yes. Headphones and a closed door are enough for most people, and others take the hour sitting in a car instead. The video link is secure, nothing is recorded, and whatever you write in your own calendar is entirely up to you. A quiet hour is the only real requirement.
Most of my use happens on nights out around the city. Is that worth bringing?
If you are asking, it is worth bringing. Use that is entirely social can still be doing a job - covering nerves, holding a mood up, making an evening bearable that otherwise would not be. We would look at what it does for you rather than count how many nights it happened on.
Will you report me for using drugs?
No. Counselling is confidential and it is not about judging or reporting you. It is a space to understand what is going on and what you want to change. Because sessions are online, you can also join from wherever feels most private to you.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Nottingham?
Usually within a week. Substance use counselling for Nottingham is delivered online from Hove, so there is no local queue. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then your first session is booked when it fits, whether you are in halls or working across the city.
What does substance use counselling cost compared with NHS drug services in Nottingham?
Fees are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation. Nottingham's NHS drug services are free but often busy, whereas private sessions offer earlier appointments and the same counsellor each time for continuity.
Is substance use counselling online, and can it fit student life in Nottingham?
Yes. The consulting room is in Hove and Nottingham is served by video, so you meet from your room or a quiet corner in Lenton or Hyson Green. Appointments can often be arranged for evenings or around lectures and deadlines at either university.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Nottingham, 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: Leicester, Derby, Sheffield. See all of Midlands.
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 Nottingham.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.