Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Pontypridd
Online Substance Use Counselling in Pontypridd
Online substance use counselling for Pontypridd, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Pontypridd, from the town centre and the old bridge to the streets around the Rhondda confluence, 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 Pontypridd
Substance Use Counselling for Pontypridd, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Pontypridd: from the town centre and the old bridge to Graig, Treforest and Rhydyfelin
- Known for
- The old bridge, the Rhondda confluence and the university campus
- 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 Pontypridd
What is going on for people in Pontypridd?
The valleys around Pontypridd are narrow, and so are the options in them. Drug use follows the geography: what circulates in Glyncoch or Trallwn tends to circulate among people who have known each other since school, which makes it both easier to get and much harder to step away from. The drug-misuse death rate across Rhondda Cynon Taf for 2022 to 2024 stood above the Wales average. Students down at Treforest add a different layer again, using in the way students do and rarely thinking of it as a matter for anybody. Between them sit plenty of working people managing quietly on something.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Pontypridd
GraigTreforestRhydyfelinHawthornCilfynyddGlyncochTrallwnYnysybwlMaesycoed
Wherever you are in Pontypridd, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Pontypridd
Official figures for Pontypridd, for context rather than as a description of you.
In Rhondda Cynon Taf (the council area covering Pontypridd) the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate was 11.6 per 100,000 in 2022 to 2024, 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 Rhondda Cynon Taf, the council area covering Pontypridd, 7.4% of adults reported a low life satisfaction score (4 or below out of 10) in the year ending March 2023, in line with the Wales average of 6.9%. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Personal well-being estimates by local authority (Year ending March 2023 (2022-23)).
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 method travels; only the geography changes. the full substance use counselling page explains it properly, the practical side answers the practical questions, and how to check my registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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.
The whole of this happens at a distance, with Bradley in Hove and you wherever you are. For substance use, video sessions solve a few real problems. Nothing has to be got to on a rough morning, no one sees you arriving, and a valley address is no obstacle. You choose the weekly time, and if the internet is unreliable where you live we can use the telephone instead without any fuss.
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 Pontypridd
Why people in Pontypridd come for substance use counselling
Current use is not a barrier to being seen here, and you will not be asked to sign up to stopping first. It is worth being explicit about that, because the opposite assumption keeps people out of help for years at exactly the age when help would change most. We work from your own description of what you take and what it does for you. That last part gets taken seriously rather than dismissed, because a drug that had no use would have been dropped long ago. Underneath, there is often sleep, pain, grief or a mind that has never been allowed to rest. All treatment, prescribing and anything medical stays with a doctor, with DASPA on 0300 333 0000 or with the Cwm Taf Integrated Substance Use Service. The NHS find a service directory lists more, and DAN 24/7 answers at any hour on 0808 808 2234.
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 Pontypridd
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Pontypridd, 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.
Pontypridd questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Pontypridd: common questions
Will you insist I stop before we work together?
I will not. Insisting on it tends to produce a promise made to please me rather than a change you actually want, and those do not hold. We look instead at the whole picture, and any decision about use comes from you when you are ready to make it.
What are your charges?
£80 covers sixty minutes. Ninety minutes costs £100 and a two-hour session £120, which some people choose when there is a great deal to say. The first 15-minute call is free and carries no expectation of booking anything after it.
Which service provides drug treatment in Rhondda Cynon Taf?
The Cwm Taf Integrated Substance Use Service, delivered by Barod, with DASPA as the single point of access on 0300 333 0000. Rhondda Cynon Taf Council also publishes support information, and the NHS find a service directory covers services by postcode.
I use with people I grew up with. How does that get handled?
Carefully, because those friendships are usually real and not disposable. Rather than issuing instructions about who to see, we look at what each relationship depends on and what you would want it to be. Change there tends to happen slowly and by your choice.
Can I do this while I am a student at Treforest?
Yes, and it is a common time to start. Sessions run by video, so a room in shared accommodation with headphones is workable, and the timing can move around lectures. What you discuss has no connection whatever to your course or the university.
Do you work with University of South Wales students?
Yes, by secure video. Students at the Treforest campus and elsewhere are welcome to get in touch. Sessions take place online wherever you are, so term time and time back home need not interrupt the work.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling around Pontypridd?
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 up the Rhondda rather than down in Pontypridd makes no difference to how soon we can start.
Is substance use counselling cheaper on the NHS in Pontypridd?
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 Pontypridd?
You join by secure video from a private space at home, whether in Hawthorn, Glyncoch or Ynysybwl, needing only a steady connection. I keep some evening appointments, so the journey down to Pontypridd or into Cardiff for specialist help is no longer needed. Students at Treforest are welcome too.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Pontypridd, 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: Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff, Cwmbran. See all of Wales.
Also available in Pontypridd: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: 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 Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.