Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Poole
Online Substance Use Counselling in Poole
Online substance use counselling for Poole, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Poole, from the quay and the old town to the streets around the harbour, 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 Poole
Substance Use Counselling for Poole, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Poole: from the quay and the old town to Branksome, Parkstone and Canford Heath
- Known for
- The harbour, Sandbanks and the quay
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Poole
Why people in Poole get in touch
Drug use around Poole rarely matches the assumptions people make about the area. It exists in Branksome and Parkstone, in Canford Heath, and in comfortable houses in Broadstone where nobody would think to look. The figures are blunt. Deaths from drug misuse reached 11.5 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, roughly double the England average of 5.8, and 5.3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5. Money on one side of the harbour does not cancel what happens on the other, and it can make asking harder, because there appears to be more reputation at stake.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Poole
BranksomeParkstoneCanford HeathSandbanksHamworthyBroadstoneOakdaleCreekmoorLilliput
Wherever you are in Poole, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Poole
Official figures for Poole, for context rather than as a description of you.
5.3 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 11.5 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the full substance use counselling page, with how I work, sessions and fees for the practical questions and professional standards and registration for registration and ethics.
What happens in 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.
Because Bradley works from Hove, everything for Poole runs by secure video. For drug work that removes the two things people worry about most: being seen, and being on a list somewhere. You choose the location and you choose the time. Sessions hold together through irregular hours, and they continue unchanged if you move away or work a season elsewhere. All you need is an hour where nobody will walk in.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does substance use counselling 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 Poole
Why people in Poole come for substance use counselling
Stopping is not the entry fee. You can come here while you are still using and be met with a straight conversation rather than a raised eyebrow, which is not something everybody gets offered. The work looks at what the use actually does for you: what it makes possible, what it makes bearable, and what it has quietly rearranged around itself. Cocaine that has moved from occasional to expected, cannabis relied on for sleep, ketamine, stimulants and prescribed medication used outside their purpose are all everyday subjects here. Nothing is reported anywhere. If you want the clinical side as well, BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services is the free route into We Are With You, which covers treatment, harm reduction and prescribing across this area. Dorset Mind is there when anxiety or low mood is doing as much damage as the substance.
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 Poole
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Poole, free local drug and alcohol support is available through BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services.
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.
Poole questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Poole: common questions
Must I have decided to stop before I get in touch?
Not at all. Deciding usually comes later, if it comes. What this offers first is somewhere to look honestly at what is happening. Some people change a great deal, some change one specific thing, and some simply stop feeling so alone with it.
How much is it?
An hour costs £80, 90 minutes costs £100 and two hours costs £120, with a free 15-minute call before any of that. You pay session by session rather than in advance, and there is nothing to cancel if you decide it is not for you.
What is We Are With You able to offer?
It is the commissioned drug and alcohol service for this area, reached through BCP Council's drug and alcohol support services, and it provides free treatment, harm reduction and prescribing. Counselling does the other half: the weekly hour spent on why any of it began.
Is it confidential if I live in a small neighbourhood?
Completely. There is no building, no reception and no local staff who might recognise you. Notes are kept privately under the BACP Ethical Framework, and nothing goes to your GP or anyone else unless you ask, or unless a life is at serious risk.
My use is tied to the season and stops in winter. Is that fine?
It might be, and it might be a pattern rather than a limit. Use that switches on with the busy months usually has a job to do, whether that is stamina, sociability or simply staying awake. Looking at the job is more useful than counting months.
I work on the harbour or in tourism and my hours are seasonal. Can sessions adapt?
Yes. Because we meet online, appointments can be arranged around the busy summers and quieter winters of harbour and resort work. We speak by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Poole is served online rather than in person.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Poole this week?
Often yes. After a short message we set up a free 15-minute call, then arrange your first session, frequently within the same week. Because we meet online, you can talk from home anywhere in Poole, whether that is Canford Heath, Sandbanks or Hamworthy, with no waiting list to join.
How much does private substance use counselling cost compared with NHS options in Poole?
I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, and the initial 15-minute consultation is free. NHS drug services and GP referrals in Poole are free of charge but often have waits, while private sessions can start quickly and stay flexible around you.
Do you offer evening online sessions for substance use counselling in Poole?
I hold some appointments later in the day, which helps if you work shifts or long hours around Poole. Sessions are online, so you join from wherever feels private, from Broadstone to Oakdale. In-person work is only at my Hove room, for those who can reach the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Poole, 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 South West: Bournemouth. See all of South West.
People who come for substance use counselling in Poole often also look at addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
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 Brighton, or see every area I cover.