Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Portsmouth
Online substance use counselling for Portsmouth, by secure video, wherever you are. For many people in Portsmouth, online sessions are not a compromise but the thing that finally makes therapy possible: flexible, private and fitted around your life.
Known for the Spinnaker Tower, the harbour and the seafront, Portsmouth is a place of real character, with clients coming to me from across Portsea Island, from Southsea and Old Portsmouth to Fratton, Cosham and Copnor. Wherever you are across it, online counselling means experienced support without the travel, fitted around work, family and everything else.
My room is in Hove, but the work reaches a great deal further. By secure video I support people throughout the UK, Portsmouth included, with the same care and attention as an in-person session.
I also work online with people elsewhere in London & South East, including Southampton, Chichester, London.
If you would still prefer to meet in person and can travel to the Sussex coast, you are welcome to, but for most clients in Portsmouth online substance use counselling is the natural and effective choice.
Life in Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the most densely populated city outside London and a historic naval base, and the forces connection runs deep. Long deployments, frequent moves and the strain on families left behind leave their mark, and on a tightly packed island city privacy can feel in short supply. Reaching out here often means doing so quietly, without anyone needing to know.
The pace and scale of a busy urban area can be isolating even when you are never really alone. A session you join from your own space keeps the focus on you, not on the journey there.
What I help with
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Letting go of the protective self that no longer serves you.
One-to-one sessions shaped entirely around you.
Rediscovering the authentic self beneath the coping.
Treating what the substance has been masking.
Growing into recovery rather than forcing it.
Why online works in Portsmouth
In a place as busy as Portsmouth, a confidential hour from your own space means no chance of being seen coming or going.
A weekly session you can take from home is far simpler to protect than one that needs travel. That consistency is exactly where lasting change comes from.
Sessions run on a secure, encrypted video link, and everything is held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as work done in person.
Many people find it easier to open up from their own sofa than in an unfamiliar room. From Portsmouth, that comfort is part of the work, not a compromise.
Here's what actually happens once we begin. My approach is integrative and humanistic, starting from a simple premise: you are the expert on yourself. With support you can find yourself again, without the anaesthetic, working at a pace that always protects your sense of safety.
Practically, it couldn't be simpler: a quiet room, a device with a camera, and a steady internet connection. After a free fifteen-minute call to check the fit, you'll get a private link to join at our agreed time.
Read more about online counselling, about substance use counselling, or about my methods, sessions and fees.
Start the conversationMy online counselling sits alongside the help available locally, and it can be worth knowing what else is there. In Portsmouth, you can refer yourself directly to NHS Talking Therapies Hampshire for free NHS talking therapy, with no GP referral needed. You can also find your nearest service through the NHS Talking Therapies finder.
Private sessions with me usually mean you can start sooner, stay with the same counsellor throughout, and work at greater depth and pace; the two can run side by side, and I'm glad to work alongside any NHS or GP support you already have.
This practice is not a crisis service. If you or someone else 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.
Portsmouth questions
Yes. I work with clients in Portsmouth and right across the UK by secure video. You don't need to live near Brighton or Hove; online substance use counselling brings the same care to wherever you are.
We meet over a secure, private video link at a time that suits you. You'll need a quiet space, a device with a camera and a steady connection. We always begin with a free fifteen-minute call so you can ask questions and check the fit.
For most people, yes. Online therapy can be just as effective as meeting face to face, and many find it easier to open up from home. Everything is held with the same strict confidentiality as in-person work.
Yes. Sessions run on a secure, encrypted video link, and everything we discuss is held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as work done in person. All you need at your end is a private space.
The simplest first step from Portsmouth is a free fifteen-minute call. There's no obligation, just a chance to ask anything and see how it feels.
Prefer to meet face to face? See counselling across Brighton, Hove & Sussex, or read more about how online counselling works and about substance use counselling in depth.