Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Reading
Online Substance Use Counselling in Reading
Online substance use counselling for Reading, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Reading, from the centre and the university quarter to the streets around the Thames, 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 Reading
Substance Use Counselling for Reading, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Reading: from the centre and the university quarter to Caversham, Tilehurst and Earley
- Known for
- The Thames, the Oracle and the Kennet
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Reading Borough Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Reading
What brings people in Reading to counselling?
Drug use around Reading tends to be functional and well hidden. Something to keep going through a project that has overrun. Something else to shut the day down afterwards, because the day will not shut down by itself. It sits in flats near the centre, in houses out in Woodley and Tilehurst, in the student rooms around the University of Reading. Treatment numbers here are relatively high, with 7.6 adults per 1,000 in specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 against an England average of 4.5 per 1,000, and deaths from drug misuse ran at 6.3 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024. This is not a town where nothing is going on.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Reading
CavershamTilehurstEarleyLower EarleyWoodleyWhitleySouthcoteColeyEmmer Green
Wherever you are in Reading, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Reading
Official figures for Reading, for context rather than as a description of you.
7.6 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 6.3 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.
How do online sessions actually work?
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.
Reading is worked with online, by secure video, since Bradley is in Hove. For substance use the value is not only the saved journey: nothing is carried into a building, no reception is involved, and no one at work or on your street watches a weekly pattern develop. Sessions run from your own space at a fixed time each week. Camera off is acceptable to start with, and telephone covers an unreliable connection.
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 Reading
Why people in Reading come for substance use counselling
Stopping is not a prerequisite here, and neither is intending to. That is worth saying in a town where a lot of use is tied to keeping up rather than dropping out, because people assume a service will want something given up before it will listen. We start with the shape of it: what you use, when, and what it delivers that nothing else currently does. That third part is normally missing from the conversation, and it is the part that explains the rest. Then the cost, described by you. With 7.6 adults per 1,000 in treatment in 2020/21 against 4.5 nationally, Reading has real provision. Reading Borough Council's drug and alcohol support and the Change Grow Live service in the town are where prescribing and structured treatment sit. Withdrawal is medical ground, not counselling ground.
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 Reading
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Reading, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Reading Borough 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.
Reading questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Reading: common questions
Do I need to want to stop?
Not before starting. Wanting to stop is often something that develops during the work rather than a ticket needed to get in. We look at what the substance is doing for you and what it takes in exchange, and the conclusion is yours to reach at whatever pace it takes.
What does it cost, and can I stop after one session?
You can stop at any point, because nothing is booked ahead. Sixty minutes is £80, ninety minutes £100, and a two-hour appointment £120. The initial 15-minute consultation is free, which means deciding whether this suits you costs nothing beyond the quarter of an hour it takes.
Which drug service covers Reading?
Change Grow Live runs the Reading drug and alcohol service, and Reading Borough Council's drug and alcohol support explains how to access it. Prescribing, testing and structured treatment happen there. Mind in Berkshire offers wellbeing support if anxiety or low mood sits underneath the use.
Could this reach my employer or affect a security check?
Nothing is passed on routinely. The work is confidential and governed by the BACP Ethical Framework, with narrow exceptions explained before you start: serious risk to life, or a legal obligation. There is no report to an employer and no note to your GP unless you request one.
I use to keep up with the workload in a tech job. Is that different from an addiction?
The label matters less than the pattern. Use that props up performance is still use with a purpose, and along this corridor that purpose is very easy to justify for years at a stretch. What is worth testing is what a fortnight without it does to your sleep, mood and work.
Does substance-use counselling mean I have to stop straight away?
No. This is your process, not an ultimatum. Some people want to stop, others want to cut down or first understand why the habit took hold. We start where you are and work at a pace that feels realistic, without pressure to decide before you are ready.
Can I get online substance use counselling in Reading without a long wait?
Usually yes. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then we agree a time, often within a week. There is no referral queue and no clinic to reach across Reading, so you can join securely from home in Caversham, Earley or Tilehurst, or from the office.
Is substance use counselling available on the NHS in Reading?
There are free NHS routes: your GP can refer you and Berkshire's drug and alcohol service accepts self-referrals, while FRANK gives confidential advice online and by phone. This practice is private, at £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, with a free 15-minute consultation.
Online or in person for substance use counselling around a Reading tech job?
Online tends to work best when the days blur together on autopilot, as sessions slot into gaps between deadlines with no travel at either end. Evenings suit many people here. If you would prefer to meet face to face, the room is in Hove, reachable by train to the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Reading, 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 London & South East: Slough, Oxford, Basingstoke, London. See all of London & South East.
Close to this in Reading, there is addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
Within reach of Sussex? substance use counselling is offered in the room in Hove, where the room is as well as online; see the full list of areas.