Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Solihull
Online Substance Use Counselling in Solihull
Online substance use counselling for Solihull, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Solihull, from the town centre and Touchwood to the streets around the High Street, 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 Solihull
Substance Use Counselling for Solihull, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Solihull: from the town centre and Touchwood to Shirley, Olton and Knowle
- Known for
- The High Street, Brueton Park and the NEC nearby
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Solihull Council's drug support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Solihull
Why people in Solihull get in touch
Drugs in Solihull are mostly indoors. Cocaine at a kitchen table in Shirley once the children have gone up, something taken to get through a night shift near the NEC, ketamine among a group of twenty-somethings in Olton who would call it nothing much. The borough's reputation does the hiding on people's behalf, because this is not where anybody expects to look, so use can stay filed under sociable long after it has become a fixture. The awkward result is that anyone here who does begin to worry about their own use tends to feel like the only one for miles, and that is a lonely position to try to think straight from.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Solihull
ShirleyOltonKnowleDorridgeBlossomfieldHillfieldElmdonBickenhillMonkspathLyndon
Wherever you are in Solihull, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Solihull
Official figures for Solihull, for context rather than as a description of you.
4.4 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, below 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 3.9 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, below the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does substance use counselling involve?
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 substance use counselling page, with how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and my BACP registration for registration and ethics.
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.
Bradley works in Hove, so Solihull sessions are online. That suits drug work particularly well: no reception desk, no list with your name on it, nowhere you could be seen arriving. People join from home, from a car, from a quiet corner of a working day. Nothing has to be explained to an employer. If the job takes you away for a fortnight, the appointment travels with you instead of lapsing and having to be picked up again later.
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 Solihull
Why people in Solihull come for substance use counselling
This is drug-focused work, and it is deliberately non-judgemental about where you currently are with it. Starting while you are still using is ordinary, not a concession. What we examine is the function of the drug rather than the morality of it: what it delivers, what it charges you by Monday, and what it has quietly taken the place of. Cocaine, cannabis, ketamine, stimulants and prescribed medication all come up. The local numbers are low, and that cuts both ways. Deaths from drug misuse were 3.9 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, below the England average of 5.8, and 4.4 adults per 1,000 were in specialist drug-misuse treatment in 2020/21 against 4.5 per 1,000 for England. Low figures can mean fewer people are using, or fewer are putting a hand up. Solihull Council's drug support and SIAS handle assessment and structured treatment; this is the talking part.
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 Solihull
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Solihull, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Solihull Council's drug 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.
Solihull questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Solihull: common questions
Do I need to be clean before we start talking?
No. You can begin exactly where you are, including in a week when nothing has changed and nothing is going to. Being able to describe the use honestly matters far more than having paused it. Waiting until you feel ready enough to deserve help can take years you do not need to spend.
How does payment actually work?
Sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, paid one at a time. Ahead of that, the introductory 15-minute conversation is free of charge. There is no assessment charge and no registration fee, and nothing at all to pay if you decide after that first call that it is not what you want.
Should I be going to SIAS instead of paying for counselling?
SIAS may well be part of the answer. It is the borough's integrated addiction service, and Solihull Council's drug support is the way in. They cover assessment, testing and structured treatment. Using both is common, because they answer different questions and neither one blocks the other.
Could this ever get back to my employer near the airport?
No. Private counselling is confidential, and no report goes to anyone unless you ask for one yourself. Nothing reaches occupational health, a manager or your GP. The only limits are the standard ones about serious risk to life, and those would be talked through with you rather than sprung on you.
It is only weekends and I still do my job properly. Is that even a problem?
It might not be. It might also be the stage at which changing it is easiest. Use that never breaches the working week can still be shaping your sleep, your mood by midweek, and how much you actually enjoy anything sober. An honest hour on it costs you very little.
Will substance use counselling stay confidential from my employer?
Yes. Counselling is private and independent, with nothing shared with your employer or anyone else. It is a confidential space to understand your substance use and what you want to change. Because sessions are online, you also choose where you join from.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Solihull?
Usually within a week. Substance use counselling for Solihull is delivered online from Hove, so you avoid a local queue. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then your first session is booked when it works, whether you commute into the city or work near the NEC.
What does substance use counselling cost against NHS drug services in Solihull?
Fees are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first. NHS drug services locally 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 stay private in Solihull?
Yes. The consulting room is in Hove and Solihull is served by video, so you join from home in Dorridge or Olton with no waiting room and no one locally any the wiser. In a comfortable town that privacy helps, and evening slots can often be arranged.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Solihull, 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: Birmingham, Coventry. See all of Midlands.
People who come for substance use counselling in Solihull 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?.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.