Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Sunderland
Online Substance Use Counselling in Sunderland
Online substance use counselling for Sunderland, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Sunderland, from the city centre and the river to the streets around the river Wear, 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 Sunderland
Substance Use Counselling for Sunderland, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Sunderland: from the city centre and the river to Roker, Hendon and Washington
- Known for
- The river Wear, Roker beach and the Stadium of Light
- Region
- Yorkshire & North East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Sunderland
Why do people in Sunderland reach out?
Drug use in Sunderland mostly stays behind front doors. The rate of deaths from drug misuse was 8.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24 against an England average of 5.8, and 5.7 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21 compared with 4.5 nationally. Those figures cover people whose lives look nothing alike: cocaine at a weekend by someone with a mortgage in Fulwell, cannabis every night in Washington to switch off after a factory shift, students near the University of Sunderland taking whatever is going, and prescribed tablets in Ryhope that outlived the reason they were issued.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Sunderland
RokerSeaburnHendonWashingtonSouthwickFulwellMillfieldSilksworthRyhopeHoughton-le-Spring
Wherever you are in Sunderland, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Sunderland
Official figures for Sunderland, for context rather than as a description of you.
5.7 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 8.1 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 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 everything on substance use counselling, with session lengths and fees for the practical questions and professional standards and registration for registration and ethics.
What do I need for 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.
Everything runs by video and there is no room anywhere in the city, since Bradley works from Hove. That removes the moment people find hardest, which is being seen going through a door. You can be using and still book; there is no testing, no attendance record and no expectation that you have stopped or intend to. Sessions fit round nights, days and the long gaps between them. The first 15-minute conversation costs you nothing.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does substance use counselling address?
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 Sunderland
Why people in Sunderland come for substance use counselling
There is no entry exam here and no requirement to have decided anything. Most people want to stop and want to carry on in roughly equal measure, and being asked to sort that out before the first session is exactly what postpones it for years. So we start with what the substance is doing. Holding sleep together when shifts have wrecked it. Making a body ache less after physical work. Keeping company in an afternoon when everyone else is out. Once that is visible, we can weigh what it costs and look at what might do the same job less expensively. Some people move towards stopping, others towards safer use, and both are proper outcomes. Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse support and Wear Recovery offer free structured treatment. Prescribing and withdrawal stay with your GP or prescriber.
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 Sunderland
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Sunderland, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Sunderland City Council's alcohol, drugs and substance misuse 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.
Sunderland questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Sunderland: common questions
Will I be judged for using?
You will not. Judgement is the reason most people say nothing for years, and it achieves nothing when it finally arrives. My interest is in what the substance does for you and what it takes, and neither can be discussed honestly if you expect a poor reaction.
Could anything reach Sunderland City Council or my employer?
No. I hold no shared file with the council, with Wear Recovery, with an employer or with your GP, and nothing is reported. The only exceptions concern serious risk to life or to a child, which is the standard every BACP counsellor works to.
I use to get to sleep after nights - is that really addiction?
The label matters less than the trap. Using something to sleep after night shifts works well enough that the sleep becomes dependent on it, and then the shifts and the substance hold each other in place. That is worth unpicking regardless of what it gets called.
How much does it cost and do I commit to a number of sessions?
The rate is £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, paid session by session with no block booking and no minimum. If the free 15-minute consultation suggests Wear Recovery would serve you better, I will say so plainly.
Can I have this at the same time as treatment from the local service?
Yes. The two do different jobs and sit together comfortably. The treatment service manages medication, health checks and structure, while these sessions deal with why the pull keeps returning and what has to change around it for anything to hold.
I work shifts - can sessions fit awkward hours?
Yes. Because everything is online, we can find a time that works around rotas rather than office-hours appointments. If a shift changes, moving a video session is far simpler than rearranging a trip across Wearside, so a regular slot is easy to keep.
How soon could I begin substance use counselling from Sunderland?
Usually fairly soon. Working online means I am not tied to Sunderland clinic hours, so we can find a slot that fits around Nissan and the automotive sector. It starts with a free 15-minute consultation about your substance use, then a regular weekly session once we agree things suit you.
Is private substance use counselling in Sunderland worth it over the NHS route?
Privately I charge £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute call first. Sunderland also has NHS routes, through your GP or South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS, at no cost; those can involve a wait, so private sessions suit anyone wanting to begin substance use work now.
Can substance use counselling fit around work in Sunderland, and is it online?
Sessions with me are online only for Sunderland, as I am based in Hove. People working near Nissan and the automotive sector often prefer this, fitting substance use counselling around the day without travel across the city. I offer daytime and some early-evening appointments, and we would keep the same weekly slot wherever possible.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Sunderland, 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 Yorkshire & North East: Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, Durham. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Related work in Sunderland: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about three ways to handle a craving and calming a craving as it rises.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person, in Hove, where the room is, or see every area I cover.