Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Swansea
Online Substance Use Counselling in Swansea
Online substance use counselling for Swansea, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Swansea, from the centre and the marina to the streets around the bay, 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 Swansea
Substance Use Counselling for Swansea, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Swansea: from the centre and the marina to Uplands, Sketty and Morriston
- Known for
- The bay, the marina and the Gower beyond
- Region
- Wales (Wales)
- Local NHS / support route
- Local council drug & alcohol service (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Swansea
Why people in Swansea reach out
Swansea curves around its bay beside the Gower peninsula, a city of real beauty that also carries the marks of industrial decline. A large student population, insecure work and pockets of deep deprivation all shape what people here carry, beneath the easy access to wild coast.
Swansea, Abertawe in Welsh, was once known as Copperopolis, the world's leading centre for copper smelting, and the heritage of that industry still lines the Lower Swansea Valley. The city curves around its bay towards Mumbles and the Gower peninsula, designated the very first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Britain. It was here, in the Uplands, that Dylan Thomas was born, and the city keeps his memory in its festivals and trails. Modern Swansea blends a working port and a marina with two university campuses at Singleton and on the seafront. Districts such as Morriston, home of the famous male voice choir, and Sketty each hold their own identity, while Wind Street, the market and the Kardomah keep the city sociable.
Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.
Swansea is home to Swansea University (Singleton and Bay campuses) and Morriston Hospital under Swansea Bay University Health Board; the DVLA's headquarters is based at Morriston in the city.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Swansea
UplandsSkettyMorristonMumblesBrynmillTownhillSt ThomasLandoreGorseinonClydachKillayBonymaen
Wherever you are in Swansea, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Swansea
These figures are local context from official sources, not a description of you, but they show the scale of what people in and around Swansea are living with, and why local support matters.
In Swansea the age-standardised drug-misuse death rate was 14.3 per 100,000 in 2022 to 2024, well above the Wales average of 8.5 per 100,000. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Deaths related to drug poisoning by local authority, England and Wales (drug misuse, Table 6) (2022 to 2024).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
The substance use counselling itself
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 is the same wherever you live, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods, what each session covers and fees, on the main substance use counselling page and on how I work.
How online sessions work
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link held to the same strict BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, you join each session from any private space using a phone, tablet or laptop, no software to install, no waiting room and no journey at either end.
There are counsellors and NHS services within Swansea itself, and if you live out towards Gower or the western valleys, specialist face-to-face help can be a fair drive away. My practice is in Hove, on the south coast of England, so I do not see people in Swansea in person. I do offer confidential sessions by secure video across the whole of Wales and the UK, which removes the journey entirely and often makes it easier to keep going week to week.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
How online substance use counselling in Swansea can help
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 Swansea
Why people in Swansea come for substance use counselling
Swansea's copper and industrial past has left a city that knows hard times as well as beauty, and for some, substances have become a way of getting through insecure work, low patches or long-standing pain. I meet that without judgement. Rather than focusing only on what you use, my work looks at what it has been holding at bay, and how to build something steadier in its place. Based in Hove, I am not able to see people in Swansea in person, so everything is done by secure video, reaching the city and the wider bay wherever you happen to be.
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 Swansea
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Swansea, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.
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 press 2 for urgent mental health support. The CALL Helpline for Wales is free on 0800 132 737, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Swansea questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Swansea: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Swansea?
Yes. I work with people right across Swansea, from the centre and the marina outwards, and anywhere else in Wales, by secure video, no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Can I get support while I'm still using?
Yes. This is non-judgemental, one-to-one work that meets you where you are, and it can run alongside any medical or detox support you have.
How is this different from a group or 12-step programme?
It is individual and shaped entirely around you. Some people use it instead of groups, others alongside them.
Will you tell my GP or employer?
No. What you share is confidential within the BACP framework; nothing goes to anyone else without your consent.
Will this be confidential? Swansea can feel like a small place.
Completely. Sessions are private and held by secure video, so there is no local waiting room to be seen going into. What we discuss stays between us, within the usual professional and safety limits, wherever in the bay you are based.
Can I begin substance use counselling quickly out on Gower or in Swansea?
Yes. Once you have had your free 15-minute consultation, a first session can often be arranged the same week. Because everything is by secure video, whether you are in the city or out along the Gower coast makes no difference and nothing delays the start.
Is substance use counselling cheaper on the NHS in Swansea?
NHS drug services through Swansea Bay health board are free, and Dan 24/7 gives free all-Wales advice, though demand is high. Privately I charge £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, after a free 15-minute consultation.
How does online substance use counselling work for someone in Swansea?
You join by secure video from anywhere, from Townhill to Mumbles, needing only a private space and a steady connection. I keep some evening appointments as well, so work at the docks, the university or across the city need not get in the way.
I live out on Gower, can we still work together?
Yes. Because sessions are held by secure video, where you live in relation to Swansea makes no difference. People along the Gower coast and in the villages work with me online just as easily as those in the city centre.
Are you based in Swansea?
No, my practice is in Hove. I am not able to meet anyone in Swansea face to face, but I work with people right across the bay and the wider region by video, wherever in Wales you happen to be.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Swansea, 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 Wales: Neath, Llanelli, Cardiff. See all of Wales.
All counselling & therapy in Swansea: Addiction · Drinking Problems · Anxiety · Depression · Relationship · Trauma · Counselling & Therapy · Psychotherapy.
Closer to the Sussex coast? The same substance use counselling is available in person in Brighton & Hove, or see all in-person areas.