Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Swindon
Online Substance Use Counselling in Swindon
Online substance use counselling for Swindon, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Swindon, from the Old Town and the centre to the streets around the railway heritage, 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 Swindon
Substance Use Counselling for Swindon, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Swindon: from the Old Town and the centre to Old Walcot, Stratton and West Swindon
- Known for
- The railway heritage, the Magic Roundabout and the Old Town
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Swindon
Why people in Swindon get in touch
Drug use in Swindon is comparatively modest by the numbers and easy to underestimate. Deaths from drug misuse ran at 2.9 per 100,000 for 2022 to 2024, half the England average of 5.8, and 4.3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, just under the England average of 4.5. Behind those figures sits ordinary use in ordinary places: cocaine at weekends in Old Town, cannabis to get to sleep after nights in Freshbrook or Toothill, stimulants holding a shift together. A town of commuters and shift workers hides all of that easily, because everybody is somewhere else.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Swindon
Old TownOld WalcotStrattonWest SwindonGorse HillRodbourneFreshbrookToothillPark NorthWroughton
Wherever you are in Swindon, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Swindon
Official figures for Swindon, for context rather than as a description of you.
4.3 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 2.9 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 actually happens in substance use counselling?
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 method travels; only the geography changes. the main substance use counselling page explains it properly, how I work answers the practical questions, and my credentials and registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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.
Everything runs by secure video, since Bradley works from Hove. For drug work in a town where people travel constantly, the flexibility is the practical part: a session does not need you to be in Swindon, or anywhere in particular, on a given evening. Nothing is signed and nobody sees you arrive. A private hour in a house, a car or a hotel room is all it takes.
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 Swindon
Why people in Swindon come for substance use counselling
There is no requirement to stop before you come, and no assumption that stopping is what you want. This work takes your use seriously as something that is doing a job. Cocaine that has moved from occasional to habitual, cannabis that has become the only reliable route to sleep after a night shift, ketamine, stimulants and prescribed medication used differently from how it was intended are all everyday material here. We look at what happens on the days without, because that usually reveals what the use is for. Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services is the free route to clinical care, delivered by Change Grow Live, covering structured treatment, harm reduction and prescribing. Counselling does not overlap with any of that. It offers the hour in which nothing has to be minimised.
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 Swindon
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Swindon, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services.
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.
Swindon questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Swindon: common questions
What if I do not want to stop?
Then you do not stop. Nothing here is contingent on it, and being pushed towards a decision you have not made tends to end the conversation rather than the use. The work is about understanding first, and whatever follows is genuinely your call.
How much does it cost, and are there any commitments?
No commitments whatsoever. Sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, paid individually, with a free 15-minute call first. You can take a month off and come back, and nothing is charged in the meantime.
What does Change Grow Live provide?
It is the drug and alcohol service for the town, reached through Swindon Borough Council's drug and alcohol support services. Free structured treatment, harm reduction and prescribing all sit there. This is private counselling about the reasons underneath, and plenty of people use both.
Will this show up anywhere?
Nowhere at all. No NHS record, no GP letter, no employer notification. Private notes are held under the BACP Ethical Framework and are not shared with anybody, other than in the rare circumstance where a life is at serious and immediate risk.
I use to stay awake through night shifts. Where does that lead?
Usually to needing more of it, and to sleep that never quite recovers. Warehouse and logistics hours are hard on the body, and stimulants make them survivable until they stop doing so. We would look at the shifts, the sleep and the use together.
I commute out of Swindon most days. Can substance counselling fit around that?
Yes. Online sessions remove any extra travel, so they can slot into an evening or a gap in the day without a further journey. We meet by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Swindon is served online rather than in person.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Swindon this week?
Often yes. After a short message we set up a free 15-minute call, then arrange your first session, frequently within the same week. Because we meet online, you can talk from home anywhere in Swindon, whether that is Stratton, West Swindon or Gorse Hill, with no waiting list to join.
How much does private substance use counselling cost compared with NHS options in Swindon?
I charge £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, and the initial 15-minute consultation is free. NHS drug services and GP referrals in Swindon are free of charge but often have waits, while private sessions can start quickly and stay flexible around you.
Do you offer evening online sessions for substance use counselling in Swindon?
I hold some appointments later in the day, which helps if you work shifts or long hours around Swindon. Sessions are online, so you join from wherever feels private, from Rodbourne to Freshbrook. In-person work is only at my Hove room, for those who can reach the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Swindon, 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 South West: Bristol, Bath, Reading. See all of South West.
Also available in Swindon: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
You may also find it useful to read about once an addict, always an addict? and three ways to handle a craving.
If you can reach the south coast, this work is also done face to face in Brighton — all in-person areas are listed here.