Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Taunton
Online Substance Use Counselling in Taunton
Online substance use counselling for Taunton, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Taunton, from the town centre and the river to the streets around the castle, 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 Taunton
Substance Use Counselling for Taunton, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Taunton: from the town centre and the river to Halcon, Priorswood and Bishops Hull
- Known for
- The castle, the river Tone and the Quantock and Blackdown hills
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Somerset Council's drugs and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Taunton
Why do people in Taunton reach out?
Rural counties are assumed not to have drug problems, which is exactly how the ones they do have go unattended. In Somerset, 3.3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, below the England average of 4.5, and deaths from drug misuse ran at 5.8 per 100,000 for 2022 to 2024. Use here does not look like a city's. It is cannabis in a van between jobs, cocaine at the weekend in Rowbarton or Staplegrove, prescribed medication that has quietly turned into something else. Distance keeps it private, and privacy keeps it going far longer than it might elsewhere.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Taunton
HalconPriorswoodBishops HullWiltonRowbartonTrullComeytroweGalmingtonStaplegrove
Wherever you are in Taunton, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Taunton
Official figures for Taunton, for context rather than as a description of you.
3.3 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 5.8 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, in line with 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.
The method travels; only the geography changes. everything on substance use counselling explains it properly, the practical side answers the practical questions, and my credentials and registration shows how the practice is held to account.
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 happens by secure video, because Bradley is in Hove. For drug work in a rural area the gain is obvious: you are not driving to a service in another town and hoping nobody recognises the car. You choose where the hour happens. Sessions carry on through harvest, through seasonal work and through a move, and nothing about them puts your name on a local list.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Taunton 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 Taunton
Why people in Taunton come for substance use counselling
You do not have to have stopped, and nothing here is arranged around getting you to. This is drug-specific work built on the assumption that your use makes sense to you, and that understanding it beats being told off for it. Cannabis relied on to sleep or to stop thinking, cocaine that turns up every weekend without ever being planned, ketamine, stimulants and prescribed medication used differently from the label are all straightforward subjects. So is what happens two days later, when the mood drops away. In a county where specialist appointments can mean a long journey, this is one thing that does not. Somerset Council's drugs and alcohol support is the free clinical route, delivered by the Somerset Drug and Alcohol Service. Counselling sits beside it and answers to nobody except you.
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 Taunton
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Taunton, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Somerset Council's drugs 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.
Taunton questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Taunton: common questions
Will you tell me to stop?
No. That is not the arrangement, and you would not be the first person told to stop by everybody and helped by none of them. We start with what the use does for you. Any decision about changing it stays with you throughout.
What is the cost, and is there a minimum number of sessions?
There is no minimum. Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for two hours, and the opening 15-minute conversation is free. You pay as you go, so seasonal or unpredictable income does not tie you to anything you cannot sustain.
What is the Somerset Drug and Alcohol Service?
It is the county's drug and alcohol service, delivered by Turning Point and reached through Somerset Council's drugs and alcohol support. Treatment, harm reduction and prescribing are all provided free. This is separate: a private hour each week on what sits underneath the use.
Is any of it recorded on my medical record?
None of it. No NHS record is created, no letter is sent to a GP, and nothing is shared with an employer. Notes stay private under the BACP Ethical Framework, with the standard exception where a life is at serious and immediate risk.
I use because there is nothing else to do out here. Is that a real reason?
A very real one, and worth taking seriously rather than dismissing. Boredom and isolation are among the strongest drivers of regular use, particularly through a long rural winter. Working on what fills the time is usually a bigger lever than working on the substance.
I live in a village outside Taunton with no easy transport. Can I still get support?
Yes. This is exactly where online sessions help most: no drive into town and no bus to catch, and we meet by secure video from home. The counselling room is in Hove, so rural Somerset is served online rather than in person.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Taunton 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 Taunton, whether that is Bishops Hull, Wilton or Rowbarton, with no waiting list to join.
How much does private substance use counselling cost compared with NHS options in Taunton?
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 Taunton 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 Taunton?
I hold some appointments later in the day, which helps if you work shifts or long hours around Taunton. Sessions are online, so you join from wherever feels private, from Trull to Comeytrowe. In-person work is only at my Hove room, for those who can reach the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Taunton, 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: Exeter, Bristol. See all of South West.
Close to this in Taunton, there is 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.
For anyone near the coast, the same substance use counselling runs in person in Brighton. Every area covered is listed separately.