Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Torquay
Online Substance Use Counselling in Torquay
Online substance use counselling for Torquay, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Torquay, from the harbour and seafront to the streets around the English Riviera, 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 Torquay
Substance Use Counselling for Torquay, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Torquay: from the harbour and seafront to Babbacombe, St Marychurch and Chelston
- Known for
- The harbour, the seafront and the English Riviera
- Region
- South West (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Torbay Council's drugs support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Torquay
What is going on for people in Torquay?
Torbay has one of the higher treatment rates in the country: 7.8 adults per 1,000 were in specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, well above the England average of 4.5, while deaths from drug misuse ran at 4.6 per 100,000 for 2022 to 2024, below the England average of 5.8. Taken together, those describe a place where use is common and, encouragingly, where people do ask for help. None of it is confined to one part of the bay. Use here runs through hospitality kitchens and late finishes, through long winters in Torre and Ellacombe, and through comfortable streets in Wellswood where nobody expects to find it.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Torquay
BabbacombeSt MarychurchChelstonEllacombeWellswoodCockingtonShiphayTorreWatcombe
Wherever you are in Torquay, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Torquay
Official figures for Torquay, for context rather than as a description of you.
7.8 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 4.6 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 is substance use counselling, in practice?
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 does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the main substance use counselling page, alongside session lengths and fees and qualifications, 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.
Sessions are online by secure video, since Bradley is in Hove. For a conversation about drugs in a town this size, the anonymity does most of the work. Nobody sees you attend, and no local record carries your name. You take the hour from wherever suits, and the arrangement holds through changing shifts, a change of address, or a winter spent working somewhere else entirely.
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 Torquay
Why people in Torquay come for substance use counselling
Nothing here requires you to have stopped. You can come while you are using and describe it accurately, which is rarer than it ought to be. This is drug-focused work: cocaine that has become part of every late finish, cannabis that has become the only way down after a shift, ketamine, stimulants and prescribed medication used outside their purpose. We look at what the use gives you and what it takes back, and at the pattern rather than any individual night. Torbay Council's drugs support is the free route into the Torbay Drug and Alcohol Service, which handles structured treatment, harm reduction and anything clinical. Devon Mind covers the low mood and anxiety that often sit around heavy use. Counselling is the weekly hour, and it is connected to none of them.
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 Torquay
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Torquay, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Torbay Council's drugs 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.
Torquay questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Torquay: common questions
Do I have to be ready to quit?
No, and most people are not when they start. Readiness tends to grow out of understanding rather than the other way round. What is asked of you is honesty about what is actually happening, which is quite different from a commitment to change it.
What do sessions cost?
Sixty minutes is £80, 90 minutes is £100 and two hours is £120, after a free 15-minute call. There is nothing to pay in advance and no set number of weeks, so you are never signing up to more than the next session.
How is the Torbay Drug and Alcohol Service different?
It is the local NHS-provided drug and alcohol service, reached through Torbay Council's drugs support, and it offers treatment, harm reduction and prescribing without charge. This is private counselling about the reasons behind the use. People often have both running at once.
Would a session be private if I share a house?
Yes, in most households, with headphones and a bit of forward planning. People take the hour in a bedroom, in a car, or outdoors somewhere with signal. If the household never empties, we can look at timing first, because a private hour is the one thing this genuinely needs.
My use only happens during the season. Does it still count?
It counts if it is doing something you rely on. Seasonal use that keeps you working long hours can become year-round use surprisingly quickly, and the off-season is when that becomes obvious. Bringing it while it is still seasonal is a great deal easier.
My work in Torquay is seasonal and my hours change. Can counselling fit around that?
Yes. Online sessions can be arranged around shifting hospitality hours and continued through the quieter winter months once the crowds have gone. We meet by secure video. The counselling room is in Hove, so Torquay is served online rather than in person.
Can I begin substance use counselling online in Torquay 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 Torquay, whether that is Chelston, Ellacombe or Wellswood, with no waiting list to join.
How much does private substance use counselling cost compared with NHS options in Torquay?
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 Torquay 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 Torquay?
I hold some appointments later in the day, which helps if you work shifts or long hours around Torquay. Sessions are online, so you join from wherever feels private, from Cockington to Shiphay. In-person work is only at my Hove room, for those who can reach the Sussex coast.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Torquay, 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, Plymouth. See all of South West.
If substance use counselling is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling may fit better in Torquay.
If you would like to read more first, I have written 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 Hove, where the room is — all in-person areas are listed here.