Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Worcester
Online Substance Use Counselling in Worcester
Online substance use counselling for Worcester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Worcester, from the cathedral and the centre to the streets around the river Severn, 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 Worcester
Substance Use Counselling for Worcester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Worcester: from the cathedral and the centre to St John's, Barbourne and Warndon
- Known for
- The cathedral, the river Severn and the cricket ground
- Region
- Midlands (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- Worcestershire County Council's drugs and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Worcester
What brings people in Worcester to counselling?
Drugs in Worcester keep a low profile. Cocaine at dinner tables and after a day at New Road cricket ground, ketamine and pills among students at the University of Worcester, cannabis that has been a daily fixture for a decade in a flat in St John's. None of it announces itself. A county city with a good reputation gives people a powerful reason to stay quiet, and the assumption that drug problems belong somewhere else finishes the job. The result is a lot of individuals who each believe they are the exception, working it out privately, putting off the conversation that would make it real.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Worcester
St John'sBarbourneWarndonDines GreenRonkswoodBattenhallSt Peter'sDiglisBlackpoleNorthwick
Wherever you are in Worcester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Worcester
Official figures for Worcester, for context rather than as a description of you.
3.4 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 4.8 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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on substance use counselling in detail, with session lengths and fees for the practical questions and my BACP registration for registration and ethics.
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.
Bradley is in Hove, so there is no room in Worcester and the work is done by secure video. For drug use that settles the visibility question completely: no local building, no name on a local list, nobody outside who might recognise a car. Sessions get taken from a bedroom, a vehicle, or a house once it has emptied for the day. Students keep the same hour through the holidays, and people who move away for work keep it too.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What can substance use counselling in Worcester 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 Worcester
Why people in Worcester come for substance use counselling
Drug-focused counselling here makes no requirement of abstinence and passes no judgement on where you currently are with it. You can come while using and with no intention of stopping this month. The work goes at what the drug does: the anxiety it flattens, the confidence it lends, the sleep it either buys or steals. Cannabis, cocaine, ketamine, stimulants, opioids and prescribed medication are all ordinary subjects. The local numbers sit below the national ones and are worth reading carefully. In 2020/21, 3.4 adults per 1,000 were in specialist drug-misuse treatment against an England average of 4.5 per 1,000, and deaths from drug misuse were 4.8 per 100,000 across 2022 to 2024, under the England average of 5.8. Fewer people in treatment is not the same thing as fewer people struggling. Cranstoun Worcestershire, reached through Worcestershire County Council's drugs and alcohol support, provides the structured side.
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 Worcester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Worcester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Worcestershire County 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.
Worcester questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Worcester: common questions
Will I be judged for still using?
No. Judgement gets in the way of the one thing that makes this work, which is an accurate account of what is going on. You can describe a week honestly, including the parts you are not proud of, without any of it being held against you the following week.
What does it cost, and is the first call genuinely free?
The first 15-minute call really is free and carries no obligation whatsoever. After that an hour is £80, 90 minutes is £100 and two hours is £120. You pay for each session as you have it, so nothing is tied up in advance and nothing continues once you decide to finish.
Who are Cranstoun Worcestershire and what do they do?
They are the alcohol and drug service for the county, reached through Worcestershire County Council's drugs and alcohol support. They cover assessment, structured treatment and anything prescribed, at no cost. For wider mental health there is also Coventry, Warwickshire and Worcestershire Mind.
I am a student here. Can sessions carry on when I go home for the holidays?
Yes, and that is one of the practical advantages of working this way. The link works wherever you are, so a term-time hour in the city and a holiday hour at your parents' house are simply the same appointment. Continuity matters far more than location.
Everyone here assumes drug problems happen elsewhere, so does that make asking harder?
It does, and it is a large part of why people wait so long. Believing you are the only one in a comfortable city is isolating, and isolation keeps use running. The figures locally are lower than the national ones, but lower is not none, and it is certainly not you alone.
Do you offer in-person substance use sessions in Worcester?
No, the room is in Hove, so Worcester is served online. For people across the city and surrounding villages, meeting by video often works out simpler than travelling in, and it keeps things private. You need only a quiet space and a steady connection.
How quickly can I begin substance use counselling in Worcester?
Usually within a week. Substance use counselling for Worcester is delivered online from Hove, so you avoid a local queue. A free 15-minute consultation comes first, then your first session is booked when it fits, whether you study or work in the city.
What does substance use counselling cost against NHS drug services in Worcester?
Fees are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, with a free 15-minute consultation first. Worcester's NHS drug services are free but often busy, whereas private sessions offer earlier appointments and continuity with the same counsellor throughout.
Is substance use counselling online, and can it stay discreet in Worcester?
Yes. The consulting room is in Hove and Worcester is served by video, so you join from somewhere private, from Barbourne to the surrounding villages, without being seen at a clinic. In a city where difficulties often go unspoken, that discretion helps, and evenings can often be arranged.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Worcester, 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 Midlands: Gloucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham. See all of Midlands.
Related work in Worcester: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
If you would like to read more first, I have written about calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
Within reach of Sussex? substance use counselling is offered in the room in Brighton as well as online; see the full list of areas.