Alcohol
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Online Addiction Counselling · Barnsley
Online addiction counselling for Barnsley, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Barnsley — from the town centre and the market to the streets around the town hall — with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
In and around Barnsley
Life in Barnsley
Barnsley is a South Yorkshire market town at the heart of a former coalfield, and the closure of the pits left deep marks across its communities. Insecure work, money pressure and a fierce but stoic local pride all shape the pressures people carry here.
In a close-knit town where people tend to know one another, online keeps support entirely private, with nobody to pass in a waiting room.
Barnsley is served by Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and sits at the heart of a former South Yorkshire coalfield; Barnsley College is one of the town's largest education providers.
The local picture
These figures are local context from official sources — not a description of you — but they show the scale of what people in and around Barnsley are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 683.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above the England average of 504.1 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow) (2023/24).
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 8.9 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
Addiction counselling here treats the pain beneath the habit, not just the symptom — alcohol, drugs, gambling, food or behavioural — so recovery is something you grow into rather than force.
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 addiction counselling page and on how I 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.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Compassionate, confidential help with substance use.
Breaking the cycle of compulsive gambling, guilt and debt.
Support for food and process addictions.
Help for those living alongside someone's addiction.
We treat the cause, not just the symptom.
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. You can find your nearest free NHS-funded drug and alcohol service via the NHS “find a service” directory (search “Barnsley”).
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:
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.
Barnsley questions
Yes. I work with people right across Barnsley, from the town centre and the market outwards, and anywhere else in Yorkshire & North East, by secure video — no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
No. We begin wherever you are. The work is about understanding the need the behaviour has been meeting, not passing a test first.
Yes. The same approach applies to gambling, food and other compulsive behaviours, because we work with the underlying pattern rather than only the substance.
Completely. Sessions are private, online means no waiting room, and everything is held under the BACP Ethical Framework.
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 Yorkshire & North East: Sheffield, Wakefield, Doncaster. See all of Yorkshire & North East.
Other online support from Barnsley: Substance Use, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship, Trauma.