Alcohol
For when drinking has stopped feeling like a choice.
Online Addiction Counselling · Folkestone
Online addiction counselling for Folkestone, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Folkestone — from the Creative Quarter and the Leas to the streets around the Harbour Arm — with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
In and around Folkestone
Life in Folkestone
Folkestone has reinvented itself around its arts scene, but regeneration sits alongside long-standing hardship. Seasonal work, the comedown after the summer crowds leave, and the distance from larger towns can all take a toll, and a creative, outwardly buoyant place can quietly mask a good deal of private struggle.
A seaside town can feel cut off once the season ends and the front goes quiet, so online support that does not depend on who happens to practise nearby matters here.
Folkestone sits beside the Eurotunnel Channel Tunnel terminal and has undergone significant regeneration through its Creative Quarter.
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 Folkestone are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 433.7 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below 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 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).
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. In Folkestone, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Kent County Council's drug 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:
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.
Folkestone questions
Yes. I work with people right across Folkestone, from the Creative Quarter and the Leas outwards, and anywhere else in London & South 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 London & South East: Dover, Ashford. See all of London & South East.
Other online support from Folkestone: Substance Use, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship, Trauma.