Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Belfast
Online Substance Use Counselling in Belfast
Online substance use counselling for Belfast, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Belfast — from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter to the streets around the City Hall — 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 Belfast
Substance Use Counselling for Belfast, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Belfast: from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter to the Falls, the Shankill, east Belfast and the south of the city
- Known for
- The City Hall, the Titanic Quarter and the shipyard cranes
- Region
- Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland)
- Local NHS / support route
- Local council drug & alcohol service (see below)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Belfast
Why people in Belfast reach out
Belfast is a resilient, fast-changing capital still living with the legacy of the Troubles alongside the ordinary pressures of a modern city. Intergenerational trauma, community divisions and real deprivation in parts of the city all shape what people here carry, and privacy can matter all the more.
Where work follows shifts and the rhythm of the docks, online sessions bend around unsociable hours rather than asking you to fit your life around them.
Belfast is home to Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University's city campus, and to the Royal Victoria Hospital and Belfast City Hospital, with health and social care delivered by the Belfast HSC Trust.
The local picture
The local picture in Belfast
These figures are local context from official sources — not a description of you — but they show the scale of what people in and around Belfast are living with, and why local support matters.
There were 63 drug-related deaths registered in the Belfast council area in 2023, the highest of any Northern Ireland LGD (37.3%) out of 169 drug-related deaths across Northern Ireland, which had an age-standardised rate of 9.1 per 100,000. Source: NISRA - Drug-related and drug misuse deaths in Northern Ireland, 2023 (2023).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
The substance use counselling itself
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 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 substance use counselling page and on how I work.
How online sessions 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
How online substance use counselling in Belfast can help
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.
Drug, alcohol & addiction support in Belfast
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Belfast, your GP can refer you to local NHS-funded drug and alcohol services, and you can find your nearest one via the NHS “find a service” directory.
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 Lifeline free on 0808 808 8000. Lifeline is free on 0808 808 8000, and the Samaritans are on 116 123.
Belfast questions
Online Substance Use Counselling in Belfast: common questions
Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Belfast?
Yes. I work with people right across Belfast, from the city centre and the Cathedral Quarter outwards, and anywhere else in Northern Ireland, by secure video — no need to travel to Hove, and just as confidential as meeting in the room.
Can I get support while I'm still using?
Yes. This is non-judgemental, one-to-one work that meets you where you are, and it can run alongside any medical or detox support you have.
How is this different from a group or 12-step programme?
It is individual and shaped entirely around you. Some people use it instead of groups, others alongside them.
Will you tell my GP or employer?
No. What you share is confidential within the BACP framework; nothing goes to anyone else without your consent.
Online Substance Use Counselling in Belfast, 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 Northern Ireland: Lisburn, Newtownabbey, Bangor. See all of Northern Ireland.
Other online support from Belfast: Addiction, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship, Trauma.