Online Substance Use Counselling · Gloucester

Online Substance Use Counselling in Gloucester

Online substance use counselling for Gloucester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Gloucester — from the historic docks and the city centre to the streets around the cathedral — with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.

Online across the UKSecure videoFree 15-min consultation
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
Bradley Riddell, counsellor in Brighton & Hove, introducing his approach to therapy
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Gloucester

Substance Use Counselling for Gloucester, at a glance

Areas covered online
All of Gloucester: from the historic docks and the city centre to Barton, Tredworth and Quedgeley
Known for
The cathedral, the historic docks and the quays
Region
South West (England)
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 Gloucester

Why people in Gloucester reach out

Gloucester is a working cathedral city on the Severn with a proud but pressured industrial past, and parts of the city carry real deprivation. Insecure work, money worries and the everyday grind can build into stress and low mood that often go unspoken.

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.

Gloucester's acute hospital is Gloucestershire Royal Hospital (Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust); the city is known for Gloucester Cathedral and the historic Gloucester Docks.

The local picture

The local picture in Gloucester

These figures are local context from official sources — not a description of you — but they show the scale of what people in and around Gloucester are living with, and why local support matters.

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 call

What I help with

How online substance use counselling in Gloucester can help

Drugs and substances

Confidential support for any kind of substance use.

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 Gloucester

My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Gloucester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Gloucestershire County Council's drug and alcohol recovery 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.

Gloucester questions

Online Substance Use Counselling in Gloucester: common questions

Can I get online substance use counselling if I live in Gloucester?

Yes. I work with people right across Gloucester, from the historic docks and the city centre outwards, and anywhere else in South West, 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 Gloucester, 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: Cheltenham, Worcester, Swindon. See all of South West.

Other online support from Gloucester: Addiction, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship, Trauma.