Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Online Substance Use Counselling · Taunton
Online substance use counselling for Taunton, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Taunton — from the town centre and the river to the streets around the castle — with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
In and around Taunton
Life in Taunton
As the county town of Somerset, Taunton is a busy hub set in a largely rural county, and that rural setting can mean specialist support is a long way off. The quiet pressures of country and small-town life, money worries and isolation can build slowly, with few places nearby to turn.
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.
Taunton, the county town of Somerset, is home to Musgrove Park Hospital (Somerset NHS Foundation Trust) and the UK Hydrographic Office; Somerset County Cricket Club is based in the town.
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 Taunton are living with, and why local support matters.
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 5.8 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).
3.3 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).
Local data last reviewed June 2026. Each figure shows the year and links to the official source it was read on.
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.
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
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Letting go of the protective self that no longer serves you.
One-to-one sessions shaped entirely around you.
Rediscovering the authentic self beneath the coping.
Treating what the substance has been masking.
Growing into recovery rather than forcing it.
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Taunton, free local drug and alcohol support is available through Somerset 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:
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.
Taunton questions
Yes. I work with people right across Taunton, from the town centre and the river 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.
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.
It is individual and shaped entirely around you. Some people use it instead of groups, others alongside them.
No. What you share is confidential within the BACP framework; nothing goes to anyone else without your consent.
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: Exeter, Bristol. See all of South West.
Other online support from Taunton: Addiction, Drinking, Anxiety, Depression, Relationship, Trauma.