Addiction counselling in Bath
BACP-Registered Counsellor & 20+ Years in Personal Recovery
You might be quietly struggling with an addiction, and on the outside, things might still look completely fine.
You could be holding down a job, keeping the household running, showing up for the people around you. But underneath, something does not feel right. Because no matter how many times you decide to stop, you cannot seem to stay stopped.
That gap between wanting to stop and actually being able to is not a weakness. It is what addiction does. And it is something I understand not just from training, but from my own life.
I am Paul James, a BACP-registered counsellor based in Bath. I have been in personal recovery from addiction for over 20 years. That experience shapes everything about the way I work: the empathy I bring, the absence of judgement, and the practical understanding of what it actually takes to begin moving away from something that has its grip on you.
What addiction can look like
Addiction takes many forms. For some people it is alcohol, the most socially accepted and therefore often the hardest to recognise as a problem. For others it is drugs, gambling, pornography, food, or other compulsive behaviours that feel increasingly difficult to control.
With alcohol in particular, the line can be hard to identify. Drinking is woven into social life in a way that makes it easy to minimise what is happening. But you might notice that your relationship with alcohol feels different from other people’s. That you drink further than you planned. That you end up out of context drunk when others around you are fine. That whole parts of an evening disappear and you wake up piecing things together, left with a weight of anxiety or shame that takes days to shift.
With drugs, the grip can tighten before you realise how dependent you have become. What began as recreational use shifts into something that feels harder to imagine doing without. With gambling, it is often the secrecy that builds first: the hidden accounts, the chasing of losses, the exhausting effort of keeping it all separate from the rest of life. With behavioural addictions like pornography or compulsive eating, there can be an additional layer of shame that makes it even harder to talk about, let alone seek help for.
Whatever form it takes, addiction often follows a recognisable cycle, and understanding that cycle is one of the first steps towards breaking it.
The cycle of addiction
Most people who struggle with addiction are not struggling because they lack willpower or do not care enough to stop. They are stuck in a cycle that is remarkably consistent, regardless of what the addiction is.
It usually goes something like this. Something triggers the urge: stress, a difficult emotion, a situation, sometimes nothing obvious at all. You use. For a while, it works. The edge comes off, the feeling passes, the relief arrives. Then comes the aftermath: guilt, shame, the promise to yourself that it will not happen again. And then, when the next trigger comes, the shame itself can become part of what drives the next use. The thing you were trying to escape from grows, and so does the behaviour you are using to escape it.
The cycle is not a sign of failure. It is how addiction works. And recognising it, really seeing the loop clearly, is often the point at which something begins to shift.
The waterfall of addiction
One of the ways I find most useful to describe how addiction develops is through the image of a waterfall.
At the beginning, you are standing well back from the edge. The water is somewhere ahead of you. Things feel manageable, maybe even enjoyable. You feel like you are in control.
But gradually, without necessarily noticing it happening, you are moving closer. The pull of the current gets stronger. The noise gets louder. The edge feels less distant. And the closer you get, the harder it becomes to step back. Not because you do not want to, but because the pull itself has grown more powerful than your intention to resist it.
By the time many people seek help, they feel as though they are standing right at the edge. Stopping feels almost impossible, not through any lack of willpower, but because the current has become that strong.
Recovery is not about summoning more willpower. It is about gently, steadily stepping back from the edge, with support, with understanding, and with new ways of coping that do not require the thing you have been using to get through.
What sits underneath addiction
Addiction is rarely the root problem. It is almost always a response to something else: pain, anxiety, trauma, a sense of not being enough, or simply not having learned other ways to cope with difficult feelings.
At the start, the substance or behaviour works. It numbs the pain, quietens the anxiety, provides a sense of escape or control. That is why it takes hold, not because of weakness, but because it does something useful, at least for a while.
Over time, the cost grows. Relationships suffer. Mental health deteriorates. The sense of self erodes. And the thing that once provided relief starts to create the very problems it was solving.
In our work together, we look at both the addiction itself and what has been driving it. Understanding what the addiction has been doing for you, what need it has been meeting, is often the key to finding healthier, more sustainable ways to meet that need.
How I work and what we cover
My Bath practice offers individual addiction counselling on a one-to-one basis, in person or online via Zoom.
I work with a range of addictions including alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, food and eating behaviours, and other compulsive or behavioural addictions.
A note on alcohol
Alcohol can be slightly different from other addictions. Because it is socially accepted, there are times where we may explore whether it is possible for you to reduce or manage your drinking in a controlled way.
This is not something I would typically suggest with other addictions such as drugs or gambling, where abstinence is often the safest and most effective approach.
Together, we will explore what is right for you, whether that is learning to set limits around alcohol, or recognising that stopping completely may be the better path.
In our sessions we will also work on:
I combine counselling with practical tools, so you leave sessions with something concrete. Not just insight, but things you can actually use between sessions.
Support in early recovery
The early stages of stopping are often the hardest. Cravings are at their most intense. The routines and patterns that built up around the addiction are still very much present. And the emotions that the addiction was managing can feel very raw without it.
This is precisely when support matters most, and it is something I focus on specifically with clients who are in those first weeks and months.
Where it feels useful, I may also encourage additional support alongside our work, such as peer support groups or 12-step programmes. These are not for everyone, but for some people they provide something that one-to-one counselling alone cannot.
What to expect from your first session
It can feel daunting to talk about addiction for the first time with someone you have never met, and for many people, shame is the biggest barrier to making that first contact. The worry that you will be judged, that you will have to justify yourself, or that saying it out loud will make it more real than you are ready for.
None of that will happen here. The first session is simply about getting to know each other and understanding where you are. I will ask some questions about what has brought you to this point, what has and has not worked before if you have tried to stop, and what you are hoping might change. You can share as much or as little as feels right. By the end, we will have a clearer sense of how we might work together.
Recovery is possible
I know that recovery is possible because I have lived it. Over 20 years on, I understand what life looks and feels like on the other side of addiction, and I also understand the journey it takes to get there.
Recovery is not about becoming a different person. It is about coming back to who you really are, without the weight of addiction sitting on top of everything.
But perhaps the biggest shift of all is this: no longer needing to escape. Being able to be present in your own life, without something pulling you away from it.
Ready to take the first step?
Reaching out can feel like a big step, but it is also often the turning point. If you are based in Bath or the surrounding area and feel ready to start moving back from the edge, I would be glad to hear from you.
Sessions are available in person in Bath and online via Zoom.