Bexhill-on-Sea · in person in Hove or online
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Bexhill-on-Sea
If you've searched for rehab in Bexhill, for yourself or for a parent, partner or grown-up child, the county's STAR service is where detox and residential care are assessed and arranged. I offer one-to-one addiction counselling alongside that, in person in Hove or by secure video, before, during or after any treatment.
The practical facts for Bexhill-on-Sea
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Bexhill-on-Sea by car
- About 52 minutes with clear roads (34.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Bexhill to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- STAR Drug and Alcohol Service (East Sussex STAR), 0300 303 8160
- Fees
- £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90, £120 for 120. The first 15-minute call is free.
- Registration
- BACP registered member, no. 109340 (check the register); UKCP student member in advanced psychotherapy training.
When the worry is about a parent in Little Common
In Bexhill the person searching for rehab can just as easily be a son or daughter rather than the one drinking.
Rother had the highest median age in the South East at the 2021 Census, 53 against 40 for England, and roughly one in five households there is someone aged 66 or over living alone. So the search might come from a daughter in Sidley who has noticed the empties in a widowed father's recycling, or a husband in Cooden whose wife's evening glass has become a bottle since she retired. It can be about someone younger too: a grown-up son back home after a job ended, or a partner whose cocaine use started at weekends and has spread into the week. Drinking that happens behind a closed front door is easy to miss for a long time, and easy to explain away. Noticing it, and wondering what to do next, is a reasonable place to begin.
How STAR, recovery groups and counselling fit together
The free route into treatment for anyone in Bexhill is STAR Drug and Alcohol Service, run for East Sussex by Change Grow Live, on 0300 303 8160. Their team assesses what is needed and arranges community treatment, a detox or a residential place where that is right, and you can phone them yourself. What I offer is a regular counselling hour, which can begin while you are still deciding whether to ring, carry on through treatment, or help with the quieter months after a residential stay. Together we look at what the drink or drugs have been doing for you: filling long afternoons, softening grief, or keeping something older at a distance. You can start before you have stopped. Having been through recovery myself, and counselling for more than 25 years, I can hear what goes on in a Bexhill household calmly, so say it as bluntly as you need to. For relatives the hour can be entirely your own, about the fear, the arguments and how far you are willing to go in covering for someone. On the narrow measure, East Sussex logged 499.3 alcohol-related hospital admissions per 100,000 people in 2023/24, close to England's 504.1 per 100,000. It describes a whole county, and it says nothing about your own household.
Who might be reading this in Bexhill
A parent drinking alone
A widowed mother or father whose drinking has crept up since they began living alone. Adfam East Sussex supports relatives, and counselling gives you somewhere to think it through.
The partner who became a carer
Rother has a lot of unpaid carers. If someone's drinking has quietly made you their carer, Care for the Carers is the East Sussex charity for exactly that.
Retirement and the open afternoon
Work ended, the day lost its shape, and a lunchtime drink became the first of several. In sessions we look at what the drink has been filling in.
Peer support from Coastal Routes
Run by people in recovery themselves, Coastal Routes Recovery serves the whole of East Sussex. Its groups sit well beside treatment through STAR and weekly sessions with me.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. "Similar to England" means the difference is not statistically significant. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free drug and alcohol support for Bexhill-on-Sea
Alongside private counselling, Bexhill has free help through the county. STAR Drug and Alcohol Service assesses drug and alcohol use and arranges treatment, Coastal Routes Recovery offers peer recovery support led by people with lived experience, and Adfam East Sussex is there for families affected by someone else's drinking or drug use. You can contact any of them directly.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceSTAR Drug and Alcohol Service (East Sussex STAR)0300 303 8160Run by Change Grow Live. Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCare for the Carers
FRANK (on 0300 123 6600) and Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 are free and confidential, and Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery run peer-support meetings you can find online. For gambling, the National Gambling Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 8020 133 (NHS gambling support).
If raising someone's drinking or drug use with them feels unsafe, or someone at home is hurting, threatening or controlling you, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is free, day or night, on 0808 2000 247. In immediate danger, call 999.
Detox and residential rehab are arranged through the free local drug and alcohol service named here. It assesses what you need, arranges medically assisted withdrawal where that is safe and needed, and can refer for community or residential treatment. My part is one-to-one counselling before, alongside or after that treatment, to help the changes last.
If you need urgent help now
If you need help right now, please don't wait for a session.
In this area you can also text SUSSEX to 85258.
If you, or someone you live with, drink heavily every day, or take drugs such as benzodiazepines or GHB daily, do not stop suddenly without medical advice. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Your GP or the local drug and alcohol service can arrange medically assisted withdrawal. Call 999 or go to A&E if someone in withdrawal is shaking visibly, unusually restless or agitated, confused, seeing or hearing things that are not there, or has a fit. For milder symptoms, such as a slight tremor or sweating, contact your GP or NHS 111 the same day (NHS guidance). Counselling works alongside medical support, not instead of it.
What people in Bexhill-on-Sea ask before starting
Is there a rehab in Bexhill I can go to?
From Bexhill, detox or a residential rehab place is arranged through STAR Drug and Alcohol Service, run free for East Sussex by Change Grow Live on 0300 303 8160. They assess you first and then plan community treatment, detox or a residential stay as needed. Our weekly hour can run ahead of STAR's assessment, alongside detox or a residential stay, and on through the months after you return to Sidley, Little Common or Cooden.
My dad lives alone in Bexhill and I think he's drinking too much. What can I do?
Start with support for yourself, because the worry is real and the choice to change is his. Adfam East Sussex helps families in your position, and counselling gives you a private hour to work out what to say and where your limits are. Please don't urge him to stop suddenly after heavy daily drinking, as that can be dangerous; the safety note on this page says who to ask.
Could I travel from Bexhill to Hove for addiction counselling rather than doing it on screen?
Either works. Hove is about 52 minutes away by car, or a direct train from Bexhill station to Brighton and then on to Hove, so weekly visits are possible if you have the time. Video suits you if you're caring for someone, would rather not travel, or want complete privacy at home, and you can switch between the two.
Do I need a referral from STAR or my Bexhill GP before I start counselling?
No referral is needed. Ring for the free 15-minute chat, share only what feels comfortable about the situation in Bexhill, and you'll get a straight answer on when a weekly hour opens up. Stopping beforehand isn't a condition. If you drink heavily every day, speak to your GP or STAR before changing anything, because stopping suddenly can be risky.
How much do sessions cost, and is the first call free?
Sessions are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for 120 minutes, the same in person in Hove or by video. The first 15-minute call is free, with no obligation to book. There is no NHS referral needed to see me privately.
A first conversation, whoever in the family is worried
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.