Bognor Regis · in person in Hove or online
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Bognor Regis
Whether the drinking that sent you searching for rehab in Bognor Regis is your own, a husband's in Felpham or a mother's in Aldwick, this page explains how West Sussex arranges treatment and where weekly counselling sits beside it. We meet over secure video from your own home near the seafront, or in the Hove room, 49 minutes east by car, on the weeks you prefer to be across a room from me.
The practical facts for Bognor Regis
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Bognor Regis by car
- About 49 minutes with clear roads (28.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- West Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN), 0330 128 1113
- 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.
Drinking in a town built around holidays
Bognor Regis has spent most of its life entertaining visitors, from the pier and the Birdman to the Butlin's resort that opened on the Brookland site in 1960.
A holiday atmosphere can make heavy drinking look ordinary, and it can be hard to tell when a habit has stopped being a treat. Arun's population is older than average, with a median age of 49 in 2021, and drinking that grows after retirement, bereavement or a move to the coast can stay hidden behind a closed front door. Admissions to hospital for conditions caused wholly by alcohol ran at 581.8 per 100,000 Arun residents in 2023/24, statistically similar to England's 611.7. Figures like that describe a district, not you. What matters here is your own sense that something has to change, or a family member's worry that will not go away.
Where counselling sits beside rehab and detox
Anyone in Arun who needs a detox or a residential place reaches it through an assessment with DAWN, which Change Grow Live runs for the whole county. They can talk through what kind of treatment suits you, including community support close to Bognor. Weekly counselling with me is the one-to-one piece: it can begin while ringing DAWN is still only an idea, keep going through treatment, or pick up once a programme finishes and a quiet Bognor winter, the holiday crowds gone, has to be faced without the old routine. Together we work out the job the bottle or the drug has taken on, whether that is muffling grief after a partner's death, filling the long evenings of retirement, dulling pain or lending you courage in company. We look at the moments that pull you back and at the shame that often keeps people silent. Over 25 years in practice, and a recovery I have lived through personally, mean you can speak plainly here without being judged. Families are welcome to contact me as well. If you are the partner, parent or adult child of someone who drinks or uses, sessions can be about your own exhaustion, fear and anger, whether or not they ever seek help.
What brings Bognor drinkers and families to talk
Searching for rehab locally
Change Grow Live's DAWN team works out with you whether a detox or a residential stay is needed, and our private hours can bracket that or run straight through it.
Drinking after retirement
In an older district like Arun, drinking can creep up after work stops, a partner dies or friends move away, with nobody nearby to notice.
A parent or partner drinking
Carers Support West Sussex helps people caring for a drug or alcohol user, and your own sessions can give the worry somewhere to go.
Wanting to drink less first
Arun Wellbeing runs an Alcohol Reduction Service for adults, working by phone, video or face to face, and counselling can explore what sits underneath the drinking.
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 Bognor Regis
For Bognor, Felpham and the Bersteds, the free door into drug and alcohol treatment is DAWN, which Change Grow Live runs under the name West Sussex Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network, on 0330 128 1113. Arun Wellbeing runs an Alcohol Reduction Service. Alcoholics Anonymous meets on Mondays at 7pm at Jeneses Community Centre on Linden Road. Relatives worn down by someone else's drinking have Carers Support West Sussex, and the county's West Sussex Wellbeing pages gather help aimed at partners, parents and friends.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceWest Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live. Free and confidential.
- Local organisationSt Wilfrid's Hospice (Bosham) Family Services and bereavement support
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 Bognor Regis ask before starting
Searching rehab Bognor Regis brought me here, so who actually arranges it?
Phone DAWN on 0330 128 1113: Change Grow Live runs this network across West Sussex, Bognor included, and it is the gateway to detox and residential rehab. They assess what you need and set up treatment. I provide one-to-one counselling that can come before a place is found, run alongside treatment, or support you afterwards back home in Bognor.
Dad drinks every day at home in Felpham, so could I come to counselling about it myself?
Yes. You can book sessions for yourself, whether or not he wants help. We can talk about the worry, the arguments, the guilt and where your limits lie. If looking after him has become a second job, Carers Support West Sussex has a strand for people looking after a relative who drinks or takes drugs, and West Sussex Wellbeing lists free help for relatives too.
Does addiction counselling from Bognor mean a trip along the coast to Hove, or can it happen on a screen?
Video works well from Bognor and is how weekly sessions usually run, with the same attention as in the room. You need a private space and a steady connection. When sitting opposite each other would help, the 49-minute drive east, or the shuttle to Barnham and a coast train on, brings you to Hove for an occasional session.
Is there an AA meeting in Bognor Regis I can go to alongside counselling?
There is an open Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Bognor on Mondays from 7pm to 8.15pm at Jeneses Community Centre, 45 Linden Road, with the entrance at the side and wheelchair access. Mutual aid and counselling can work side by side: the meeting offers people who understand, and our sessions give you time to look at your own story in private.
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.
Talking it through, for you or your family
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.