Brixton · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Brixton
When 'rehab Brixton' is the search, whether for you, a brother or a grown-up child, here is how the route works. Free assessment, detox and residential referrals for Brixton residents come through the Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service. Beside that, my one-to-one counselling draws on my own recovery. Hove lies 83 minutes away by car, so from Brixton we would mostly talk on secure video.
The practical facts for Brixton
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Brixton by car
- About 83 minutes with clear roads (49.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service, 020 3228 1500
- 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.
Late nights, long shifts and money worries in Brixton
Brixton runs on a mix of market trade, commuting and nightlife.
The Underground station at the end of the Victoria line counted about 20 million entries and exits in 2025, and after dark Brixton Academy and Electric Brixton draw crowds from across London. For anyone living here, that scene is on the doorstep every weekend, and a few years of nights out can turn into drinking or drug use that no longer feels like a choice. Money pressure can sit underneath it. Lambeth Council's reading of the 2025 deprivation figures names Brixton and Norwood as the borough's most relatively deprived neighbourhoods, and debt or a gambling loss can make another drink feel like the only relief. Families here may also be waiting for someone to come home from HMP Brixton on Jebb Avenue, with hope and worry arriving together. Across Lambeth, admissions for alcohol-specific conditions reached 653.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, above England's 611.7, a borough count rather than anyone's story.
Lambeth's treatment consortium, Lambeth Harbour and weekly sessions
Treatment for Brixton adults starts with the Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service on 020 3228 1500. It is run as a consortium, with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust leading and Phoenix Futures, Humankind and We Are With You as partners. Their team assesses what someone needs and, if supervised withdrawal or a residential programme is called for, they organise it. Once that phase ends, Lambeth Harbour offers recovery and aftercare. Weekly one-to-one counselling with me can surround all of this. You might want to talk for a few weeks before feeling ready to ring the consortium, or start during community treatment, or on coming home from a residential stay when the venues, the old friends and the bills are all still there. Our sessions look at what the drinking, drugs or gambling has been carrying for you, perhaps stress, grief, the weight of racism or a past you would rather not revisit, and at what else might carry it instead. Having been in recovery myself, I can hear the whole story without flinching. Partners and parents can book sessions of their own, and so can someone whose relative is leaving HMP Brixton.
Brixton situations that can open the conversation
The weekend that keeps spreading
A social life built around Brixton Academy and Electric Brixton can let drinking or drug use slide from Saturday into the working week. Counselling looks at that slide without judgement.
Debt sitting under the drinking
Brixton Advice Centre on Railton Road helps with benefits, debt and housing at a weekday drop-in, which leaves our sessions free to focus on the habit and the stress beneath it.
A relative leaving HMP Brixton
When someone comes home from prison, relatives can feel hope and dread at once. Carers' Hub Lambeth runs a Substance Misuse Carers service for family members in that position.
Keeping going after treatment
When the consortium's treatment finishes, Lambeth Harbour picks up recovery and aftercare, and our weekly hour can keep going next to it while it is useful.
Public health figures for the area
These are local authority figures from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. The figures describe a whole population over a period, not any one person.
Free drug and alcohol support for Brixton
The Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service handles assessment, detox and residential referrals for Lambeth residents without charge, and supports families and carers too. Carers' Hub Lambeth runs a Substance Misuse Carers service. Lambeth Harbour carries recovery on after treatment, and Black Thrive on Brixton Road works on mental health equity for Black communities. Our sessions can be one more strand alongside whichever of these suits you.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceLambeth Drug and Alcohol Service020 3228 1500Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCarers' Hub Lambeth: Substance Misuse Carers service
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.
The South London NHS Mental Health Crisis Text Service (SLaM) is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511 or text 80991. Local drop-in crisis support: Mosaic Clubhouse Evening Sanctuary (check opening times before you go).
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 Brixton ask before starting
Who decides whether someone from Brixton goes to rehab?
The first step is an assessment with the Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service, on 020 3228 1500. It is free and led by South London and Maudsley with We Are With You, Humankind and Phoenix Futures. They work out with the person which suits best, from community treatment to detox or a residential programme, and set it up. Counselling with me can start earlier and continue afterwards.
My son is coming out of HMP Brixton and I'm scared he'll start using again. Who can help us?
Your fear makes sense, and you can get support before he is home. The Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service works with families and carers, and Carers' Hub Lambeth has a Substance Misuse Carers service. You can also book sessions with me just for you, to think about boundaries, hope and what you will do if things slip. If he wants counselling himself after release, that can be arranged too.
Is video counselling from Brixton workable for addiction?
For weekly addiction work it is usually the practical option, because Hove is 83 minutes away by road and a change at London Victoria by train. You join from somewhere private, a bedroom or a parked car if home is crowded, and the hour belongs to you just the same. Should sitting face to face start to matter, a longer appointment in the Hove room can be booked.
Can I start counselling from Brixton while I'm still using?
Yes. You are welcome to book the free call mid-habit, whether the habit is drink, drugs or gambling, and while you wait for a Lambeth Drug and Alcohol Service assessment. Please come to sessions sober so the time is useful to you. Heavy daily drinkers should check the withdrawal warning on this page, then speak to a GP or the Lambeth service before stopping.
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.
Ring for yourself, or for someone in Brixton
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.