Broadstairs · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Broadstairs
If you've been searching for rehab near Broadstairs, for yourself or someone you love, the free route to detox and residential care in this part of Kent runs through The Forward Trust. My part is one-to-one addiction counselling, which can sit beside The Forward Trust's work at any stage, from before assessment to long after. From the Thanet coast we would meet by secure video, so sessions fit around appointments and home life.
The practical facts for Broadstairs
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Broadstairs by car
- About 129 minutes with clear roads (108.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- East Kent community drug and alcohol service (The Forward Trust), 0300 123 1186
- 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.
Where help with drink and drugs starts in Broadstairs
Whether home is down by Viking Bay or inland at Reading Street, treatment on this stretch of the Thanet coast starts with a single call to The Forward Trust on 0300 123 1186, which runs drug and alcohol support for East Kent.
Their team listens to what drink or drugs are doing in your life and lines up the option that fits, from help in the community to a detox bed or a residential programme. Families often come to this page first, and Broadstairs has help for them close by. Al-Anon meets on Sunday evenings at Holy Trinity Hall on Church Road, and the Kenward Trust runs a service for friends, family and loved ones. Hospital data put Thanet's alcohol-specific admissions at 448.5 per 100,000 people in 2023/24, with the district sitting below England as a whole, at 611.7 per 100,000. That figure describes the district as a whole. It says nothing about the person you're worried about, or about how hard things feel in your house right now.
What counselling adds beside The Forward Trust
Addiction counselling with me is one-to-one talking work, held by video. You can begin while you are still drinking, using or gambling, before any assessment, and we keep meeting while The Forward Trust arranges whatever treatment fits. We look at the job the habit has been doing for you: carrying you through the quiet months once the summer crowds leave the bays, easing grief or the empty days of retirement, quietening money worries, or just filling the evening. We also make room, at your pace, for whatever sits underneath it. Stepping back onto Lloyd Road after weeks away in treatment, with the same faces and habits waiting along the seafront, can be harder than the time away itself, and a standing weekly hour keeps something steady under you. Westwood Cross includes a casino and a bingo club among its leisure venues, and if gambling rather than drink is your concern, we can work with that too. I have been through recovery myself and counselled for more than 25 years, so you need not dress the habit up when we talk. Partners, parents and grown children can book sessions for themselves as well, to talk about the fear, the secrecy and the limits they want to keep.
Where a Broadstairs family might begin
Needing an assessment or a rehab place
From anywhere on the Isle of Thanet, the number to call is 0300 123 1186. The Forward Trust assesses, then arranges community support, detox or residential care.
Sundays for those affected by drinking
Al-Anon Family Groups - Broadstairs meets every Sunday from 6.45pm at Holy Trinity Hall, with wheelchair access and an open meeting on the last Sunday of the month.
Family and friends feeling alone
When a husband, daughter or friend in Broadstairs is drinking or using, Al-Anon Family Groups - Broadstairs offers support to you as the one watching, and it sits comfortably beside our sessions.
When housing has fallen apart
The Gap Project on Queens Road holds a drop-in on Tuesdays and Fridays for people who are homeless or insecurely housed, with a hot meal, shower and signposting.
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 Broadstairs
Free help in Broadstairs can work alongside private counselling. Thanet residents reach detox and residential treatment by phoning The Forward Trust on 0300 123 1186, the provider of community drug and alcohol support across East Kent. Families can turn to Al-Anon Family Groups - Broadstairs at Holy Trinity Hall or the Kenward Trust. The Gap Project offers practical help, and CT10 Parochial Charities can give hardship grants to local residents.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceEast Kent community drug and alcohol service (The Forward Trust)0300 123 1186Free and confidential.
- Local organisationAl-Anon Family Groups - BroadstairsIn-person peer support meeting for adults.
- Local organisationEKIDS (East Kent Independent Dementia Support) - Carers coffee morning, Pierremont HallLow-cost or fee-paying.
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.
Locally, the Release the Pressure Helpline - Kent is on 0800 107 0160.
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 Broadstairs ask before starting
Where would someone from Broadstairs go for rehab, and who arranges it?
From a Broadstairs or St Peter's address, a rehab or detox place is organised by The Forward Trust, which holds the East Kent contract and takes calls on 0300 123 1186. Their East Kent team talks with you first, then settles with you on support in the community, a detox or a residential placement. You are welcome to start sessions with me before you ever pick up the phone to them, and to keep them going through every stage after.
My son in Broadstairs drinks heavily and refuses help. Where do I turn as his parent?
Help for you can start today, regardless of his choices. Al-Anon meets on Sunday evenings at Holy Trinity Hall in Broadstairs, and the Kenward Trust supports parents and other family members. Sessions with me can focus on you: the worry, what you say to him, and the boundaries you want to keep.
Would addiction counselling from Broadstairs be by video or in person?
By video, in most cases. Hove is about 129 minutes' drive away, so weekly travel would be hard to keep up during recovery. Video lets you talk from home in Broadstairs, or from wherever is private, and fits around any appointments with The Forward Trust. If you'd value a session in Hove at some point, we can arrange it.
I've come home to Broadstairs after rehab. Can counselling help me stay on track?
Coming back to familiar pubs, people and habits is often when support matters most. Weekly sessions give you a regular place to talk through cravings, low days and what is changing in your life, alongside any aftercare from The Forward Trust. We can also look at what led to the drinking or using in the first place.
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 quiet word first, for you or for the family
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.