Chichester · in person in Hove or online
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Chichester
If you've typed rehab Chichester into a search box, whether for yourself or for a person you're worried about, this page sets out the real options. I'm an addiction counsellor with my own lived experience of recovery, seeing adults one to one in Hove or by secure video. Detox and residential care are arranged through the free West Sussex service, and below I explain how that and counselling can fit together for someone in Chichester.
The practical facts for Chichester
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Chichester by car
- About 48 minutes with clear roads (30.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Chichester to Hove.
- 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 behind a well-kept front door
Chichester shows a polished face to the world.
The cathedral, the Festival Theatre and the Goodwood Estate draw visitors, and a lot of local work is in tourism and leisure, where drink can be part of the working evening. Elsewhere it's a public-sector job that demands you look composed, or a business of your own with nobody to notice when a lunchtime glass becomes two. If you study at the Bishop Otter Campus or Chichester College, nights out can blur into something harder to stop, and shifts at St Richard's Hospital can mean winding down when nobody else is awake. Chichester district recorded 504.3 alcohol-specific hospital admissions per 100,000 people in 2023/24, a lower rate than England's 611.7 per 100,000. A district figure like that can make a private problem feel even more out of place, as though nobody else here struggles. It says nothing about you or your family. Behind a tidy front door in Summersdale or Florence Park, a parent may be counting the bottles, or a partner may be the only one who knows.
Rehab, detox and DAWN: how the route really works
In West Sussex, the free door into treatment is DAWN, the county's Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network, which Change Grow Live runs. They assess what's needed and, where it's right, arrange a medically supported detox or a place in residential treatment. What I offer is outpatient counselling that can come before that point, run alongside it, or pick up afterwards, when the structure of treatment ends and ordinary life comes back in. In sessions we get curious about the job your drinking, using or betting does for you, the pressure it eases or the feeling it blocks, and what else could take that job on. If you're one of the city's growing number of self-employed people, there may be nobody to cover for you while you're away, which is one reason sessions fitted around your work can matter. If DAWN arranges a stay away, we can pause and pick up again when you're back in Whyke, Kingsham or Graylingwell. A relative may be the one reading this. If you're the mother, father or partner of someone who won't yet admit there's a problem, you can come on your own behalf, to steady yourself and work out what is and isn't yours to control. My own recovery means very little you say will shock me, and I won't shame you for where you are.
Free help in West Sussex, and where I come in
DAWN for assessment and detox
Ring DAWN, the Change Grow Live service, on 0330 128 1113 to ask about medical help to stop safely and about residential treatment, for yourself or on behalf of someone you love.
Company from people who've been there
Build on Belief (BoB) is a recovery community built on lived experience, where you can meet others in recovery while our sessions stay one to one, by video or in Hove.
When you're the one who worries
Carers Support West Sussex supports people caring for someone who uses drugs or alcohol, and West Sussex Wellbeing has council-run help for family and friends. Both are free.
When drinking puts a roof at risk
If drink or drugs have cost you your home, the Chichester-based charity Stonepillow runs day and night hubs and hostels. Counselling can be fitted around that when you're ready.
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 Chichester
Free local support can run beside private sessions. DAWN, run by Change Grow Live, assesses and arranges treatment. Build on Belief brings people in recovery together for mutual support. Carers Support West Sussex helps relatives caring for someone who drinks or uses, and Chichester Counselling Services offers general counselling, though it isn't a specialist addiction service. Stonepillow, based in the city, runs hubs and hostels if housing is part of the picture, and West Sussex Mind is the county's Mind.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceWest Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live. Free and confidential.
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 Chichester ask before starting
Is there a rehab in Chichester you can refer my son or daughter to?
In West Sussex, residential treatment and detox are assessed and arranged through DAWN, the free Change Grow Live service on 0330 128 1113, so that's the place to ask, from Chichester or anywhere else in the county. While you wait for your son or daughter to be ready, Carers Support West Sussex, West Sussex Wellbeing and counselling for yourself can help you hold steady.
How soon could I start addiction counselling from Chichester, and do I have to stop first?
After a free 15-minute call, where we talk briefly about what's happening and whether I'm the right fit, I'll tell you when I have a regular time free. You don't need a referral, and you don't need to have stopped or cut back first. If you're physically dependent, please speak to your GP or DAWN about safe medical support as well. Because a train runs direct from Chichester to Hove, an in-person start is possible as soon as a slot is free.
Can I see you while I'm waiting for treatment through DAWN in Chichester?
Yes. Waiting can be an unsettled time, and a regular hour with me gives you somewhere to keep thinking about what you want while DAWN handles the medical side. Let them know you're seeing a private counsellor, and tell me what they're planning, so the two pieces of help don't pull against each other. After a detox or residential stay, sessions can carry on.
Would anyone in Chichester see me going to addiction counselling?
Not unless you choose. Sessions happen in Hove, a 48-minute drive along the coast or one train with no change, so you're unlikely to meet anyone from home on the stairs, away from the city where people from St Richard's, the university or the Festival Theatre might recognise you. If even that feels exposing, secure video from somewhere private at home is an equal option, and you can move to the room later or never.
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.
Ask your first question, for yourself or someone else
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.