Croydon · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Croydon
If you've been searching for rehab in Croydon, something probably has to change, whether it's your own drinking or using or that of someone you live with. Detox and rehab come through the borough's free service. I'm a counsellor with my own experience of recovery, offering weekly addiction counselling by secure video alongside it, and this page sets out how the two fit together.
The practical facts for Croydon
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Croydon by car
- About 63 minutes with clear roads (44.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from East Croydon to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Croydon Integrated Recovery Service (Drug and Alcohol Service - Croydon), 0300 123 9288
- 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.
Who notices first in a Croydon home
Often the first person in a Croydon household to say the word addiction isn't the one drinking or using.
It might be a mother in New Addington who has started hiding her bank card, or a partner in Thornton Heath lying awake until the key finally turns in the door. For the person themselves, a big commuter town makes it easy to keep life in separate boxes: the self who catches the train from East Croydon each morning, and the evening self nobody at work ever meets. Cocaine that began as a weekend thing, a bottle bought on the walk home, a betting app open under the desk. In 2023/24 the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions in Croydon was 334.8 per 100,000, lower than the England rate of 611.7 per 100,000. A borough-wide figure over a whole year can't see into your home, and it doesn't make what you're living with any smaller.
How the borough's recovery service and counselling share the work
For anyone living in the borough, the free route is the Croydon Integrated Recovery Service, run by Change Grow Live, on 0300 123 9288. They assess what's going on, and if a medically managed detox or a residential place is needed, they arrange it. My part is the weekly hour around that treatment. You can start counselling while you're still deciding whether to ring CGL, since saying it out loud to one person first can make that call easier to face. You can keep sessions going through community treatment, or begin after a residential stay, when you're back on familiar streets with the same numbers in your phone. In sessions we look honestly at the job that drink, drugs or gambling has been doing in your life, such as taking the edge off an evening or keeping certain feelings quiet. You don't have to have stopped before we start. I have my own experience of recovery, so I won't be shocked and I won't lecture. A relative can also come alone, to work out what to stop covering for and how to stay close without being pulled under.
Where to turn in Croydon, for you or for family
Ringing the borough service
The Croydon Integrated Recovery Service on 0300 123 9288 carries out the assessment that leads to detox or residential care where it's needed. Counselling can help you reach that call.
Parents and partners at home
CGL Croydon offers support for families and friends, so the person doing the worrying gets help in their own right, whether or not their relative is ready.
A family shaped by drink
Al-Anon Family Groups runs a national helpline and local groups for anyone whose life has been shaped by a partner's, parent's or child's drinking.
Back in Croydon after rehab
If CGL arranged a residential place and you are now back in Croydon, the first months can feel the most exposed. Weekly video sessions give that stretch a shape.
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 Croydon
Treatment in the borough starts with the Croydon Integrated Recovery Service, run by Change Grow Live, and CGL Croydon also supports relatives and friends in their own right. In a mental health crisis, Croydon Council's advice is to call 111 and choose the mental health option. The Recovery Space, run by Mind in Croydon, is a crisis alternative to A and E, not a drug or alcohol service, and is reached by referral from your GP or another clinician.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceCroydon Integrated Recovery Service (Drug and Alcohol Service - Croydon)0300 123 9288Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationMind in Croydon carers' services
- Local organisationCarers First Croydon
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.
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 Croydon ask before starting
Is there a rehab in Croydon, and how would I get a place?
Residential rehab and detox for Croydon residents are usually reached through an assessment with the Croydon Integrated Recovery Service, run by Change Grow Live, on 0300 123 9288. They work out with you what level of treatment is safe and suitable. Counselling with me can start before that assessment, continue during community treatment, or support you once you're home.
My son lives at home in Croydon and is using drugs. Where do I start?
Start with support for yourself. CGL Croydon helps families and friends, and you can contact them even if your son won't. Counselling with me can be your own space to decide what you will and won't do, how to raise it without a fight, and how to protect the rest of the household. The medical safety note beside the free support details is worth reading as well.
Can I have addiction counselling by video from Croydon instead of travelling to Hove?
Yes, and from Croydon that's the usual arrangement. A 63-minute drive each way is hard to manage every week. Video sessions follow the same shape as sessions in the room, and you can join from anywhere private. If you ever want to meet in person, an occasional longer session in Hove can be arranged.
How quickly could I start addiction counselling from Croydon?
There's no referral and no assessment queue for counselling with me. Book the free 15-minute call, tell me roughly what's going on, and I'll say honestly when I can offer a regular weekly time. If you also want the Croydon Integrated Recovery Service, you can contact them on 0300 123 9288 at the same time, and the two can run in parallel.
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 call, for you or for someone you love
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.