Dartford · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Dartford
If you've typed rehab into a search bar from Dartford, about your own drinking or about a son, a partner or a parent, rehab and detox come through the free West Kent route this page sets out. Alongside it I offer weekly one-to-one counselling by secure video, from someone with lived experience of recovery.
The practical facts for Dartford
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Dartford by car
- About 78 minutes with clear roads (64.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Dartford, change at London Bridge for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- West Kent community drug and alcohol service (Change, Grow, Live), 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.
A habit that fits neatly round a commuter's week
In a commuter town, drinking or drug use can hide inside a routine that looks perfectly ordinary.
A can on the train back from London Bridge becomes two, then a stop at the shop before the walk home to Fleet Downs. Cocaine at Thursday work drinks starts needing the whole weekend to recover from. After a late shift, a bottle becomes the way you come down. Or none of it is yours, and you're the parent in Joyce Green who has noticed money going missing, or the partner in Temple Hill who has stopped believing the explanations. Dartford's alcohol-specific hospital admissions ran at 633.3 per 100,000 in 2023/24, against 611.7 per 100,000 for England, a difference the official figures class as not statistically significant. It's a rate for the whole district, and it tells you nothing about the person on your mind.
Where the West Kent service fits, and where I do
For Dartford, the free starting point is a call to Change Grow Live's West Kent team on 0330 128 1113, who hold the council contract for this part of the county. They assess what's needed, and where someone needs a medically supported detox or a bed in residential rehab, they arrange it. Alongside that, I offer a weekly one-to-one hour, which can start before you've decided to contact them, run alongside their community support, or help you hold on to the changes once a residential stay is over and ordinary Dartford life is back around you. Together we look plainly at what the drinking, using or betting does for you: the stress it takes the edge off, the loneliness it fills, the feelings it keeps at arm's length. Nobody has to be sober, or swear they'll get sober, before the first session. My own experience of recovery means I'm unlikely to be shocked, and I won't lecture. If you're the family member, the hour can be entirely yours, to work out what you will and won't keep doing, and how to stay connected without covering for someone.
Footholds for the person using, and for family
Worried parent, adult child
Your son or daughter still lives at home in Dartford and the using is getting worse. The Kenward Trust has a Friends, Family and Loved Ones service aimed at people in your position.
Partner keeping it together
Covering the bills, the excuses and the moods while holding down your own job. Al-Anon Family Groups, which the county council points families towards, is a place to talk with others living alongside someone's drinking.
When worry has become caring
When the worrying has turned into full-time looking after, Imago runs Kent Carers Support for adult carers in West Kent, and it may be able to support you as well.
Back from residential treatment
Coming home to the same streets, shops and habits after a residential stay can be the hardest stretch. Weekly video sessions give you somewhere to talk through the hard days as they come.
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 Dartford
Free help for Dartford can sit around our sessions. That service assesses what's needed and can arrange treatment, including detox. Families have two further footholds: the Kenward Trust, which supports loved ones, and Al-Anon Family Groups. If an evening turns into a mental health crisis, Dartford Safe Haven on Hythe Street runs from 6pm until 11pm, seven nights a week.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceWest Kent community drug and alcohol service (Change, Grow, Live)0330 128 1113Run by Change Grow Live (CGL). Free and confidential.
- Local organisationImago - Kent Carers Support (West Kent adult carers service)
- Local organisationNorth Kent Mind Wellbeing Services (Dartford, Gravesend, Swanley)Non-clinical recovery-based group support, low-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. Local drop-in crisis support: Kent and Medway Safe Havens (Mental Health Matters); Dartford Safe Haven (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 Dartford ask before starting
Can I get into rehab from Dartford, and where does that start?
For people in Dartford, residential treatment and detox are reached through an assessment with Change Grow Live's West Kent team, the same free service. Counselling with me can begin before that assessment, run during treatment, or follow on afterwards.
My partner drinks every night and says it's under control. What can I do from Dartford?
You can't make another adult change, and arguing about the amount rarely helps. You can say clearly what you've noticed and what it's doing to you, and make sure they know the West Kent service exists. Meanwhile, the Kenward Trust and Al-Anon support partners, and counselling for yourself gives you somewhere to think before you act.
Do I have to travel to Hove for addiction counselling if I live in Dartford?
No. At about 78 minutes by car, Hove is too far for weekly sessions from Dartford, so we'd meet by secure video. The sessions follow the same shape as in the room. It can be easier to be honest from home, and there's no waiting room where a neighbour might spot you.
Is it worth starting counselling before Change Grow Live have seen me in Dartford?
Yes. You don't have to wait for their assessment, and you don't need a referral to see me. Ring or message for the free 15-minute call, give me a rough idea of what's happening, and I'll say when a slot is free. If you or the person you're worried about drinks heavily every day, read the withdrawal warning in the urgent help section of this page before anything changes.
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.
Talk it through once, with no promises asked
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.