Dover · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Dover
Looking up rehab in Dover usually means someone is frightened, often a parent, partner or grown-up child rather than the person drinking. Assessment, detox and residential places here are arranged by The Forward Trust. I offer addiction counselling around that, and because Hove is 121 minutes' drive from Dover, our sessions would almost always be by secure video.
The practical facts for Dover
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Dover by car
- About 121 minutes with clear roads (104.3 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.
Port shifts, quiet houses and a drink to switch off
The Port of Dover is the UK's busiest international ferry port, and the district council says the local economy is closely tied to it.
Work that follows the ferries rather than the clock can make it hard to unwind, and a drink after a late finish can become the only way some people switch off. Elsewhere in town the pressures look different. In April 2023 unemployment in Town and Castle ward stood at 8.6%, and losing work can leave long, empty days in Buckland or Tower Hamlets with little to fill them. Up in River or Temple Ewell, drinking can stay hidden behind a tidy front door for years. The district's 2023/24 rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions, 411.3 per 100,000, sat below England's 504.1. A district figure cannot tell you what is happening in your own house, and families are usually the first to notice.
Who arranges treatment, and what our sessions add
For anyone living between the Western Heights and Whitfield, treatment comes through The Forward Trust, whose community drug and alcohol team for East Kent answers 0300 123 1186. After an assessment they set out the options, which can include community support, a medically supervised detox or a place in residential rehab. Counselling with me fits around whichever of those you choose. Our work can begin before you have decided to ring that number at all. Or you can use our hour during treatment to look at the reasons behind the drinking, drug use or gambling: boredom since a job went, grief, a long shift pattern, or something much older. Coming home from residential care to the Dour valley, where the old pub and the old crowd are still waiting, is often the shakiest stage, so our weekly hour becomes somewhere to unpick each close call while it is still small. I bring lived experience of recovery and over 25 years in practice. Family members are just as welcome to book for themselves, especially when the person drinking is not ready for help yet.
Help around Dover for drinkers and their families
The local treatment door
Assessment for Dover people happens through The Forward Trust's East Kent community drug and alcohol service, whose team also refers on for detox or a residential place.
Carers of a drinking relative
Carers' Support East Kent gives emotional support to unpaid carers in Dover, Deal and Sandwich, including people looking after someone with an addiction, and you can self-refer.
Parents of young children
Home-Start Dover District sends volunteers to families with a child aged 5 or under, including homes where a parent's mental health is under strain.
Children who carry too much
Dover SmART Project on Bench Street runs free creative sessions that include support for young carers, which can matter when a child is quietly looking after a parent.
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 Dover
Counselling with me works alongside the free routes in and around Dover. From Charlton to Elms Vale, The Forward Trust assesses people and refers on for detox or residential care through its East Kent community drug and alcohol service. Relatives in Buckland, River or Maxton can lean on Carers' Support East Kent, Al-Anon Family Groups or Kenward Trust - Friends, Family and Loved Ones Support, while Dover Counselling Centre (DCC), based up at Whitfield, covers broader emotional needs.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceEast Kent community drug and alcohol service (The Forward Trust)0300 123 1186Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCarers' Support East Kent (Dover District and Thanet)
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 Dover ask before starting
If my husband needs rehab, where does he go from Dover?
He would start with a call to The Forward Trust on 0300 123 1186, the East Kent provider covering Dover, to be assessed for drug and alcohol treatment. Their staff weigh up community support, detox or a residential placement with him, then put the chosen option in place. Alongside that, I provide one-to-one counselling by video, before you go, while you are in treatment, or once you are back in Dover.
My dad's drinking is getting worse and he lives in Dover. How can I help him?
Your own support can come first. Carers' Support East Kent helps people caring for someone with an addiction, and Al-Anon Family Groups and Kenward Trust support relatives too. You can have sessions with me, wherever you live, to think through what to say, what to stop covering for, and how to look after yourself. When he is ready, The Forward Trust can assess him.
Is video addiction counselling realistic if I live in Dover?
It is the usual way we would work. Hove is about two hours each way by car, and the Marshlink rail route means changing at Ashford International and again at Eastbourne, so a weekly trip would swallow half a day. On video you keep the same counsellor at a fixed time, from home, which helps on the days when staying steady takes everything. An occasional face-to-face session can still be booked.
Can I talk to you while I wait to be seen by The Forward Trust in Dover?
Yes. After a free 15-minute call you pick a weekly slot straight away, so the wait for a Forward Trust appointment need not be spent on your own. We can use that time to prepare for the assessment and keep you steady until treatment starts. Should daily heavy drinking be part of the picture, talk to your Dover GP first rather than stopping overnight, and check the withdrawal safety note further up this page.
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.
One call from Dover to talk it through
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.