Eastbourne · in person in Hove or online
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Eastbourne
If you typed 'rehab Eastbourne' for yourself or for a relative, this page shows where the free assessment happens and where counselling fits around it. I'm a counsellor with my own experience of recovery, and my part is the counselling that sits alongside any detox or rehab. I see adults one to one on secure video, or in a private room in Hove about 45 minutes' drive away.
The practical facts for Eastbourne
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Eastbourne by car
- About 45 minutes with clear roads (27.2 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Eastbourne to Brighton; change there for Hove, one stop.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- STAR Drug and Alcohol Service (East Sussex STAR), 0300 303 8160
- 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.
Retirement, routine and the drink that fills the gap
Plenty of people come to Eastbourne to retire, and its long-established retirement communities are part of the town's character.
Leaving work also takes away what used to give a day its edges, such as the commute and a reason to stop at six. A glass at lunchtime and another before dinner can settle into that space without anyone deciding they should, especially after a partner has died or worrying news has come from the doctor. Betting can creep in the same way, on a tablet on the sofa. With no job to miss and no manager to notice, it can carry on for years. Often the first person to name it lives somewhere else: a son on the phone from London who hears the words starting to slur by seven, or a daughter who drives down and finds the recycling full again. Younger people and families are moving into the town as well, and drinking or drug use can hide just as easily behind a busy household.
What a private hour adds to STAR and recovery groups
Counselling with me is one strand among several, and I'd rather be clear about which strand it is. STAR assesses what you need and can arrange detox or residential treatment where that's safe and needed. Coastal Routes Recovery is run by people with lived experience of recovery, and offers the company of others who have been there. A private hour gives you time to look at the job the bottle, the pills or the betting app has been doing for you, such as filling the evenings or quietening grief. Once we understand that, we can plan the next steps together, at a pace you can keep. After more than 25 years of practice, very little you tell me will come as a shock. If you're the partner or parent, the hour belongs to you and what you carry, from the constant checking to the guilt when you finally say no. Adfam East Sussex exists for people in your position, and our sessions can sit beside it. For East Sussex in 2023/24, hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions ran at 507.1 per 100,000, below England's 611.7 per 100,000. A lower county rate says nothing about how serious things are in your home, and I won't read it that way.
Where things might stand for you now
Worrying from a distance
Your mum or dad retired to Eastbourne and you live elsewhere. The phone calls change tone by evening, nobody nearby is checking, and video counselling works from wherever you are.
Drinking that shaped retirement
The months after leaving work, or after losing a partner, when lunchtime and early-evening drinks have quietly become the shape of the day in a flat in Meads or Old Town.
Already in touch with STAR
You've rung STAR Drug and Alcohol Service on 0300 303 8160, or started working with them, and want a regular one-to-one hour alongside what they offer.
Keeping going once treatment ends
Back from residential treatment, or finishing your time with STAR, and wanting a steady weekly hour to help keep the changes going, alongside the peer company of Coastal Routes Recovery.
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 Eastbourne
STAR Drug and Alcohol Service, run by Change Grow Live, is the free East Sussex service to ask about assessment, detox and residential places. Coastal Routes Recovery is led by people with their own lived experience, for anyone in recovery in the county. Adfam East Sussex is there for family members, and Care for the Carers, the East Sussex carers' charity, may help if supporting a relative has turned into caring for them. Private sessions with me can sit next to any of these.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceSTAR Drug and Alcohol Service (East Sussex STAR)0300 303 8160Run 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 Eastbourne ask before starting
What's the difference between rehab and addiction counselling in Eastbourne?
Rehab usually means residential care, where you live in for a period, often after a medically supported detox. In East Sussex those are arranged after an assessment by STAR, on 0300 303 8160. Addiction counselling with me is a weekly hour, by video or in Hove, that can come before rehab, run alongside community support from STAR, or help once you're home.
Do I have to wait for a STAR assessment before starting counselling in Eastbourne?
No. I can't tell you STAR's current waiting times, so ask when you ring them, but counselling doesn't depend on their assessment. The free 15-minute call comes first, then, if it feels right, a first session on video, with an honest answer from me about when I can fit you in. If you drink heavily every day, look at the withdrawal warning in the urgent help box higher up this page before changing anything.
Can I have addiction counselling from Eastbourne without anyone in town knowing?
Yes. Nobody in Eastbourne needs to see you walk in anywhere. Sessions can be on video from a private room at home, or you can come to Intergen House in Hove, about 45 minutes' drive away, where you're unlikely to bump into anyone from Upperton or Sovereign Harbour. What you tell me stays confidential, and at the outset I'll explain the rare situations, involving serious risk, where that could change.
I live away from Eastbourne and I'm worried about my dad's drinking. Can I get support?
Yes. You can see me by video from wherever you live, and the sessions are about you: the dread before each phone call, the guilt about being far away, and what you can realistically do. Adfam East Sussex supports family members too. STAR, on 0300 303 8160, is the service your dad would contact himself for an assessment, while our sessions stay focused on you.
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, 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.