Epsom · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Epsom
If you've searched 'rehab Epsom' for yourself, a partner or a grown-up child, rehab and detox are arranged through i-access, Surrey's free drug and alcohol service. I've been in recovery myself, and as a counsellor I offer addiction counselling by secure video that can come before, during or after their help.
The practical facts for Epsom
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Epsom by car
- About 61 minutes with clear roads (44.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Epsom, change at Clapham Junction for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- i-access, 0300 222 5932
- 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 racing town, and the habits nobody sees
Racing has been part of Epsom for centuries, and on race days at the Downs a bet can be part of the afternoon.
For some people betting moves onto a phone and into the small hours, then into the joint account, and it is far easier to hide than a bottle. Often the person searching isn't the one using. It might be a partner who has noticed how often the other needs to pop out late at night, or parents who realise that money keeps quietly going missing from the house. Sometimes it's a night in A and E at Epsom Hospital after a fall nobody wants to discuss. In 2023/24, Epsom and Ewell recorded 258.9 hospital admissions per 100,000 people for alcohol-specific conditions, below England's 611.7 per 100,000. That rate describes hospital admissions across the whole district and says nothing about what is happening in your home.
i-access arranges treatment; counselling fills the weeks around it
For Epsom and Ewell, the free way into specialist help is i-access, which Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust delivers with Via, a non-profit, on 0300 222 5932. They assess what's needed and, where it's safe and right, arrange medically supported detox, community support or a residential place. Counselling with me sits at the edges of their route: in the weeks before someone is ready to ring, alongside their support, or in the months after a residential stay when ordinary life has to be relearned. We start with the job the habit has been doing, whether that's quietening a restless mind, getting through a social evening, blotting out a loss or supplying a rush the rest of the week lacks. Understanding that job matters, because whatever replaces it has to meet the same need. I've had my own years of getting well, so very little you say will shock me, and there'll be no lecture. Relatives can come in their own right, without the person using knowing or agreeing. We'd look at the difference between helping and rescuing, how to name what you've noticed without it turning into a row, and how to keep your own life from narrowing to fit around theirs.
Four ways in, depending on where you stand
If betting has taken hold
Racing runs through Epsom's history, from the Downs to the Derby. If a bet has become something you hide on your phone, we can talk about it, and the gambling helpline is listed on this page.
Ringing i-access for the first time
Not sure what to say when you call 0300 222 5932? We can work out beforehand what to tell them and what you want to ask about assessment, detox or residential care.
A partner keeping the peace
Living with someone whose drinking sets the mood in the house. i-access offers information and carers support for family members, and our sessions can be yours alone.
Back in Epsom after rehab
The weeks after a residential stay, when the structure stops and the old places and people are close by again. A steady weekly hour can help hold the changes in place.
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 Epsom
i-access is the route for assessment, detox and residential care, and its information and carers support is there for family members too. Action for Carers Surrey helps if you've ended up caring for someone, and Mary Frances Trust Community Connections groups in Epsom offer company of your own. On a night when it all gets too much, the Epsom Safe Haven is open to adults from 6pm to 11pm.
- Free drug and alcohol servicei-access0300 222 5932Free and confidential.
- Local organisationi-access information and carers support for family and carers
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 Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS FT Mental Health Crisis Helpline is on 0800 915 4644. Local drop-in crisis support: Epsom 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 Epsom ask before starting
Who arranges rehab or detox for someone living in Epsom?
In Surrey it's i-access, the free drug and alcohol service that Surrey and Borders Partnership operates with Via, on 0300 222 5932. Their assessment decides whether detox or a residential place is the right next step, and they organise it. Alongside that, I can offer counselling now, for the person using or for you, and carry on once they're home.
My partner gambles on their phone every night. Can I have counselling in Epsom about it, even if they won't?
Yes. Living with someone else's gambling can bring secrecy, money worries and a constant feeling of being lied to, and you're entitled to help with that in your own right. Sessions can be about what you've noticed, what you're prepared to keep doing, and how to protect your own finances and sleep. The gambling helpline on this page is free, day or night.
Is addiction counselling from Epsom online, or would I come to Hove?
Usually online. A 61-minute drive each way is hard to keep up when life is unsteady, and video means nobody sees you arrive anywhere. You can join from any room with a door that shuts. Once things are steadier, an occasional longer session face to face in Hove is possible, and we can change the mix as you go.
I live in Epsom and haven't been assessed by i-access yet. Can counselling start anyway?
Yes. You don't need a referral, and there's no need to wait for their assessment. Once we've had the free 15-minute call, you'll know plainly when a weekly space could open. If you contact i-access as well, we can use our sessions to prepare for their assessment and talk over whatever it brings up.
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 through the next step, with no pressure
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.