Gravesend · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Gravesend
If you searched for rehab in Gravesend, for yourself or for a son, daughter, partner or parent, detox and residential care are arranged through the free West Kent service. I'm a counsellor with my own lived experience of recovery, and I offer addiction counselling, one to one over secure video, before, during or after that help.
The practical facts for Gravesend
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Gravesend by car
- About 79 minutes with clear roads (64.9 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Gravesend, 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.
Before anyone says the word out loud
A drinking or drug problem in Gravesend can spend a long time looking like something else.
A couple of pints after work in the town centre stretch to closing time most nights. A bottle of wine each evening becomes two once the children have left home. Cocaine at the weekend starts to need Monday off to recover. Then something happens, a fall or a fight, and by the morning it has been explained away. Often it's the family who notice first: a mother in Denton counting the empties, or a husband in Riverview Park who has stopped believing the reasons. In Gravesham in 2023/24, admissions to hospital for alcohol-related conditions, on the narrow definition, ran at 556.1 per 100,000, above the England figure of 504.1 per 100,000. That is a whole borough over a year, and it tells you nothing about one household.
The free West Kent route, and where I come in
For Gravesend, the free route starts with the West Kent community drug and alcohol service, run by Change, Grow, Live, on 0330 128 1113. Its staff assess what someone needs, and when that means a detox under medical supervision or a stay in residential treatment, arranging it falls to them. My part, separate from that service, is the counselling around it: the weeks before someone is ready to make that call, the stretch of community support, and the months after a residential stay when the old routines are still there. If you're the one drinking, using or betting, we look honestly at what it has been doing for you and what could take over that job. If you're the mother, partner or grown-up child, you can come in your own right, without the person you're worried about knowing or agreeing. We'd look at where helping turns into shielding the habit, how to say what you've seen without a war, and how to keep hold of your own life. Medical questions belong with your GP or with CGL, who can work alongside our sessions.
Starting points, whoever is reading
After a trip to Bath Street
An injury after drinking that ended at the Urgent Treatment Centre at Gravesham Community Hospital can be the moment a family finally names what is happening. Sessions can start from there.
The drink on the late train
A can bought at St Pancras for the High Speed 1 ride home can turn into several by Gravesend. We look at what the commute and the job are asking of you.
A bet on the football, then everything
A Saturday bet on Ebbsfleet United turned into bets on anything, at any hour. Gambling belongs in addiction counselling too, and the free national helpline is listed on this page.
Brothers, sisters and close friends
The Kenward Trust's Friends, Family and Loved Ones Support isn't only for parents and partners. If a sibling's or a friend's drinking or using is wearing you down, it's for you too.
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 Gravesend
Change, Grow, Live runs the West Kent community drug and alcohol service, where detox and rehab are assessed and arranged. For relatives, the Kenward Trust supports friends, family and loved ones, and Al-Anon Family Groups holds meetings for people close to someone who drinks. Imago's Kent Carers Support covers West Kent. For anyone in distress in the evening, the closest Safe Haven drop-in is Dartford Safe Haven (Mental Health Matters), 18 Hythe Street, open 6pm to 11pm every day.
- 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 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 (Mental Health Matters) (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 Gravesend ask before starting
My son is in his twenties and drinking heavily in Gravesend. Can I get him into rehab?
As an adult, he will need to agree to it himself, which is often the hardest part for a parent. The free route is the West Kent community drug and alcohol service, run by Change, Grow, Live, on 0330 128 1113, and they assess and arrange detox or residential care where it's right. Alongside that, I can give you support of your own while you wait for him to be ready.
Would addiction counselling from Gravesend be by video, and could anyone overhear?
Yes, by secure video, because the Hove room is about 79 minutes' drive away. Privacy comes down to where you sit: a room with a door that shuts, headphones, or a parked car if the house is full. No one at your surgery, your work or on your street needs to know. If you'd like to meet in person once things are steadier, a longer session in Hove can be arranged.
I'm not sure I want to stop. Is it worth booking the free call from Gravesend?
Yes. You don't have to have decided anything, or promised anyone anything, to talk. On the call we'll go through what's been happening and what you're hoping for, and I'll say honestly when I have a regular space. Contacting CGL can happen at the same time or later. If you drink heavily every day, read the safety note on stopping suddenly, in the urgent help box on this page, before you change anything.
My dad has been drinking more since he retired. As his daughter in Gravesend, where do I start?
Start with yourself. Counselling with me can be entirely about what this is doing to you, and he doesn't need to know. Al-Anon meetings are open to grown-up children of people who drink, and the Kenward Trust supports family members. When you're ready to raise it with him, the West Kent service from Change, Grow, Live is the place to point him towards. If he is ever in danger, call 999.
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 first, whoever is drinking
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.