Hampstead · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Hampstead
Typing 'rehab Hampstead' into a search bar, for your own drinking or a relative's, usually means you want to know who does what in Camden. The borough's assessments, detox and residential placements sit with CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service, and my one-to-one counselling can begin earlier, carry on through treatment or pick up afterwards. From NW3 we'd meet on secure video, since Hove is 110 minutes' drive.
The practical facts for Hampstead
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Hampstead by car
- About 110 minutes with clear roads (84.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service (Change Grow Live Camden), 020 7485 2722
- 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.
Drinking that hides well behind a good address
In Hampstead a drinking problem can stay out of sight for a long time.
Dinner parties, a bottle opened after a walk on the Heath, a large home with room to keep things private: none of it raises an alarm. GP records in neighbouring Frognal ward show alcohol dependence less often than in the rest of Camden, but a recorded figure tells you what reaches the doctor, not what happens at home. For 2023/24, Camden logged 728.2 alcohol-specific hospital admissions per 100,000 people, a rate higher than England's 611.7. Retirement, bereavement and long empty evenings can loosen an older drinker's routine, and anyone working nights, at the Royal Free or elsewhere, can come to rely on a drink to wind down. Often it's a partner or an adult child who first says it out loud.
Where counselling fits in the route to treatment
Rehab, in the sense of detox or a residential stay, is arranged through CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service, which carries out an assessment and works out what level of care is safe. Counselling with me sits around that. Before treatment, it can help you look honestly at what drinking or drug use is doing and decide what you want. Alongside community treatment, it gives you a weekly space to work on the feelings and situations that pull you back. After a residential stay, it supports the months of rebuilding at home in Hampstead, when the structure of a programme falls away. I have lived experience of recovery as well as more than 25 years as a counsellor, so shame doesn't have to do the talking. Together we ask what drink or drugs have been doing for you behind a quiet NW3 front door, perhaps blunting grief, easing loneliness or propping up a punishing job, and what else could do that work. Relatives in NW3 can book sessions purely for themselves, whatever stage the person they love has reached.
Hampstead situations behind a search for rehab
A parent drinking more since retiring
In a ward where nearly one in five residents is 65 or over, adult children may notice a parent's drinking creeping up after retirement or a partner's death.
Coming down after hospital shifts
Night work at the Royal Free, Hampstead's largest employer, can make a drink, or something stronger, feel like the only way to switch off and sleep.
Worried relatives in NW3
Some Space Camden, the Change Grow Live service for family and friends, supports relatives of anyone drinking or using drugs, alongside any counselling you have.
Starting with a CGL Camden assessment
An assessment with CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service, on 020 7485 2722, is the door to detox or residential care; counselling can run alongside it from home.
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 Hampstead
Treatment and counselling can run together. An assessment through CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service on 020 7485 2722 comes first, and they arrange detox or a residential place when that is the safe route. Some Space Camden supports family members and friends in their own right, and Camden Carers helps anyone looking after a relative. In a crisis, the Camden and Islington Crisis Single Point of Access answers on 0800 917 3333.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceCGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service (Change Grow Live Camden)020 7485 2722Free and confidential.
- Local organisationHenderson Court Day Care Centre (Age UK Camden)Day care centre in Hampstead for older people, 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 Camden and Islington Crisis Single Point of Access is on 0800 917 3333. Local drop-in crisis support: Camden Crisis Sanctuary (Hestia) (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 Hampstead ask before starting
I keep searching for rehab near Hampstead. Where does residential treatment actually come from?
Residential rehab and detox for Camden residents are arranged through CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service, which begins with an assessment and works out whether a residential placement is the safest route. You can contact them on 020 7485 2722. I provide one-to-one addiction counselling by video from Hampstead, before, during or after any treatment they arrange.
My husband in Hampstead won't admit he drinks too much. Can I get help first?
Yes. You can begin counselling for yourself, focusing on how his drinking is affecting you, where your responsibility starts and stops, and how to raise it without the conversation collapsing into a row. Some Space Camden, the Change Grow Live family and friends service, also supports relatives. If you ever feel unsafe at home, call 999.
Can addiction counselling work over video from NW3?
It can. Video lets you speak from your own home, with no waiting room and no trip of around 110 minutes to Hove, which can make honesty easier. You'll need a private room and a stable connection. An occasional in-person session in Hove remains possible if you'd find it helpful.
How quickly can I start if I'm worried about my drinking in Hampstead?
The first step with me is a short no-cost conversation, after which I offer the weekly slots I genuinely have open. You can also ring CGL Camden Integrated Drug and Alcohol Service directly on 020 7485 2722 for an assessment, without waiting for our sessions to begin. The two routes work well side by side.
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.
A first conversation, for you or for them
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.