Havant · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Havant
If drinking, drugs or gambling are taking over your life, or the life of someone you love, I offer one-to-one addiction counselling for people from Havant, in my room in Hove or by secure video. My own recovery means I know something of this from the inside. Inclusion Recovery Hampshire arranges rehab and detox, and our sessions can sit either side of that help or run through it.
The practical facts for Havant
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Havant by car
- About 60 minutes with clear roads (41.5 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- Direct trains from Havant to Hove.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Inclusion Recovery Hampshire, 0300 124 0103
- 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.
When the worry is about someone at home
The person searching for rehab in Havant is sometimes not the one drinking or using.
It might be a parent in Langstone lying awake, a partner in Bedhampton who has started checking the bank statements, or a daughter in Leigh Park who has noticed her father's drinking has changed. If that's you, you may be carrying fear, anger and shame all at once, while trying to keep things looking normal for everyone else. It can just as easily be your own search, made quietly after a weekend you can't fully remember or a bet you can't cover. For Hampshire residents, the 2023/24 rate of alcohol-specific hospital admissions was 618.4 per 100,000, statistically similar to England's 611.7 per 100,000. That's a county-wide count, and it says nothing about you or the person you're worried about. What matters is what's happening in your home now, and who can help.
Where counselling sits beside Inclusion Recovery Hampshire
If you're looking for rehab, the place to begin from Havant is Inclusion Recovery Hampshire, the county's free drug and alcohol service. It assesses what someone needs, and it is the service that arranges detox with medical support, treatment in the community or a referral to residential rehab. If you're in distress in the evening, the Adults' Safe Haven at the Leigh Park Wellbeing Centre has Inclusion drug and alcohol workers there on Mondays and Thursdays. What I offer is different, and it can sit beside all of that: a regular hour with the same person to look honestly at what the habit has done for you and what it has cost, and to think about what you want now. You can start while the drinking, using or betting is still going on. If you're the family member, the sessions are for you, about your own exhaustion, the arguments and the limits you're trying to hold, whether or not your relative is ready for help. I can't make anyone else change, but we can work on how you look after yourself in the meantime. Medical questions belong with your GP or Inclusion.
Who addiction counselling here is for
Waiting to hear about rehab
Perhaps you're being assessed by Inclusion Recovery Hampshire, or a residential place is being arranged, and counselling can give you steady support through the weeks of waiting.
Back in Havant after treatment
Coming home after detox or residential care can be a hard stretch. A weekly hour can help you hold on to what you started, among the old places and people.
A parent worried sick
Parent Support Link (PSL) offers family support, and our sessions can give you a separate space for your own fear, anger and grief about what's happening.
Caring for someone who drinks
If looking after a partner or parent has taken over your life, the Hampshire Carers Support Service can support you as a carer, alongside time to talk here.
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 Havant
Parent Support Link (PSL) offers family support, and the Hampshire Carers Support Service helps people caring for someone who drinks or uses. For an adult who is drinking or using, the free service is Inclusion Recovery Hampshire. If your child is not yet an adult, ask your GP or the school nurse about young people's drug and alcohol support; Off The Record (OTR South) in Leigh Park also counsels 11 to 25 year olds and their parents. Each can run alongside sessions with me.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceInclusion Recovery Hampshire0300 124 0103Free and confidential.
- Local organisationThe Princess Royal Trust for Carers in Hampshire (Hampshire Carers Support Service)
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 HANTS to 85258. Local drop-in crisis support: Havant Adults' Safe Haven (Havant & East Hants Mind) (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 Havant ask before starting
Is there a rehab I can go to from Havant?
The route into rehab from Havant starts with Inclusion Recovery Hampshire, the free service, on 0300 124 0103. It assesses what's needed and can arrange detox, community treatment or a referral to residential care. Sessions with me can start while Inclusion Recovery Hampshire works that out, or pick up once you're back in Havant.
My son in Havant won't get help. Can I have counselling myself?
Yes. Sessions for a family member are about you: the worry, the rows, the money, and how to look after yourself without giving up on him. He doesn't have to know you're coming, or agree to it. Parent Support Link (PSL) also supports families. If he's not yet an adult, his GP or school nurse can point you both to young people's drug and alcohol support, and Off The Record in Leigh Park counsels 11 to 25 year olds and their parents.
Should I come to Hove or have addiction counselling by video from Havant?
Either is fine. Coming in person, by the direct train from Havant or a drive of about an hour, gets you out of the house where the drinking or using may happen, and you're unlikely to meet anyone you know. Video suits you if the travel is too much alongside work or family. You can switch between them as things change.
Can I start counselling in Havant while I'm still drinking?
Yes. Nobody has to be sober, or certain they want to stop, to book a first session. Anything to do with how or how fast to stop is a medical question for your GP or Inclusion Recovery Hampshire, and the boxed safety note on stopping, which sits just above these questions, explains why that matters. Starting is simple, with a free 15-minute call.
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 call for you, or for the person 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.