Horsham · in person in Hove or online
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Horsham
If you searched for rehab in Horsham, perhaps for someone you love, rehab and detox there are reached through DAWN, the free West Sussex service, and my one-to-one counselling, in Hove or by secure video, can sit next to that. I've been through recovery myself, and I see the person drinking or using, or the relative holding things together.
The practical facts for Horsham
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Horsham by car
- About 36 minutes with clear roads (23.4 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Horsham, change at Three Bridges for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- West Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN), 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.
When the worry belongs to the whole household
You might be a parent in Needles who has found empty bottles pushed to the back of a grown-up son's wardrobe.
You might have noticed that your wife's glass of wine at six has become most of a bottle by nine, or you keep lending a brother money and no longer ask what it's for. Or the worry may be about you, on the train home from London Victoria with a can that has started to feel necessary. For people living in Horsham district, the 2023/24 rate of hospital admission for alcohol-specific conditions was 333.7 per 100,000, which sits below England's 611.7 per 100,000. A district figure like that does nothing to shrink what is happening inside one house. You don't have to wait for a hospital stay or a lost job before it becomes reasonable to ask for help.
DAWN, the wellbeing hub and where counselling fits
In West Sussex the free route into specialist treatment is DAWN, the county's Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network, run by Change Grow Live and reachable on 0330 128 1113. DAWN assesses what you need with you, from support in the community to a medically supported detox, and can refer on for residential treatment. For a habit that worries you but hasn't reached that point, Horsham District Wellbeing offers free alcohol reduction support. Counselling with me runs alongside those services and doesn't replace any of them. You might use it to get ready to make that first call to DAWN, keep a weekly hour going through community treatment, or pick it up after coming home from a residential stay, when the days suddenly have no timetable. The sessions themselves are honest and unhurried. We map the hours when the pull is strongest and ask what drinking or using has been doing for you, because it usually does something, whether that's easing the end of a long commute or numbing a loss. You don't have to have stopped before we begin. If you're the relative, the sessions belong to you. You can be angry or frightened for them without having to be fair, and think clearly about what you will and won't do next.
Free help around Horsham, and how it fits together
Assessment through DAWN
The county's Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network works out with you what level of treatment is safe, from community support up to detox under medical supervision or a stay in residential care.
Before it becomes a crisis
Horsham District Wellbeing, run by the county and district councils, offers free alcohol reduction support for drinking that has crept up but hasn't taken over.
Support for the one who copes
Carers Support West Sussex runs a strand for people caring for someone with a drink or drug problem, separate from whatever help that person is or isn't getting.
Family and friends in their own right
West Sussex Wellbeing has council-run support for family and friends of someone who drinks, so the worry you carry has somewhere to go besides that person.
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 Horsham
My sources don't show a recovery community meeting in Horsham, though the national peer-support groups named below run meetings you can find online. For families, Carers Support West Sussex and West Sussex Wellbeing are the named routes, and Mind in Brighton and Hove runs West Sussex services if worry or low mood sits under the habit. Weekly counselling can run beside any of these.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceWest Sussex Drug & Alcohol Wellbeing Network (DAWN)0330 128 1113Run 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 Horsham ask before starting
Is there a rehab in Horsham you can refer my son to?
In West Sussex the route to detox or residential treatment normally runs through an assessment with DAWN, run by Change Grow Live, on 0330 128 1113, and that's where rehab placements are arranged. What I can offer is weekly counselling before that assessment, during treatment or once he's home again in Horsham, and separate sessions for you as his parent if you'd like them.
My husband drinks every night and won't admit there's a problem. Can I get help in Horsham just for me?
Yes, and you don't need his agreement. Carers Support West Sussex has a drug and alcohol strand for people in your position, and the council's West Sussex Wellbeing pages set out help for family and friends. Counselling with me gives you a private hour to decide what you want to do. If he drinks heavily every day, stopping suddenly can be dangerous, so any plan for him to stop belongs with his GP or DAWN. The warning just above these questions says more.
Should I come to Hove for addiction counselling, or do it by video from Horsham?
Either can work. The drive is about 36 minutes, and getting out of the house for the hour can help when home is where the drinking happens. Video may suit you better if you're juggling DAWN appointments, would rather nobody saw you arrive anywhere, or find the rail trip with a change at Three Bridges unrealistic. Nothing stops you swapping later.
Do I have to stop drinking or using before counselling can start?
No. We can begin wherever you are, including while you're still drinking or using, and you don't need a referral from your GP or DAWN. If you drink heavily every day or take benzodiazepines daily, speak to your GP or DAWN before stopping, because sudden withdrawal can be dangerous. Booking the free 15-minute call commits you to nothing.
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.
Ring about yourself, or about 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.