Newbury · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Newbury
Anyone in Newbury hunting for rehab, on their own account or for a son, daughter, partner or parent, can go free of charge to Via West Berkshire, whose team carries out the assessment and books detox or residential care. My part is individual addiction counselling over secure video, running beside that, before treatment, during it or after, and I see worried relatives in their own right too.
The practical facts for Newbury
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Newbury by car
- About 119 minutes with clear roads (101.0 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Via – West Berkshire, 0300 303 4554
- 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.
Who to ring first when drink or drugs worry you in Newbury
Rehab tends to mean a residential clinic in people's minds, but in West Berkshire the door in is usually Via, the integrated drug and alcohol service run by Via Community Ltd, formerly WDP.
Ring its West Berkshire team on 0300 303 4554 and they will hear the story, weigh up what is needed and line up community support, detox or a residential bed if that fits. Younger people are seen by its young people's team, The Edge. For anyone whose drinking or drug use sits alongside homelessness, Two Saints works with West Berkshire Council on supported accommodation and holds a drug and alcohol drop-in on Tuesday afternoons, and Newbury Soup Kitchen offers meals, health checks and wellbeing support. So if you're a parent in Speen or a husband in East Fields wondering who to phone, Via is the place to begin. Counselling with me is the talking side, and it can start before anything else is settled.
A steady weekly hour, for you or for the family
The work is individual and outpatient: you keep living at home in Newbury while we meet each week. You can start while you are still drinking, using or gambling; nobody has to promise to stop first. Together we look at when the pull comes, what the habit seems to do for you, and what it has taken from you and the people close to you. Often there is something older underneath, such as grief, trauma or years of pressure at work, and that gets proper time. After detox or a residential stay arranged through Via, going back to the same streets, the same pub and the same routines can be the hardest part, and a regular session gives you somewhere to hold on to what has changed. Parents and spouses around Wash Common or Greenham can book hours purely for themselves, to talk through the nights awake, the excuses made on someone's behalf, the arguments and the line you want to hold. I have my own lived experience of recovery and more than 25 years of practice, so very little will shock me. For background on the district rather than on you, West Berkshire recorded 333.3 hospital admissions per 100,000 for alcohol-specific conditions in 2023/24, while England's figure was 611.7 per 100,000, so the district sat below it.
Where counselling fits around help in West Berkshire
Before you contact Via
If you're not ready to phone Via West Berkshire yet, counselling can give you space to think about what you want and what you're afraid of.
Alongside treatment arranged by Via
Whatever Via sets up, from community support to detox or a residential stay, a weekly video hour with me can sit alongside it from Newbury.
Help for a teenager
For a young person in Newbury, Via's young people's team, The Edge, is the free specialist route, and parents can have sessions with me for themselves.
When housing is part of it
Two Saints runs a Tuesday-afternoon drug and alcohol drop-in alongside its supported accommodation, and Newbury Soup Kitchen helps with food, health checks, housing and benefits.
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 Newbury
Private counselling sits beside free help, never in place of it. Via West Berkshire is the free drug and alcohol service and the route to detox or residential care. Eight Bells for Mental Health offers peer-support drop-ins at the Friends Meeting House, and Newbury Samaritans offers a listening service by phone. Family members who are worn down by caring can contact the Reading and West Berkshire Carers Partnership.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceVia – West Berkshire0300 303 4554Free and confidential.
- Local organisationNewbury Carers Group
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.
The Berkshire Healthcare Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team, adults 18+) is another option: 0800 129 9999.
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 Newbury ask before starting
Where do I find rehab near Newbury?
Residential rehab and detox for West Berkshire residents are arranged through Via West Berkshire, the free drug and alcohol service, on 0300 303 4554. Their assessment decides whether community support, a detox or a residential stay is the right next step. My part is outpatient addiction counselling by video, which can come before, during or after that treatment.
How soon could counselling start if I live in Newbury?
There's a short free phone conversation first. Should we both agree to continue, I'll set out which weekly hours remain free and you pick, with no GP letter required. You can contact Via West Berkshire at the same time; one doesn't have to wait for the other, and counselling can begin while you decide about treatment.
Is it possible to have addiction counselling from Newbury without going to Hove?
Yes. The room is about 119 minutes away by road, so from Newbury we would meet over secure video, from your home or anywhere private. That keeps the hour regular and saves a long trip. A face-to-face session in Hove can be planned now and then, should you want one.
My son in Newbury refuses to get help. Could the sessions be for me instead?
Yes. Sessions can be about how this is affecting you: the fear, the anger, the late-night phone checks, and what you will and won't do any more. If he is still young, Via's young people's team, The Edge, may be the right route for him, and otherwise the adult Via service. If you're an exhausted parent carer, the Reading and West Berkshire Carers Partnership can support you too.
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.
One phone call from Newbury, for you or 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.