Orpington · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Orpington
Whether you're the one drinking, using or gambling, or the one lying awake about it, I'm not the way into detox or residential rehab from Orpington. For drink and drugs, that route starts with Bromley's free drug and alcohol service. What I offer is one-to-one counselling by secure video, from someone with his own recovery, before, during or after any treatment.
The practical facts for Orpington
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Orpington by car
- About 67 minutes with clear roads (54.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Orpington, change at London Bridge for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Change Grow Live (CGL) Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service, 020 8289 1999
- 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.
What addiction can look like in an Orpington home
On an Orpington street, addiction can be a grown-up son back in his old bedroom in Derry Downs, sleeping through the day, or a wife whose first glass comes a little earlier each week.
It can be a husband whose bets sit hidden among the shopping apps on his phone. Or it may be you, keeping a respectable life running around something nobody at work has guessed. In a town where neighbours and other parents see each other on the High Street and the morning train, the fear of being recognised can keep a whole family quiet for years. In 2023/24, alcohol-specific hospital admissions in Bromley came to 363.6 per 100,000, set against 611.7 per 100,000 for England, so the borough was below the national figure. That counts admissions across a whole borough. It can't tell you anything about one household, and a lower rate doesn't make what is happening in yours any less serious.
Who does what in Bromley, and where I fit
The free starting point for anyone living in Orpington is Change Grow Live, which runs the Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service for adults on 020 8289 1999. They assess what's needed, and if a medically supervised detox or a residential place is right, it's arranged through them. Beside them, the Clean Slate Project is Bromley's recovery hub, somewhere to rebuild a life among other people in recovery. I sit outside that system, which can be useful. Counselling with me can start before anyone is ready to phone CGL, run alongside community treatment, or pick up when someone comes home from residential care and everything familiar about the old life is close at hand again. We'd look honestly at what the drinking, drugs or gambling does for you and what it has cost. There's no lecture and nothing you say will shock me, because I've been through recovery myself. Families can come in their own right, too. If you're the parent or partner, the sessions are about you: how to stop managing every crisis for them, and how to raise what you've noticed so that it doesn't end in a row, while still looking after your own health.
Four starting points in Orpington
A grown child back home
Your adult son or daughter is drinking or using under your roof. Families Anonymous, listed in Bromley Council's directory of local organisations, is a group for relatives in your position.
Help inside the treatment service
CGL Bromley's family and carer support is part of the commissioned drug and alcohol service, so the people living beside an addiction have somewhere of their own to turn.
Before the first phone call
We can think it through together first: what you'd say to CGL on 020 8289 1999, what you're afraid they might ask, and what you hope happens next.
Settling back after residential care
Back in Orpington after time away, the Clean Slate Project offers a recovery community in the borough, and weekly sessions can help with the parts of life that need rebuilding.
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 Orpington
Change Grow Live's Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service is the route to assessment, detox and residential care. The Clean Slate Project is the borough's recovery hub. For relatives, CGL Bromley's family and carer support and Families Anonymous both exist for you, and if you've slowly become an unpaid carer for an adult, Bromley Well can help. Private counselling runs beside any of these.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceChange Grow Live (CGL) Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service020 8289 1999Free and confidential.
- Local organisationCGL Bromley family and carer support
- Local organisationSouth East London Mind - Orpington Centre and Head OfficeLocal Mind charity; its Bromley services include Mindful.
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 South London NHS Mental Health Crisis WhatsApp Service () is another option: WhatsApp 0303 330 1511.
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 Orpington ask before starting
How do I get someone into rehab from Orpington?
Start with Change Grow Live, which runs the Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service for adults, on 020 8289 1999. They carry out the assessment, and they are the ones who arrange detox or a residential place if it's needed. If the person you're worried about isn't ready to make that call, you can still get support for yourself. Alongside their route, I can support you, or them, through the wait and afterwards.
My adult son lives with us in Orpington and uses cannabis every day. Who helps parents?
You can get help even if he doesn't want any yet. CGL Bromley offers family and carer support, and Families Anonymous is a group listed in Bromley Council's directory. Counselling with me can be a place to think about boundaries, money and what you will and won't do, without blaming yourself for where things are. If you're ever frightened for anyone's safety at home, call 999.
Is addiction counselling by video from Orpington private enough?
It can be more private than walking into a local building. The Hove room is 67 minutes' drive from Orpington, so video is the practical route anyway, and you choose where you sit. Headphones help if others are at home, and a parked car works if it's the only quiet place. Nothing goes to your GP, employer or family without your agreement, apart from the safety limits I explain at the start.
Can I see you before I've even phoned CGL Bromley?
Yes. No assessment is needed before the free 15-minute call, and on it I'll tell you plainly when a regular space could open. Counselling with me can overlap with CGL's support later, or carry on if you never use them. If you drink every day and are thinking of stopping, speak to your GP or CGL Bromley before you do, and read the withdrawal safety note above these questions first.
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.
Begin with a call, about you or about them
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.