Rochester · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Rochester
If you searched for rehab in Rochester because of your own drinking or using, or because of a partner, parent or grown-up child, I see people one to one, over secure video, as a counsellor. Recovery is part of my own life too. Detox and residential rehab come through the free Medway treatment route, and the counselling can come before, during or after it.
The practical facts for Rochester
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Rochester by car
- About 84 minutes with clear roads (69.7 miles); longer at busy times.
- By train
- From Rochester, change at London Bridge for trains towards Brighton and Hove.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Medway (RIVER) Treatment and Recovery Service, 0300 123 1560
- 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.
Kept quiet behind a front door in Medway
In a family in Rochester or Strood, a drink or drug problem can stay hidden for a long time.
The empties go out in someone else's recycling. Weekend cocaine starts appearing on a Tuesday. A son in Strood stops answering his mother's calls midweek and turns up on Sunday with an explanation ready. A wife in Borstal learns to read the sound of the key in the door. Then something breaks the routine, a night at Medway Maritime Hospital, a police car outside, a child left waiting at the school gate, and the word rehab suddenly feels urgent. One number for context: Medway's rate of alcohol-specific hospital admissions in 2023/24 was 400.5 per 100,000, lower than England's 611.7 per 100,000. That figure covers the whole of Medway and tells you nothing about one household.
How the free RIVER route works, and where I fit
The free route for Rochester is the Medway (RIVER) Treatment and Recovery Service, run by The Forward Trust with Open Road providing the recovery side, on 0300 123 1560. That is where someone is assessed, and where detox or a residential placement is arranged if it is needed and safe. My part is the counselling around it. Before anyone rings, that might be several weeks of working out whether you are ready. During community treatment, it's an hour each week to look at what the drink, the pills or the betting have been doing for you, and what could do that job instead. After a residential stay, it's support for coming back to the same streets and the same contacts in your phone. For families, sessions can be entirely yours. A parent, partner or adult child can come without the person drinking knowing, and we look at the line between loving someone and absorbing the consequences for them, how to say what you've seen, and how to stop your whole week circling one person's use. Medical questions, including anything about medication or stopping, go to your GP or to RIVER, who can work alongside our sessions.
Where you might be starting from
After a night at Medway Maritime
When an evening ends at the hospital in Gillingham, the excuses can run out all at once. That is a reasonable moment to contact RIVER, and to start talking with me as well.
Families waiting for them to be ready
RIVER family and friends support, from The Forward Trust and Open Road, is there for relatives in Medway. Your own counselling with me doesn't wait on the person who drinks or uses asking for help.
When treatment ends and life restarts
Open Road provides the recovery side of RIVER in Medway. Weekly counselling can sit beside that recovery support once the structure of treatment falls away.
Bets placed on the morning train
A habit of betting on your phone during the high-speed run to St Pancras can grow without anyone noticing. Gambling belongs in addiction counselling too, and the national helpline is on this page.
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 Rochester
In Medway the free route is RIVER, run by The Forward Trust with Open Road providing the recovery element. Relatives can contact RIVER family and friends support about their own situation. None of it has to be arranged before you and I talk, and counselling with me can run beside whichever parts you use.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceMedway (RIVER) Treatment and Recovery Service0300 123 1560Free and confidential.
- Local organisationNorth Kent Mind Wellbeing Services (Medway)Non-clinical group support for Medway residents, including.
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.
Local drop-in crisis support: Medway Safe Haven; Gillingham Safe Haven (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 Rochester ask before starting
Is there a rehab in Rochester, and how does someone get a place?
Residential rehab for someone in Rochester starts with the Medway (RIVER) Treatment and Recovery Service on 0300 123 1560. They work out what is needed and, where it is right and safe, organise detox or a residential placement, and the person concerned has to agree to it. What I offer is counselling in the months before, around or after that.
I live in Rochester and my husband's drinking is getting worse. Can I get help if he refuses?
Yes. RIVER family and friends support exists for relatives and partners in Medway, and you can ask them about support for yourself. Counselling with me can also be entirely for you, and needs nothing from him: what you've been carrying, what you've been covering for, and what you want to happen next. If you ever feel unsafe with him, call 999 in an emergency.
Would addiction counselling from Rochester be face to face or online?
Online, by secure video. My room in Hove is about 84 minutes' drive from Rochester, which is too far for a weekly session when life is already unpredictable. A door that shuts and a pair of headphones are enough for privacy. When life has settled a little, a longer session in Hove is possible if you'd like to meet.
Is it worth starting counselling while I'm waiting for RIVER in Medway?
Yes, and the two don't compete. Counselling can help you hold steady through the wait and think about what you want from treatment. Assessment, detox and any residential place still go through RIVER. If you drink heavily every day, or take something daily that you're thinking of stopping, look at the withdrawal safety note here first, before any change.
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, about 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.