Sutton · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Sutton
Searching for rehab in Sutton, whether the drinking or using is yours or a relative's, deserves a plain reply. Detox and rehab in Sutton are arranged through Inspire, the borough's free service, and I offer weekly addiction counselling alongside it by secure video, from someone who has been through recovery personally. This page shows how the two fit together.
The practical facts for Sutton
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Sutton by car
- About 61 minutes with clear roads (43.3 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Inspire (Cranstoun Inspire), Sutton's Adult Drug & Alcohol Service, 020 8773 9393
- 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.
The can on the train home, the bottles in the garage
Sutton's direct trains bring commuters back from Victoria and London Bridge every evening.
If you're one of them, the drinking may start on the ride home and carry on once the house is asleep. In a shopping town it can also hide inside ordinary working life: a bottle of wine after a long Saturday shift on the High Street, cans finished before anyone else is up, a little cocaine that was only ever meant for Fridays. You may be searching for someone you love: a mother in Sutton Common who no longer believes the reasons her son gives, a husband in Belmont pouring away bottles he finds behind the paint tins, or a daughter driving over from Rose Hill to check on a parent who now drinks alone. Public health data for 2023/24 counted 309.6 hospital admissions per 100,000 Sutton residents for alcohol-related conditions, using the narrow measure, below England's 504.1 per 100,000. A borough figure says nothing about how serious things are in your own home.
How counselling fits around Inspire's treatment
For anyone living in the borough, the free route is Inspire, Sutton's Adult Drug and Alcohol Service, run by Cranstoun, on 020 8773 9393. They assess what's going on and, where it's needed, arrange detox or a place in residential care. I do none of that. What I offer is an hour a week of one-to-one counselling that can come before your first call to Inspire, run beside their support, or follow a residential stay, when you're back on the same streets with the same evenings to fill. In sessions we look, without judgement, at the job the drinking, using or betting does for you: taking the edge off a long day, filling the silence after a separation, getting you to sleep. You don't need to have stopped before we start. Because I've been through recovery myself, I'm hard to shock and I won't lecture. Families and partners are just as welcome on their own. If the person you love won't accept help, the sessions can be yours, a place to decide what you'll keep doing, what you'll stop covering for, and how to look after yourself in the meantime.
Free help in Sutton, for you and for the people around you
Starting with Inspire
Ring Inspire on 020 8773 9393, or ask about the appointments they hold at Belmont Connect on Tuesdays, 12pm to 2pm. Their assessment is the door to detox or residential care.
Help for the family
Cranstoun Inspire Family and Carer Support helps parents, partners and grown children in their own right, whether or not their relative has asked for help yet.
Recovery in company
Between our sessions, the recovery community at Community Discovery and Recovery Services (CDARS) means you needn't rebuild alone, and it sits comfortably alongside counselling.
When a parent drinks
Grown children watching a mother or father drink alone can feel powerless. Al-Anon Family Groups runs a national helpline and can point you to a local group, and our sessions can be yours alone.
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 Sutton
Treatment in the borough starts with Inspire (Cranstoun Inspire), which assesses people and arranges detox or residential care where it's needed. Cranstoun Inspire Family and Carer Support is there for relatives, Community Discovery and Recovery Services (CDARS) offers recovery community support, and Al-Anon Family Groups helps anyone affected by a loved one's drinking. If an evening turns into a crisis, Sutton Crisis Café in Belmont opens its doors from 6.30pm.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceInspire (Cranstoun Inspire), Sutton's Adult Drug & Alcohol Service020 8773 9393Free and confidential.
- Local organisationInspire peer-led recovery activity
- Local organisationSutton Carers Centre
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 Text Service is another option: text 80991 or WhatsApp 0303 330 1511. Local drop-in crisis support: Sutton Crisis Café (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 Sutton ask before starting
How does someone living in Sutton get into rehab?
For Sutton residents, detox and residential places are reached through an assessment with Inspire, Sutton's Adult Drug and Alcohol Service, run by Cranstoun, on 020 8773 9393. They'll work out with you what level of care is safe. Our sessions can sit either side of that assessment, or beside it.
My husband drinks every night after the train back from London. What can I do?
You can't make another adult change, so start with support for yourself: Cranstoun Inspire Family and Carer Support helps partners in Sutton even when the drinker won't engage, and counselling with me can be your own hour to work out what you'll say and stop doing. If you're ever afraid of him, your safety comes first; in an emergency, call 999. If he drinks heavily every day, stopping suddenly without medical advice can be dangerous; the urgent help box says why.
Would I need to travel to Hove for addiction counselling from Sutton?
No. With the room about an hour away by car and no direct train to the coast, video is the usual arrangement from Sutton, and sessions run just as they would in person. Speaking from a private room of your choosing, behind a closed door, can make it easier to be honest. If you ever want to meet face to face, an occasional longer session in Hove can be arranged.
Inspire hasn't seen me yet. Could counselling begin in the meantime?
Yes. You don't need a referral, and you needn't wait for their assessment to finish. Book the free 15-minute call, give me a rough idea of what's happening, and you'll get a straight answer about when I have a weekly opening. Counselling and Inspire's assessment can run side by side from the start.
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.
Whether it's you or someone you love, one call to begin
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.