Wembley · online by video, with the Hove room for occasional sessions
Addiction counselling and rehab advice for Wembley
Searching for rehab in Wembley usually means someone at home is frightened about drink or drugs: you, a son, a husband, a parent. I offer one-to-one addiction counselling, and I also see worried relatives on their own. Because Hove is a 99-minute drive from Wembley with no direct train, our weekly hour normally runs on secure video, with an occasional trip down whenever you would like one.
The practical facts for Wembley
- Where sessions happen
- A private room at Intergen House, 65-67 Western Road, Hove BN3 2JQ, or secure video.
- From Wembley by car
- About 99 minutes with clear roads (77.1 miles); longer at busy times.
- Free local drug & alcohol service
- Via Brent New Beginnings, 0300 303 4611
- 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.
Close families, crowded houses and a hidden bottle
In plenty of Wembley homes, life is shared at close quarters: parents, grown-up children and sometimes grandparents under one roof in Alperton, Sudbury or Kenton, with cousins a short bus ride away.
Wembley is an ethnically and religiously diverse suburb, and in some families what the wider community might think weighs heavily. That closeness can carry people through hard years. It can also make a drink or drug problem very hard to say out loud, because naming it feels like exposing everyone. So it gets managed quietly instead: cans tucked behind the shed, money that keeps going missing, a brother nobody leaves alone at weddings, a big match day by the stadium that turns into a lost weekend. Brent residents were admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions at a rate of 737.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, which sits above England's 611.7 per 100,000 for that year. It is a borough-wide count of admissions, so it tells you nothing about your own household or why anyone in it drinks.
How Via Brent New Beginnings and counselling fit together
In Brent, the council's drug and alcohol service is Via Brent New Beginnings, run by Via, the organisation formerly known as WDP. After an assessment, the Via team can arrange anything from community help close to home in Brent to a supervised detox or a residential rehab place. You can phone them yourself on 0300 303 4611. Two partners work within it: CNWL runs the Brent Recovery Day Programme, and B3, the Brent Service User Council, puts former service users beside newcomers for peer support and advocacy. My part is one-to-one counselling, and it can come at any stage. Before treatment, it can help you work out what you want and pick up the phone. During it, you get an hour that belongs to you rather than to a care plan. Afterwards, we can turn to whatever the alcohol or drugs were keeping a lid on: grief, shame, family pressure, an old hurt that never got spoken. I have been in recovery myself and have practised for over 25 years, so cravings, lapses and mixed feelings about stopping are all safe to bring.
Where help with drink and drugs sits in Brent
Assessment through Via Brent New Beginnings
Ring 0300 303 4611 to be assessed. From there Via can line up community support, detox or a rehab bed, while our counselling runs before, during or after.
The Brent Recovery Day Programme
CNWL runs this day programme as one strand of Via's Brent service. Ask Via whether it suits you, and keep your counselling hour alongside it.
Peer voices through B3
B3, the Brent Service User Council, offers peer support and advocacy for people using drug and alcohol services, so you can hear from others who have stood where you are.
Families, friends and carers
Via Brent New Beginnings supports family, friends and carers too. Counselling with me gives a parent or partner an hour of their own, whether or not the person drinking accepts help.
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 Wembley
Private sessions with me are one strand of help in Wembley. Via Brent New Beginnings is the free route for assessment, detox and residential care, with its own support for family, friends and carers. B3 brings peer support and advocacy, Brent Carers Centre helps anyone looking after a relative, and Brent Samaritans will listen at any hour.
- Free drug and alcohol serviceVia Brent New Beginnings0300 303 4611Free and confidential.
- Local organisationB3 (Brent Service User Council): peer support and advocacy for drug and alcohol service users
- Local organisationSudbury Dementia Carers Support GroupLow-cost or fee-paying.
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.
Locally, the CNWL Mental Health Single Point of Access is on 0800 0234 650.
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 Wembley ask before starting
If my brother in Wembley needs rehab, who sets it up?
Brent's council drug and alcohol service, Via Brent New Beginnings, assesses him and decides with him which mix of help at home, detox and a residential stay suits his situation. Anyone in the borough can call them on 0300 303 4611. I offer one-to-one counselling by video, for him or for you, which can help before that step, during it and once treatment has finished.
My dad in Wembley drinks every day and the family won't talk about it. Is counselling open to me as his son or daughter?
Yes. The counselling is for you, whatever he decides. Families often carry shame, anger and fear all at once, and keeping it quiet is exhausting. Sessions give you a private place to say what can't be said at home. Via Brent New Beginnings also supports family, friends and carers, and you can use both. If he decides to stop, it is worth both of you looking at the warning about alcohol withdrawal on this page beforehand.
Is video counselling private enough when my Wembley house is always full?
It can be, with a little planning. Pick an hour when the house is emptier, wear headphones, and if no room is free, a parked car can work well. The link is secure. Video also saves you the 99-minute drive to Hove each week, and if meeting face to face would help, we can book the occasional longer session in the Hove room.
How quickly could addiction counselling start for me in Wembley?
It depends only on which hours are free in my diary, since no queue stands between us. A free 15-minute call comes first, from wherever in HA9 you can talk, and if we both feel it is right you choose from the weekly times I have open. You can ask Via Brent New Beginnings for an assessment at the same time, and nobody has to be sober before our first session.
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.
Whoever in the family is drinking, start with a call
When you feel ready, a short conversation is the easiest way to see whether we are a good fit. There is no obligation.