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Addiction Counselling · Woodingdean
Addiction Counselling in Woodingdean
Addiction Counselling for Woodingdean and the surrounding area, in person or online. Woodingdean sits high on the Downs to the east of Brighton, one of the city's highest and breeziest neighbourhoods. From my room in nearby Hove I offer a calm, confidential space to do this work.
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you
In and around Woodingdean
Addiction Counselling for Woodingdean, at a glance
- Known for
- Woodingdean Park, the Downs and nearby Castle Hill
- Area
- Brighton & Hove, East/West Sussex
- Getting to the Hove room
- From Woodingdean the journey down into the city and across to Hove takes around twenty minutes by car or bus.
- Local NHS / support route
- NHS drug & alcohol service finder (see below)
- Format
- In person at my private Hove room, or by secure video UK-wide.
Life in Woodingdean
What is going on for people in Woodingdean?
Up on Warren Road and The Ridgeway the wind comes straight off the hills and the city is a long way below. Woodingdean sits high and slightly apart, with Castle Hill National Nature Reserve and Happy Valley on one side and the Downs above the Racecourse on the other. It is a good place to live and a quiet one, and quiet suits a habit. Evenings up here are long. A phone will happily fill them with betting, games or something to buy, and a bottle will fill them too. Nothing about that is visible from Downsway or Crescent Drive. It simply becomes the shape of the week, one unremarkable night at a time.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Woodingdean
Warren RoadThe RidgewayFalmer RoadDownswayBexhill RoadCrescent DriveNuffield estate
Wherever you are in Woodingdean, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Woodingdean
Official figures for Woodingdean, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 413.5 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 504.1 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow) (2023/24).
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 11.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What would we do together in addiction counselling?
Addiction counselling here treats the pain beneath the habit, not just the symptom, alcohol, drugs, gambling, food or behavioural, so recovery is something you grow into rather than force.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on everything on addiction counselling, with how sessions run and what they cost for the practical questions and my credentials and registration for registration and ethics.
How do sessions work, in person or online?
Sessions take place in a private, comfortable room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove, held to the strict BACP confidentiality you would expect. We begin with a free fifteen-minute call to check we are a good fit, and the same sessions are available by secure video if travelling is difficult or you would simply prefer it.
The journey down into the city and across to Hove takes around twenty minutes by car or bus, and sessions happen there in a private room. That descent and climb either side of the hour is something people often come to value, because it separates the appointment from home. When the buses are slow or the week has been hard, the same session runs online by secure video from your own front room.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does addiction counselling help with?
Drugs and substances
Compassionate, confidential help with substance use.
Gambling
Breaking the cycle of compulsive gambling, guilt and debt.
Food and behavioural
Support for food and process addictions.
Affected by a loved one
Help for those living alongside someone's addiction.
The pain underneath
We treat the cause, not just the symptom.
Addiction Counselling in Woodingdean
Why people in Woodingdean come for addiction counselling
The remit stretches well beyond drink and drugs, taking in gambling, gaming, shopping, pornography and the phone itself. Behavioural habits get named late, because they leave nothing behind for anyone to find. What the work examines is the loop: what it gives you, at what hour, and what it has begun charging in money, sleep and honesty at home. Nobody is lectured here. The local picture is worth knowing without being frightened by it: across Brighton and Hove, deaths from drug misuse ran at 11.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, compared with 5.8 for England. For statutory support the NHS find a service directory lists what is available, Mind in Brighton and Hove offers its own help, and the Sussex Mental Healthline is answered through the night, every night of the year.
A free, unhurried first step
Not sure if it is right for you? A free fifteen-minute call is a no-obligation way to talk it through.
Book a free 15-minute callDrug, alcohol & addiction support in Woodingdean
My counselling sits alongside the help available locally. You can find your nearest free NHS-funded drug and alcohol service via the NHS “find a service” directory (search “Woodingdean”).
For confidential information and advice, FRANK (on 0300 123 6600) and Drinkline on 0300 123 1110 are free, and Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery run peer-support meetings you can find online.
Other local and national support verified for this area includes:
If you need urgent help now
This is not a crisis service. If anyone is in immediate danger call 999. For urgent mental health support, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option. The Samaritans are free, day or night, on 116 123, or text SHOUT to 85258.
If you drink heavily or use drugs daily, do not stop suddenly on your own. Withdrawal can cause seizures and can be dangerous. Speak to your GP or a local drug and alcohol service first, and they can arrange a safe, medically supported withdrawal. Counselling works alongside that, not instead of it.
Woodingdean questions
Addiction Counselling in Woodingdean: common questions
Where do Woodingdean sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?
In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. From Woodingdean the journey down into the city and across to Hove takes around twenty minutes by car or bus. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Woodingdean or blend the two.
Is the bus down to Hove workable for a weekly session?
It is, allowing around twenty minutes each way and a little more at busy times. Some people build the appointment into a trip they were making anyway. If the journey becomes the reason sessions get missed, video is the sensible switch.
What are the fees?
One hour is charged at £80, ninety minutes at £100 and two hours at £120. There is no package to buy and no minimum term. The initial 15-minute consultation is free, happens by phone, and does not require you to come down the hill at all.
What is the NHS route for addiction from here?
The NHS find a service directory, which lists free specialist drug and alcohol services. It is the accurate signpost because no council page for Brighton and Hove has been verified. Across the city, 7.6 adults per 1,000 were in drug treatment in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5.
Would I bump into neighbours at the appointment?
It is unlikely, since the room is in central Hove rather than anywhere on the hill, and the building says nothing about who visits it. For anyone who would rather not be seen leaving home at a set time each week, video answers that as well.
I gamble on my phone every evening. Is that what this covers?
Yes, squarely. Betting apps never shut, they need no journey and no cash, and they suit long quiet evenings perfectly. The absence of anything physical is exactly why it can grow for a long time before anyone, including you, calls it a problem.
It is a fair way from Woodingdean, is online an option?
Absolutely. The room is around twenty minutes away by car or bus, but many Woodingdean clients choose secure video so distance and the hill are no barrier; the work is just as effective from home.
Woodingdean feels out of the way; how do I reach your Hove room?
The road drops down past the racecourse into Brighton, then west to Hove, about twenty minutes by car, with buses following much the same route to near Western Road. Book a free fifteen-minute consultation first on 07914 681995 or through the contact page.
What are the fees, and is there free addiction help for Woodingdean?
Sessions are £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours, with a free first call. Woodingdean is part of Brighton and Hove, so you can self-refer to Pavilions, the free Change Grow Live drug and alcohol service, with no GP needed.
Can addiction counselling be online or in the evening from Woodingdean?
Yes. The trip down the hill to Hove is manageable, with evening slots available, but on this high, breezy spot many value online video when the weather or the day makes travelling hard. You can mix in-person and online as suits.
Addiction Counselling in Woodingdean, whenever you are ready
A free fifteen-minute call is the simplest place to start, no obligation, just a chance to see if we are the right fit.
Also available nearby: Kemp Town, Rottingdean, Brighton. See all areas I cover.
Close to this in Woodingdean, there is substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: illness or indulgence? and a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour.
Prefer to meet remotely? The same addiction counselling is available online by secure video across the UK, or see online counselling by region.