Counselling for Drinking Problems · Kemp Town

Counselling for Drinking Problems in Kemp Town

Counselling for Drinking Problems for Kemp Town and the surrounding area, in person or online. Kemp Town, on Brighton's eastern side, runs from St James's Street down to the Marina, with its Regency crescents and village atmosphere. From my room in nearby Hove I offer a calm, confidential space to do this work.

In person in HoveOnline tooFree 15-min consultation
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
Bradley Riddell, BACP-registered counsellor near Kemp Town at his Hove room, introducing his approach to counselling for drinking problems
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Kemp Town

Counselling for Drinking Problems for Kemp Town, at a glance

Known for
St James's Street, Brighton Marina and the Kemp Town Enclosures
Area
Brighton & Hove, East/West Sussex
Getting to the Hove room
From Kemp Town the room is about fifteen to twenty minutes away, heading west along the seafront through Brighton into Hove by bus, taxi or car.
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 Kemp Town

Why do people in Kemp Town reach out?

There is a particular kind of drinking that belongs to jobs which do not end when you leave them. Kemp Town has a lot of that, with the Royal Sussex County Hospital at its heart and shift patterns running through the streets around it. A drink at ten in the morning after a night shift is not a scandal here, it is decompression, and that is precisely what makes it hard to question. Elsewhere the pattern is more ordinary: a bottle at home overlooking Marine Parade, rounds on St James's Street that stretch later than intended, and the slow shift from choosing to drink to needing the evening to include it.

Brighton Marinathe Kemp Town Enclosuresthe Royal Sussex County HospitalQueen's Park

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Kemp Town

St James's StreetSussex SquareLewes CrescentQueen's ParkSt George's RoadMarine ParadeUpper Rock GardensBristol Estate

Wherever you are in Kemp Town, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.

The local picture

The local picture in Kemp Town

Official figures for Kemp Town, for context rather than as a description of you.

Reviewed June 2026.

What would we do together in counselling for drinking problems?

Counselling for drinking problems here looks beneath the habit at what drives it, you do not need to have hit rock bottom to begin, and signposts medical, detox and peer support where useful.

Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the main counselling for drinking problems page, with the practical side for the practical questions and my credentials and registration for registration and ethics.

What happens in a session?

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.

Getting to Hove takes fifteen to twenty minutes going west along the seafront, and a morning appointment can be arranged if your night has just ended, rather than forcing everything into the evening. The room is on Western Road, with sessions kept to the time booked. Secure video is there for the weeks when the rota, the tiredness or the traffic makes travelling across the city unreasonable.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What can counselling for drinking problems in Kemp Town help with?

Daily or binge drinking

Support whatever your pattern looks like.

The cause, not the habit

Looking beneath the drinking to what drives it.

Anxiety and low mood

Working with what the alcohol has been managing.

Privacy at home

Sensitive support without anyone needing to know.

Signposting

Links to medical, detox and peer support where useful.

Without the anaesthetic

Reconnecting with the person beneath the drinking.

Counselling for Drinking Problems in Kemp Town

Why people in Kemp Town come for counselling for drinking problems

There is no requirement to stop drinking before you come, and nothing has to have gone wrong for this to be legitimate. Most people asking about alcohol are still doing their jobs well and are simply tired of how much of their thinking it now occupies. The work asks what drinking is for. Coming down after something distressing at work, sleeping in daylight, quietening a mind that will not stop replaying a shift, or filling the hours when everyone else is unavailable: alcohol does specific jobs, and those jobs need covering before it will loosen its grip. Alcohol-specific hospital admissions in the city stood at 578.7 per 100,000 in 2023/24, a little under the England average of 611.7. Anything medical, including reducing safely, belongs with your GP or the NHS 'find a service' directory.

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 call

Drug, alcohol & addiction support in Kemp Town

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 “Kemp Town”).

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.

Kemp Town questions

Counselling for Drinking Problems in Kemp Town: common questions

Where do Kemp Town sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?

In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. From Kemp Town the room is about fifteen to twenty minutes away, heading west along the seafront through Brighton into Hove by bus, taxi or car. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Kemp Town or blend the two.

I drink after night shifts rather than in the evening. Is that different?

The timing is different; the questions are the same. What matters is what the drink is doing at that point in your day and how hard it would be to stop doing it. Shift workers often need a session scheduled at an unusual hour, which can be arranged.

I have never missed a shift. Does that mean I am fine?

It means your work has been protected, which is common and says little about the rest. Performance is usually the last thing to go and a poor early warning system. Sleep, mood, health and relationships tend to register the change long before a rota does.

Can you advise me on cutting down?

That has to come from a doctor. Reducing or stopping heavy daily drinking carries real medical risk, so your GP or the NHS 'find a service' directory should handle it. Counselling continues alongside, working on everything the medical side does not address.

Would I need to give up socialising on St James's Street?

Nothing is dictated here. We would look at which parts of your social life genuinely matter and how to keep them, rather than starting with a list of prohibitions. People who lose everything sociable at once tend to last about three weeks.

What is the cost, and is there any commitment?

Sessions are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min and £120 / 120 min, with a free 15-minute consultation first. Appointments are booked one at a time, so there is no commitment, no package and nothing to cancel if you decide to stop.

Everyone drinks around here, how do I know it is a problem?

A useful question is not how much others drink but what alcohol has come to do for you. If it worries you, that is reason enough to talk it through, confidentially and without judgement, at your own pace.

How do I book drinking problem counselling and travel from Kemp Town?

Book a free fifteen-minute consultation on 07914 681995 or through the contact page. From Kemp Town the Hove room is fifteen to twenty minutes west, with the 7 bus along St James's Street towards the centre and a change or taxi on to Western Road.

What is the cost of drinking counselling, and what free routes serve Kemp Town?

Sessions are £80 for an hour, £100 for ninety minutes and £120 for two hours, after a free call. For free help, Kemp Town residents can self-refer to Pavilions for alcohol support and to NHS Talking Therapies Brighton and Hove for underlying anxiety or low mood.

Can drinking problem sessions be online or in the evening from Kemp Town?

Yes. The Hove room offers a private hour well away from St James's Street, and evening slots help it fit around work. If you would rather not travel across the city, secure video keeps things discreet, and you can blend both as things steady.

Counselling for Drinking Problems in Kemp Town, 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: Brighton, Woodingdean, Rottingdean. See all areas I cover.

If counselling for drinking problems is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling may fit better in Kemp Town.

You may also find it useful to read about riding out an urge and why practice makes permanent.

Prefer to meet remotely? The same counselling for drinking problems is available online by secure video across the UK, or see online counselling by region.