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Online Addiction Counselling · Eastbourne
Online Addiction Counselling in Eastbourne
Online addiction counselling for Eastbourne, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Eastbourne, from the seafront and Meads to the streets around the pier, with the same BACP-registered, confidential support as an in-person session, and no journey.
BACP registered member25+ years of experienceLived experience
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you
In and around Eastbourne
Addiction Counselling for Eastbourne, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Eastbourne: from the seafront and Meads to Old Town, Hampden Park and Langney
- Known for
- The pier, the Downs and Beachy Head
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- East Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support (STAR, Change Grow Live)
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Eastbourne
What brings people in Eastbourne to counselling?
Eastbourne collects people who came for something gentler. Retirement in Meads or Willingdon, a cheaper flat near Seaside or Langney after being priced out somewhere else, a season of work that pays through the summer and then stops. A habit thrives in that quiet. There is time, there is privacy, and there is a long winter once the visitors have gone and the front is empty by four in the afternoon. Gambling, drinking and the phone all fill hours that have nothing else in them. In a town where a great many people live alone, nobody is counting anybody's evenings, which is a freedom and a risk at the same time.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Eastbourne
MeadsOld TownHampden ParkLangneySovereign HarbourSeasideRoselandsWillingdonRatton
Wherever you are in Eastbourne, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Eastbourne
Official figures for Eastbourne, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow definition) was 499.3 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 4.9 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, below the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What does addiction counselling involve?
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.
The approach does not change with the postcode, so rather than repeat it on every page you can read it in full, the methods and what each session covers, on the full addiction counselling page, alongside how I work, sessions and fees and my credentials and registration.
What happens in an online session?
Sessions run over a secure, encrypted video link, held to the same BACP confidentiality as meeting in person. After a free fifteen-minute call, you join from any private space on a phone, tablet or laptop.
Eastbourne is seen online, with Bradley working from Hove and nowhere on this stretch of coast to attend. For an older client that often turns out to be easier rather than harder: no bus, no parking, no stairs, no waiting area. The hour happens in your own front room at a time that suits you, and nothing about it is visible to a neighbour. A phone or a tablet will do, and there is no software to buy or install.
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 Eastbourne
Why people in Eastbourne come for addiction counselling
Addiction counselling covers behaviour as well as substance, which matters in a town with plenty of daytime hours to fill. Gambling is the clearest instance: bingo, scratchcards, online slots and betting apps are all built for the quiet part of an afternoon, and money that has to last can go astonishingly fast. Drinking, spending and the phone follow the same route. The work looks at what the habit provides, which is very often company or simply a shape to the day, and at what could possibly fill that space instead. East Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support is the statutory route, delivered by Change Grow Live through the STAR service at its hub in Lift House. Recorded depression stood at 17.4% of patients aged 18+ on GP registers in 2024/25, above the England average of 14.3%.
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 Eastbourne
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Eastbourne, free local drug and alcohol support is available through East Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support (STAR, Change Grow Live).
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.
Eastbourne questions
Online Addiction Counselling in Eastbourne: common questions
I am in my seventies. Is counselling really meant for people my age?
Yes. None of this is designed for the young, and habits that began decades ago are among the most common things people bring to it. The free 15-minute consultation will tell you quickly whether it suits you. If it does, sessions generally begin within a fortnight.
How does paying work if I am on a fixed income?
Sessions are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, paid individually so there is never a lump sum to find. Coming fortnightly rather than weekly halves the monthly cost and works perfectly well. Nothing is charged for the opening 15-minute conversation.
What is East Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support?
It is the county's free statutory service, delivered by Change Grow Live, covering prescribing, structured treatment and harm reduction. Its hub for this town is at Lift House. Counselling is separate and private, deals with the reasons rather than the medicine, and the two are often used together.
I am not confident with computers. Will I manage a video call?
Almost certainly. You are sent a link, you tap it at the agreed time, and that is the whole procedure. There is nothing to download and no account to set up. If the connection gives out, the session simply continues by telephone instead.
The afternoons are the problem, not the evenings. Does that matter?
It matters a great deal, and it is a common pattern in a town with a lot of empty daytime. A habit that fills three o'clock is doing a different job from one filling eleven at night. Knowing which hour you are trying to survive changes what the work goes after.
Winters here feel long and quiet once the visitors leave. Can counselling help with that?
Yes. The dip that comes when the season ends and the town empties is something many people in Eastbourne describe. Online sessions carry on right through the quiet months, held from the warmth of home, giving you a steady point of contact when the coast feels at its most isolated.
How soon can I start online addiction counselling in Eastbourne?
Usually within a week. After a free 15-minute consultation we set a regular time. Eastbourne is a fair way along the coast, and the appeal of online is that the distance disappears; you meet securely from home in Meads, Old Town, Hampden Park or Langney, whatever the weather off the Channel.
What does addiction counselling cost in Eastbourne, and is it on the NHS?
Privately, £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free 15-minute consultation. For free NHS help, your GP can refer you and East Sussex's council-funded drug and alcohol service accepts self-referrals, separate from this private practice.
Online or in person from Eastbourne, and are evenings possible?
Most people here work online, which removes a rail journey that can feel like an expedition. Evening slots are available. Being on the same coast, though, Hove is only a short way west if you would prefer an in-person meeting, so both options are genuinely open from Eastbourne.
Online Addiction Counselling in Eastbourne, 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 online across London & South East: Hastings. See all of London & South East.
Also available in Eastbourne: substance use counselling, counselling for drinking problems and trauma counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: a cognitive-restructuring exercise for compulsive behaviour and the four-stage cycle of addiction.
For anyone near the coast, the same addiction counselling runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.