Daily or binge drinking
Support whatever your pattern looks like.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems · Chichester
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Chichester
Online counselling for drinking problems for Chichester, by secure video. From a base in Hove I work with people across Chichester, from the cathedral quarter and the city centre to the streets around the Market Cross, 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 Chichester
Counselling for Drinking Problems for Chichester, at a glance
- Areas covered online
- All of Chichester: from the cathedral quarter and the city centre to Summersdale, Whyke and nearby Bognor
- Known for
- The cathedral, the Market Cross and the harbour
- Region
- London & South East (England)
- Local NHS / support route
- West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- Secure video, UK-wide. In-person also available on the Sussex coast.
Life in Chichester
What is going on for people in Chichester?
Wine is the wallpaper of a certain kind of life around Chichester. A glass with lunch near the harbour, a bottle at the interval, something opened when the day is over and nothing in particular has happened. None of it looks like a problem and most of it is not. But a place that drinks pleasantly and often makes a private problem very easy to keep, especially in Summersdale or Graylingwell where the houses sit back from the road and the evenings are quiet. People asking about this are rarely in crisis. They are usually tired of noticing what time the first one goes in, and of the small arrangements they have started making around it.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Chichester
SummersdaleWhykeFishbourneParklandsPortfieldGraylingwellDonningtonFishbourne Road
Wherever you are in Chichester, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Chichester
Official figures for Chichester, for context rather than as a description of you.
the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions was 479.9 per 100,000 in 2023/24, below the England average of 611.7 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions (2023/24).
the alcohol-specific death rate was 11.4 per 100,000 in 2024, below the England average of 13.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Alcohol-specific mortality (2024).
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.
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 main counselling for drinking problems page, alongside session lengths 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.
Alcohol sessions for Chichester happen by secure video from Hove. That answers the awkward part of an evening appointment, which is the drive at both ends on a night you would rather not be making it. No car sits outside a building anyone recognises and nobody has to be told where you have been. Morning and afternoon slots are available too, and for drinking those frequently work better than an evening.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does counselling for drinking problems help with?
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 Chichester
Why people in Chichester come for counselling for drinking problems
There is no requirement to have hit bottom and no requirement to sign up to stopping for good. Both ideas are widespread and both keep people waiting years for a permission that was never going to arrive. If the drinking has started to bother you, that is the qualification. What happens next is yours to decide, and plenty of people change the pattern rather than end it altogether. Early sessions usually look at the hour the drink is aimed at and what it makes tolerable, then at what could hold that hour instead. Around Chichester the alcohol-specific death rate was 11.4 per 100,000 in 2024, below the England average of 13.8, and the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions was 440.2 per 100,000 in 2023/24 against 504.1 for England. West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support is the free route for structured help, and daily heavy drinking needs a GP before anything changes.
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 Chichester
My online counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Chichester, free local drug and alcohol support is available through West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support.
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.
Chichester questions
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Chichester: common questions
What happens in the first conversation?
You say what has been going on, roughly, and how much of it you want to say is up to you. Bradley says whether he thinks he can be useful. It lasts 15 minutes, it costs nothing, and it commits you to nothing. Sessions proper usually begin within a fortnight if you want them.
Are the fees the same whatever we work on?
Yes. £80 buys an hour, £100 buys 90 minutes and £120 buys two, whether the subject is drinking, gambling or something else entirely. Nothing is charged for the initial 15-minute conversation, and there is no fee for rearranging an appointment with reasonable notice.
Would West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support suit me better?
It might, particularly if you are drinking heavily every day, since medical support and any withdrawal conversation belong there. Change Grow Live delivers it and it is free. Counselling is faster to begin and completely private. A lot of people quite sensibly use both at the same time.
Can I have a session without anybody at home realising?
Usually, yes. There is no letter, no invoice through the door and no service name attached to anything. A calendar entry can be deleted, headphones keep it inaudible, and the camera is optional. What you tell the household, and when, remains entirely up to you.
Everyone here drinks wine like this. How would I even tell?
By what it costs you rather than by how it looks. If the first glass keeps arriving earlier, if the evening gets planned around it, or if you have quietly stopped mentioning how much, those tell you far more than any comparison with a dinner table in Fishbourne.
My drinking is very sociable and normal-looking here. How would I know it's a problem?
When it becomes hard to skip, creeps upward, or you find yourself hiding the true amount, it is worth a look, however sociable it appears. We examine your own relationship with alcohol rather than the setting around it, privately and without any label being imposed.
How quickly can I get online help for a drinking problem in Chichester?
Often within a week. The free 15-minute consultation lets us talk through your drinking before you commit, then we set a regular time. Working online removes the slow journey to appointments elsewhere and any waiting list, so you can start quietly from home, discreetly and close at hand.
Can I get drinking problem counselling on the NHS in Chichester?
Yes. Your GP can refer you and West Sussex's council-funded alcohol service accepts self-referrals for free, with Drinkline offering confidential phone advice. If you would rather go private, sessions here are £80 for 60 minutes, £100 for 90 and £120 for 120, after a free consultation.
Can drinking counselling stay discreet in a refined city like Chichester?
It can. Because sessions are online and done from home, there is no local waiting room and no need for anyone to know, which matters where appearances carry weight. Evenings are workable. If you would rather meet in person, the room is in Hove, further along the Sussex coast.
Online Counselling for Drinking Problems in Chichester, 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: Portsmouth, Crawley, Horsham. See all of London & South East.
Related work in Chichester: addiction counselling, substance use counselling and depression counselling.
Some further reading, if that helps before getting in touch: why practice makes permanent and questioning “once an addict”.
For anyone near the coast, the same counselling for drinking problems runs in person in Hove, where the room is. Every area covered is listed separately.