Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Substance Use Counselling · Burgess Hill
Substance Use Counselling in Burgess Hill
Substance Use Counselling for Burgess Hill and the surrounding area, in person or online. Burgess Hill is a busy Mid Sussex town with good rail links and the green spaces of its Green Circle walk. 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 Burgess Hill
Substance Use Counselling for Burgess Hill, at a glance
- Known for
- St John's Park, the Green Circle and Bedelands Nature Reserve
- Area
- Lewes & Mid Sussex, East/West Sussex
- Getting to the Hove room
- From Burgess Hill a direct train reaches Hove and Brighton in around twenty minutes, or it is a half-hour drive south.
- Local NHS / support route
- West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support
- Format
- In person at my private Hove room, or by secure video UK-wide.
Life in Burgess Hill
Why do people in Burgess Hill reach out?
There is a quiet assumption in towns like this that drugs belong somewhere else. Yet a fair amount of use around Burgess Hill sits behind ordinary front doors: cocaine at a Saturday gathering near St John's Park, tablets to get through a run of bad nights, cannabis every evening to switch the working day off. It rarely announces itself. People walk the Green Circle at the weekend, do the school run, hold down demanding jobs, and think of what they use as unremarkable until the gap between sessions starts shrinking. Because so little of it is spoken about locally, there is no easy way to check whether your own use has drifted. You end up judging it entirely on your own.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Burgess Hill
St John's ParkWorld's EndWivelsfieldLeylands RoadFolders LaneThe MartletsJanes LaneFairfield
Wherever you are in Burgess Hill, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Burgess Hill
Official figures for Burgess Hill, for context rather than as a description of you.
3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, below the England average of 4.5 per 1,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Adults in treatment at specialist drug misuse services (2020/21).
the rate of deaths from drug misuse was 3.9 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 substance use counselling involve?
Substance use counselling here is non-judgemental and one-to-one, working with the pain, fear or loneliness the substance has been managing, at a pace that protects your sense of safety.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see the main substance use counselling page for the methods, session lengths and fees for fees and session lengths, and how to check my registration if you want to check who you would be working with.
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.
Appointments are in Hove, about twenty minutes by direct train or half an hour driving south, and you are welcome exactly as you are on the day. There is no requirement to be clean, and nothing you say gets passed to a local service. Video sessions are available if travelling would mean explaining an absence at home, and people often use a mix of the two across a few months.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
Which difficulties does substance use counselling address?
The false self
Letting go of the protective self that no longer serves you.
Specialised attention
One-to-one sessions shaped entirely around you.
Self-discovery
Rediscovering the authentic self beneath the coping.
Anxiety and low mood
Treating what the substance has been masking.
Sustainable change
Growing into recovery rather than forcing it.
Substance Use Counselling in Burgess Hill
Why people in Burgess Hill come for substance use counselling
This work is about drugs specifically, and it does not begin with an ultimatum. Whether the pattern is weekend stimulants, daily cannabis, ketamine, prescription medication used past its purpose, or something you would rather not name yet, the starting question is the same: what is it doing for you. Sleep, pain, social nerves, boredom on a long commute and old memories all show up in that answer. Only about 3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services locally in 2020/21, below the England average of 4.5, which says more about how private this is in the area than about how common. For prescribing, testing or structured treatment, West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support and its DAWN service are the routes to know. Counselling handles the part underneath the using.
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 Burgess Hill
My counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Burgess Hill, 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.
Burgess Hill questions
Substance Use Counselling in Burgess Hill: common questions
Where do Burgess Hill sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?
In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. From Burgess Hill a direct train reaches Hove and Brighton in around twenty minutes, or it is a half-hour drive south. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Burgess Hill or blend the two.
I am still using. Will I be turned away?
Not at all. Nobody is asked to stop first, and the first session is often the most useful precisely because nothing has been tidied up for it. Honesty about frequency and amount helps far more than a good impression. The work goes at a pace you can actually manage.
Is there anywhere local I could go instead, or as well?
Yes. West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support leads to DAWN, the free local service, which can provide structured treatment and medical oversight. Some people use both, keeping the practical side there and the reflective side here. Neither one rules the other out.
I have young children at home. How do I explain where I am going?
Most people simply say they have an appointment in Hove, which is true and needs no elaboration. The journey takes about twenty minutes each way by train. Evening or midday slots often make the absence easier to account for than an afternoon.
What if I need to talk about a substance I am embarrassed by?
There is very little that has not been sat with before, and nothing you bring will be met with a lecture or a raised eyebrow. Shame keeps use going more reliably than any drug does, so naming the thing plainly is usually the first bit of progress.
What are the fees and is there a free first step?
The opening 15-minute consultation costs nothing and can be done by phone. Sessions after that are £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, paid individually with no package to sign. You are free to stop whenever it feels right.
Can I have sessions online to avoid another journey?
Yes. Online sessions work just as well as meeting in the room and remove the trip to Hove entirely, which many Burgess Hill commuters find makes fitting support into the week far easier.
Is there a direct train from Burgess Hill for substance use counselling?
Yes. Trains on the main line run direct from Burgess Hill to Hove and Brighton in around twenty minutes, with a short walk to Western Road; by car the A23 takes about half an hour. Start with a free fifteen-minute call on 07914 681995 or online.
Free or paid for substance use support in Burgess Hill?
Both. In West Sussex you can self-refer to Change Grow Live for free substance help with no GP needed. Privately, fees are £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours after a free call, and the two can run together.
Do you offer evening or online substance use sessions for Burgess Hill?
Yes. A direct train brings you to the Hove room, with evening appointments to suit a commuting week, but secure video is equally private when the trip down feels like too much. You can move between in-person and online as work allows.
Substance Use Counselling in Burgess Hill, 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: Haywards Heath, Hassocks, Ditchling. See all areas I cover.
Related work in Burgess Hill: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.
There is more on this in my writing: calming a craving as it rises and once an addict, always an addict?.
Prefer to meet remotely? The same substance use counselling is available online by secure video across the UK, or see online counselling by region.