Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Substance Use Counselling · Hassocks
Substance Use Counselling in Hassocks
Substance Use Counselling for Hassocks and the surrounding area, in person or online. Hassocks is a village at the foot of the Downs, beneath the Clayton windmills known as Jack and Jill. 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 Hassocks
Substance Use Counselling for Hassocks, at a glance
- Known for
- The Jack and Jill windmills, Adastra Park and the South Downs
- Area
- Lewes & Mid Sussex, East/West Sussex
- Getting to the Hove room
- From Hassocks a short train ride or a fifteen to twenty minute drive over the Downs brings you to Hove.
- 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 Hassocks
What is going on for people in Hassocks?
Drugs are not the first thing anyone associates with a village at the foot of the hills, and that mismatch is exactly what keeps use here so private. Around Ockley Lane and Friars Oak there are people who smoke every evening because otherwise they lie awake, people who take something to get through a demanding week, and people whose weekend habit slowly stopped being confined to weekends. It is bought discreetly and used at home. Nobody in Hassocks is having conversations about it in the queue at the shop, so there is no benchmark and no one to compare notes with. The result is a very solitary kind of worrying that can go on for years.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Hassocks
KeymerAdastra ParkStonepoundLodge LaneKeymer RoadClaytonOckley LaneFriars Oak
Wherever you are in Hassocks, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Hassocks
Official figures for Hassocks, 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 is substance use counselling, in practice?
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.
Rather than say the same thing on every page, the substance lives on the full substance use counselling page, with session lengths and fees for the practical questions and qualifications, registration and ethics 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.
Sessions are held in Hove, a short train journey or a fifteen to twenty minute drive from the village, and there is no expectation that you have stopped using before you arrive. Nothing is checked and nothing is reported. When travelling would raise questions at home or simply feels like too much on a given week, the appointment can move to secure video and pick up exactly where it left off.
Book a free 15-minute callWhat I help with
What does substance use counselling help with?
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 Hassocks
Why people in Hassocks come for substance use counselling
This is specifically about substances, and it is designed to be usable by people who are still using. Cannabis every night, cocaine at gatherings, ketamine, stimulants to keep working, prescribed medication that has drifted beyond its purpose: all of it can be discussed plainly. There is no requirement to sign up to abstinence in order to be taken seriously. What we work with is the job the substance has been given, because that job does not vanish when the substance does, and leaving it unfilled is why so many attempts to stop collapse. Local treatment numbers are modest, with about 3 adults per 1,000 in specialist drug-misuse services across the county in 2020/21 against an England average of 4.5. West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support and DAWN cover prescribing and structured care.
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 Hassocks
My counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Hassocks, 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.
Hassocks questions
Substance Use Counselling in Hassocks: common questions
Where do Hassocks sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?
In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. From Hassocks a short train ride or a fifteen to twenty minute drive over the Downs brings you to Hove. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Hassocks or blend the two.
Would you expect me to give a date for stopping?
No. Deadlines set under pressure tend to be abandoned quietly and then used as evidence against yourself. Any decision about stopping comes from you, in your own time, once the reasons the substance is there have been properly looked at.
Drugs are not something anyone mentions in a village like this. Am I unusual?
You are not, though the silence makes it feel that way. Use in villages is simply less visible, not less common, and a great many people in similar places are having the same private conversation with themselves. That isolation is often the first thing worth naming.
Can I be seen without my GP being told?
Yes. Nothing is added to your medical record and no letter is sent unless you specifically ask for one. Confidentiality holds except in narrow circumstances involving serious risk to life, and those are explained clearly before the first session begins.
What can DAWN do that counselling cannot?
Medical assessment, prescribing, testing and structured treatment programmes, all free and reached through West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support. Counselling covers the psychological side: history, patterns, relationships and what changes. The two complement each other rather than compete.
How much are appointments?
The first 15-minute conversation is free of charge. Regular sessions cost £80 / 60 min, £100 / 90 min or £120 / 120 min, and you pay for them individually. There is no minimum commitment, so you can try a few and decide from there.
Will anyone in the village know I am coming?
No. Sessions are held in central Hove, away from Hassocks, with no shared waiting area, and online is an option too. Nothing is shared without your consent, under the BACP framework.
Is the train from Hassocks quick for substance use counselling?
Yes. Trains on the main line reach Hove and Brighton in around fifteen minutes from Hassocks Station, with a short walk to Western Road; driving over the Downs takes a similar time. Start with a free fifteen-minute call on 07914 681995 or online.
Free or paid for substance use support in Hassocks?
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 Hassocks?
Yes. A quick train brings you to the Hove room, with evening appointments to fit around work, but secure video is equally private when travelling in is inconvenient. You can move between in-person and online as your week falls.
Substance Use Counselling in Hassocks, 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: Ditchling, Burgess Hill, Patcham. See all areas I cover.
If substance use counselling is not quite what you are looking for, addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling may fit better in Hassocks.
You may also find it useful to read about 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.