Substance Use Counselling · Preston Park

Substance Use Counselling in Preston Park

Substance Use Counselling for Preston Park and the surrounding area, in person or online. Preston Park, named after the city's largest park, is a leafy and well-connected district north of central Brighton. 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 Preston Park at his Hove room, introducing his approach to substance use counselling
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Preston Park

Substance Use Counselling for Preston Park, at a glance

Known for
Preston Park, the Rotunda Cafe and Preston Manor
Area
Brighton & Hove, East/West Sussex
Getting to the Hove room
Preston Park is around ten minutes from the office by car or a short train ride to Hove, with Preston Park Station close by.
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 Preston Park

Why do people in Preston Park reach out?

Cocaine has a settled place in professional life around here, and it is mostly invisible. A dinner in town, a Friday that runs on, a habit that belongs to a social circle rather than to a person, so nobody in it feels responsible for noticing. Elsewhere in Stanford and Withdean the picture is different: cannabis every night to switch a working brain off, or prescription tablets that were meant to be short-term and were never reviewed. The park below is full of runners at seven in the morning, and some of them were up at three. Nothing about the outward life gives it away, which is why it can run for years unexamined.

Preston ParkPreston Manorthe Rotunda CafePreston Park Velodrome

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Preston Park

Preston VillageFivewaysStanfordBeaconsfield VillasSpringfield RoadDitchling RoadPreston DroveWithdean

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

The local picture

The local picture in Preston Park

Official figures for Preston Park, for context rather than as a description of you.

Reviewed June 2026.

What would we do together in substance use counselling?

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.

Because the work itself is the same wherever you live, the detail sits in one place rather than all of them: the full substance use counselling page sets out the methods, session lengths and fees covers the practicalities, and qualifications, registration and ethics covers accountability.

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.

It is a ten-minute journey down to the Hove room, or a couple of stops on the train, which keeps a weekly appointment from becoming a logistical exercise. In-person suits people who want the hour clearly separated from the house they live in. Where privacy at home is good and time is short, secure video does the same job, and moving between the two is straightforward.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What can substance use counselling in Preston Park help with?

Drugs and substances

Confidential support for any kind of substance use.

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 Preston Park

Why people in Preston Park come for substance use counselling

There is no requirement to have stopped, be stopping, or want to stop by a particular date. Ambivalence is normal and it is workable material, not a disqualification. What tends to be most useful is separating the drug from the story around it, because in a social circle where use is ordinary it can be hard to see your own pattern at all. So we look at yours specifically: frequency, spend, sleep, mood the following days, and what the substance is actually being asked to solve. Some people find it is managing pressure, some find it is managing loneliness inside a very full life. Advice on reducing or coming off is not part of this and belongs with medical services. Drug misuse deaths in the city ran at 11.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, well above the England rate of 5.8. The NHS find a service directory is the way to find them, and the Sussex Mental Healthline is available at any hour.

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 Preston Park

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 “Preston Park”).

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.

Preston Park questions

Substance Use Counselling in Preston Park: common questions

Where do Preston Park sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?

In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. Preston Park is around ten minutes from the office by car or a short train ride to Hove, with Preston Park Station close by. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Preston Park or blend the two.

Everyone I know uses at weekends. How do I judge my own use?

By looking at your own week rather than at the group. The questions that matter are how often it happens now compared with a year ago, what it costs you across the following days, and whether you have tried to change it without saying so to anyone.

What does it cost and how do I pay?

Sessions are paid individually. An hour is £80, 90 minutes is £100, and two hours is £120 where a longer stretch would help. The initial 15-minute consultation is free, and it is used to work out whether this is the right kind of help for you.

Will this be visible to an employer or my GP?

No. This is private work, held outside the NHS, and there is no note on your medical record and nothing reported to anyone you work for. The only limit is the standard BACP one around serious risk to life, which would be discussed with you.

Can I do this online during the working day?

You can, and people do it from a home office or a booked meeting room. It needs a door that closes and headphones. If neither is reliable where you are, the short trip to Hove buys an hour where nobody can walk in on the conversation.

My use only happens socially. Is counselling really for that?

Social use is still worth understanding, particularly when it is proving hard to change despite you wanting to. What often emerges is that the drug is carrying something in those settings, and once that is visible, the choices in them stop feeling automatic.

I hold everything together, could I still have a problem?

Functioning well and struggling privately often go together. If the substance has become something you rely on to keep going, it is worth talking through, confidentially and without judgement, at your pace.

Can I take the train from Preston Park Station for substance use counselling?

Yes, it is one of the easiest routes. Regular trains reach Hove in a few minutes, leaving a short walk or bus to Western Road, and buses down Ditchling Road and London Road work too. Start with a free fifteen-minute call on 07914 681995 or online.

Free or paid for substance use help in Preston Park?

Both. Pavilions offers free NHS-commissioned substance support across Brighton and Hove with self-referral. Privately, fees are £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours after a free call, and the two approaches can run side by side.

Do you offer evening or online substance use sessions for Preston Park?

Yes. With a quick train to Hove, coming in is simple, and evening appointments ease the fit around a busy life. Secure video is equally available if you prefer home, and you can move between in-person and online week to week.

Substance Use Counselling in Preston Park, 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, Patcham, Hove. 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 Preston Park.

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.