Drugs and substances
Confidential support for any kind of substance use.
Substance Use Counselling · Rottingdean
Substance Use Counselling in Rottingdean
Substance Use Counselling for Rottingdean and the surrounding area, in person or online. Rottingdean is a picturesque village with its windmill, pond and High Street, set just back from the white cliffs. 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 Rottingdean
Substance Use Counselling for Rottingdean, at a glance
- Known for
- Rottingdean windmill, the village pond and Kipling Gardens
- Area
- Coast: Brighton to Newhaven, East/West Sussex
- Getting to the Hove room
- From Rottingdean it is a scenic fifteen to twenty minute drive along the coast road into Brighton and on to Hove.
- 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 Rottingdean
What is going on for people in Rottingdean?
Village life does not advertise drug use, and that shapes how it goes. There is no crowd to disappear into around Kipling Gardens or the streets off Falmer Road, so it happens at home and it happens alone. Cocaine kept for weekends that has quietly annexed more of the week. Cannabis every night to get to sleep after years of it working. Tablets that began with a prescription and carried on long past the reason. From the pavement the houses look settled and the days look calm, and the person inside is conducting an increasingly complicated private arrangement that they have never described to anybody.
Areas covered
Neighbourhoods in and around Rottingdean
The High StreetThe GreenWhiteway LaneNevill RoadMarine DriveSteyning RoadFalmer Road
Wherever you are in Rottingdean, the work is the same, a calm, confidential space shaped around you.
The local picture
The local picture in Rottingdean
Official figures for Rottingdean, for context rather than as a description of you.
7.6 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug-misuse services in 2020/21, above 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 11.1 per 100,000 in 2022 - 24, above the England average of 5.8 per 100,000. Source: OHID Fingertips – Deaths from drug misuse (2022 - 24).
Reviewed June 2026.
What actually happens 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.
What actually happens in the room is the same everywhere, so it is written up once: see substance use counselling in detail for the methods, how I work for fees and session lengths, and qualifications, registration and ethics 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.
Coming in person means the coast road west, roughly a quarter of an hour or a little more, and then the Hove room off Western Road. Some weeks that drive is welcome. Some weeks, if sleep has been poor or the day has gone badly, it is not, and secure video keeps the appointment without asking anything of you. The hour itself is identical either way.
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 Rottingdean
Why people in Rottingdean come for substance use counselling
You are not asked to stop first. Coming while you are still using is normal and it is often the only honest starting point available, since being told to arrive already changed is what keeps most people away. The conversation looks at the job the substance holds down for you. It might be sleep, it might be the flattening of something you would rather not feel, it might be the only reliable pleasure in a stretch of hard months. Then we look at what it takes: money, mornings, memory, and the way the circle of people you can be honest with keeps shrinking. Nothing said here counts as advice on reducing or coming off, which is medical work belonging to a GP or a specialist team. Locally, 7.6 adults per 1,000 were in specialist drug treatment in 2020/21, above the England average of 4.5. The NHS find a service directory is the way to reach those, and the Sussex Mental Healthline covers the nights.
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 Rottingdean
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 “Rottingdean”).
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.
Rottingdean questions
Substance Use Counselling in Rottingdean: common questions
Where do Rottingdean sessions take place, and can I meet online instead?
In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. From Rottingdean it is a scenic fifteen to twenty minute drive along the coast road into Brighton and on to Hove. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Rottingdean or blend the two.
Do I have to want to quit before I book?
No. Wanting to understand it is enough to be going on with, and a good deal of early work is simply getting an accurate picture of what is happening. Deciding what to do about it comes afterwards, and it comes from you rather than from me.
What are the session fees?
Each hour is £80, with 90 minutes at £100 and two hours at £120 for people who want longer. The free 15-minute consultation happens before any of that and exists so you can ask what the work involves without paying to find out.
Could my family find out I am coming?
Not through me. Sessions are confidential and nothing goes to your GP or anyone else without your say-so. If the difficulty is being seen leaving the house at a regular time, the coast road drive is easier to explain than most things and video removes the question entirely.
Is meeting in Hove better than video for this?
Neither is superior. The room out of the village is useful for people who want the hour completely separate from home. Video is useful when travel is hard or when the days are unpredictable. Plenty of people use both across the same piece of work.
I use alone and always have. Is that a bad sign?
It is a common one, and it does make things harder to gauge, because there is nobody around to notice the amount or the frequency changing. Solitary use also removes the social brake that used to exist, so an outside view is usually the first thing worth having.
Will this stay private in a small community?
Completely. Sessions are held in central Hove away from the village, and online is an option too. Nothing is shared with anyone without your consent, under the BACP framework.
How do I get from Rottingdean to Hove for substance use counselling?
The coast road west takes fifteen to twenty minutes by car into Brighton and on to Hove; the 12 bus runs the same way with a continuation to Hove. Begin with a free fifteen-minute call on 07914 681995 or through the contact page.
Free or paid for substance use support in Rottingdean?
Both. Pavilions provides free NHS-commissioned substance help across Brighton and Hove, self-referral only. Privately, I charge £80 for sixty minutes, £100 for ninety and £120 for two hours after a free call, and the two can sit side by side.
Do you offer evening or online substance use sessions for Rottingdean?
Yes. Privacy matters in a close village, so many Rottingdean clients like secure video from home, while the room stays a short, discreet drive along the coast. Evening appointments are available, and you can move between in-person and online freely.
Substance Use Counselling in Rottingdean, 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: Saltdean, Woodingdean, Kemp Town. 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 Rottingdean.
If you would like to read more first, I have written 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.