Substance Use Counselling · Worthing

Substance Use Counselling in Worthing

Substance Use Counselling for Worthing and the surrounding area, in person or online. Worthing is a classic seaside town with its pier, Art Deco seafront and a growing creative scene. 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 Worthing at his Hove room, introducing his approach to substance use counselling
ConfidentialA safe, private space
Person-centredThe therapy fits you

In and around Worthing

Substance Use Counselling for Worthing, at a glance

Known for
Worthing Pier, the Dome Cinema and Steyne Gardens
Area
Adur & Worthing, East/West Sussex
Getting to the Hove room
From Worthing the office is around twenty-five to thirty minutes east by car along the A259, or a direct train 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 Worthing

Why people in Worthing get in touch

Drug use in a town this size is spread thin and mostly domestic. Some of it belongs to the pubs and flats near the seafront, and a good deal more happens quietly in the streets behind Beach House Park and out towards East Worthing and West Worthing. Cocaine that started as a weekend arrangement and now turns up whenever an evening is free. Cannabis every night because sleep stopped coming on its own. Tablets prescribed once and never reviewed. Most of these lives look completely ordinary from the pavement, and that ordinary surface is what makes it so easy to say nothing for years.

Worthing Pierthe Dome CinemaSteyne GardensBeach House Park

Areas covered

Neighbourhoods in and around Worthing

Montague StreetSteyne GardensBroadwaterTarringGoring-by-SeaDurringtonEast WorthingWest Worthing

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

The local picture

The local picture in Worthing

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

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 full substance use counselling page for the methods, how sessions run and what they cost for fees and session lengths, and my BACP registration if you want to check who you would be working with.

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.

In person means twenty-five to thirty minutes east on the A259 or a direct train, then the Hove room off Western Road. From this distance many people run the work by secure video and travel occasionally, which keeps the weekly rhythm intact when a night has been bad or the morning is slow. Both formats cost the same and cover the same ground.

Book a free 15-minute call

What I help with

What does substance use counselling 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 Worthing

Why people in Worthing come for substance use counselling

Nothing here depends on you having stopped, or having decided to. Being met without disapproval is frequently what makes the difference between getting help and continuing alone. None of that is a reason to wait. We look at what the substance is doing for you, and then at what it charges: money, mornings, memory, and a circle of people that has slowly narrowed. The West Sussex picture is comparatively low, with 3.9 deaths from drug misuse per 100,000 in 2022 - 24 against 5.8 for England, which can make local use feel more isolating rather than less. No guidance is given here on reducing or coming off, since that is medical: West Sussex County Council's drug and alcohol support and DAWN, run by Change Grow Live, cover that side, with the Sussex Mental Healthline overnight.

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 Worthing

My counselling sits alongside the help available locally. In Worthing, 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.

Worthing questions

Substance Use Counselling in Worthing: common questions

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

In a private room at Intergen House on Western Road in central Hove. From Worthing the office is around twenty-five to thirty minutes east by car along the A259, or a direct train to Hove. Every service is also available by secure video across the UK, so you can meet from any private space in Worthing or blend the two.

Will I be treated as a problem to be managed?

No. You are a person with a habit that is doing something for you and costing you something as well, and the hour is spent understanding both. Nobody is processed, assessed against a target, or moved through a pathway that has already been decided.

What do sessions cost and is there a minimum?

There is no minimum. Sessions are £80 an hour, £100 for 90 minutes and £120 for two hours, paid as you go. The 15-minute consultation at the start costs nothing and is a fair place to ask anything you want answered first.

How many people locally are actually in treatment?

In West Sussex, 3 adults per 1,000 were in treatment at specialist drug misuse services in 2020/21, below the England average of 4.5. DAWN, the wellbeing network Change Grow Live runs in the county, is the route in if you want that alongside counselling.

Is video going to feel distant for something this personal?

Most people find it stops feeling like a screen within a session or two. What carries the work is privacy and consistency rather than being in the same room. If it does feel thin for you, in-person slots in Hove are there to try.

My use is nobody else's business. Why bring it to counselling?

Because keeping something entirely to yourself removes any way of checking it, and after a while the account you give yourself is the only one there is. An outside view is not the same as being told what to do, and nothing here is reported anywhere.

Do you work with older adults as well as younger people?

Yes. Substance use, including reliance on prescription medication in later life, affects people of every age. We work with what the substance has come to do for you, without judgement, whatever your stage of life.

Is there a direct train from Worthing for substance use counselling?

Yes. The main coastal line runs direct from Worthing and West Worthing east through Shoreham to Hove in around twenty minutes, with a short walk to Western Road; by car the A259 is straightforward. Start with a free fifteen-minute call on 07914 681995 or online.

Free or paid for substance use support in Worthing?

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 Worthing?

Yes. A direct train or the A259 brings you to the Hove room, with evening appointments to help around work, but secure video keeps support within reach if you prefer home. You can move between in-person and online however your week falls.

Substance Use Counselling in Worthing, 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: Lancing, Shoreham-by-Sea. See all areas I cover.

Related work in Worthing: addiction counselling, counselling for drinking problems and anxiety counselling.

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.