Our services
We believe everyone has the right to recovery from addiction
If you are struggling with drugs and alcohol and need peer support and counselling, please use the referral form below. Professionals can also use the same form to refer their clients who need help.
We commit to contacting potential clients within three days of receipt of the referral. We can’t guarantee that we can provide counselling for everyone and through our triage process we will identify those in most need and who we can help. But everyone who contacts us will be given guidance on what other services are available and offered a peer support session or conversation.
Clients with a history of heavy daily drinking and opiate-based drug use might need detox before we can begin working with them – we can offer guidance on this. We can make exceptions if a client is on a reduced dose of self-medicating prescription drugs and has taken medical advice from a GP or doctor.
Counselling can be one hour a week, primarily face-to-face but also via video call where appropriate, for six, 12 or 24 weeks depending on the needs of the client. All our counsellors are BACP-recognised or members and have supervision in place.
A word about addiction
We have decided to use the word addiction and not shy away from it. Cancer, for some, is still a taboo word. The word packs a punch and the illness kills. So does addiction. Yes, it can hold stigma for some but that needs to be faced and accepted. Addiction kills. And for the majority of addicts, maybe all, it isn’t a natural life choice but an essential way to cope and self-medicate against emotional pain and insecurities. A path that often ends up with jail, institutions or death.
A word on trauma. Our experience tells us that trauma is one of the biggest contributing factors to addiction, either a single event or collection of experiences, generally in childhood and formative years (but not exclusively). Reducing the impact of trauma with the right support can put many on the path to recovery.
We never give people the label of addict. While our peer supporters with lived experience freely identify as addicts in recovery, we firmly believe that it’s up to the client if they chose to use the definition. Addiction isn’t a choice, identifying as one is.
