Alcohol Help

Rugby House Alcohol Resource Centre, London
Alcohol Resource Centre, is a community based alcohol project run by Rugby House.

About us:

At ARC we provide advice, information and counselling ot those with concerns around alcohol, whether that be long term problem alcohol use or occasional binge drinking

The Alcohol Resource Centre - Arc is a Tier 2, open access, Alcohol service. Arc offers free, community-based alcohol service for adults who live in the boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. It is a confidential service run by qualified and experienced staff.

Arc Services

Drop in Service

Arc provides a safe, non-judgemental drop-in service from 10am-12pm Monday to Friday for people living in the borough of Kensington & Chelsea or Westminster. It may be the first port of call for a client to discuss their own substance misuse or that of a relative or friend.

New clients undergo an assessment in order to establish the most appropriate treatment package. Clients may be offered the services provided by Arc or be referred on to more appropriate services.

Brief Intervention

Up to four sessions of harm reduction strategies. This also includes referrals to other services if required.

One to One counselling and support

Arc offers harm minimisation, controlled drinking and abstinence based interventions, aimed at engaging substance users in treatment and reducing harm. Twelve individual counselling sessions are offered to a client. Sessions include brief interventions, motivational interviewing techniques, cognitive behavioural interventions and Alcohol Counselling

Groups

All groups at a Arc runs a rolling group programme

Open Support group: A harm reduction group for both abstinent and using clients.

Relapse Prevention group: A mixed gender group for individuals who are abstinent.

Women\’s group: A women\’s only group for both abstinent and using clients.

Complimentary Therapy

Ear Acupuncture service provided by experienced and accredited facilitator

Arc provides low threshold services and aims to engage in treatment without a high level of commitment as required by tier3-structured programmes.

Modes of delivery

* Drop in service five mornings a week
* Brief Intervention
* One to one counselling and support five days a week
* Groups
* Complimentary therapies
* Referral and support in accessing other services
* Home visits (assessments only)
* Primary care satellites at surgeries and hospitals
* West End Connect community services

How do I use ARC? (Referral Procedure)

By Phone

Call us on 020 8960 5505

Drop in Referrals

anytime between 10.00 and 12.00 Monday through Friday no appointment necessary - do phone and check we are open as these times are subject to change.

Ask your GP

or another professionals in the health care, social services or substance misuse fields or a friend to contact us by letter or phone on your behalf.

Call us on 020 8960 5505 Monday to Friday 9.30am - 5.00pm

Contact Details:

Rugby House Alcohol Resource Centre
314 Ladbroke Grove
London

W10 5NQ

Telephone: 020 8960 5505

Mesmerism, London
Harley Street Therapist Specialising in Alcohol Addiction & Binge Drinking

About us:

Maria Clyne, Harley Street addiction specialist offers 2 unique programmes

AlcoStop designed for complete cessation of drinking alcohol, stopping drinking completely, quitting boozing, treatment for alcohol addiction, giving up alcohol.

AlcoLess is likewise uniquely tailored to the individual for drinking less alcohol, stopping binge drinking, cutting down on alcohol, reducing alcohol consumption.

Maria has had personal experience of a severe addiction to alcohol and is passionate about helping others onto the road of freedom and joyful living.

The programmes involve hypnotherapy, NLP, Reiki, auricular acupuncture, EFT - Emotional Freedom Techniques, EmoTrance. Each client is assessed and a treatment programme devised for their unique needs.

Contact Details:

Mesmerism
10 Harley Street
London
W1G 9PF

Telephone: 0207 467 8363

Our Website

Blackpool Alcohol Team, Blackpool
Helping Reduce The Negative Impact Of Alcohol Consumption

About us:

Blackpool Alcohol Team Provides A Caring Alcohol Service, Consisting Of An Alcohol Outreach Team & Self Help Support Groups & Services To The Greater Blackpool Community

Blackpool Alcohol Team works in the Greater Blackpool Community with our outreach services, self help groups and services for all victims of alcohol abuse !!

We work with street drinkers, homeless & vulnerable adults suffering from alcohol abuse and individuals returning to Blackpool from detox / rehab or prison !!

We also develop and maintain self help groups and services for all in recovery wishing to remain alcohol free, faciliated by abstainers with 2 years + recovery

We are presently an alcohol self help & support organisation, aiming to offer a holistic alcohol service in the near future for the Greater Blackpool Community

Blackpool Alcohol Team also provides a referral link service to alcohol / drug treatment services, tenancy support and volunteering and training etc

We hope you find this information useful. Please tell your friends about this website. This website is dedicated to saving lives. Seize the moment… We are here to help…

The Goal Of Increasing Life Expectancy Can ONLY Be Achieved By Preventing The Causes Of Early Death

Blackpool Alcohol Team Is Working To Achieve This Goal With Front Line Services and In Developing & Maintaining Self Help Support Groups & Services, Helping To Reduce The Negative Impact Of Alcohol Consumption

Assisting To Decrease Alcohol Related Deaths & Alcohol Related Crime

Contact Details:

Blackpool Alcohol Team
39 Springfield Road
Blackpool
Lancashire
FY1 1PZ

Telephone: 07933 589676

Agar & St Augustines Residential Alcohol Treatment, London
Abstinence based structured alcohol rehabilitation programme

About us:

Agar & St Augustine’s are small abstinence-based structured alcohol rehabilitation programme which accommodates up to eleven men and women.

Our primary aim is to provide a safe, supportive, drug and alcohol- free environment for the individual to tackle their underlying issues related to their drinking. The holistic programme is aimed at enabling people to move back into the community with an increased quality of life.

Agar & St Augustine’s are registered care homes and have received excellent CSCI reports.

Staffing

The full time staff have a Diploma in counselling or substance misuse and the NVQ level 3 in Health & Social Care and DANOS or are working towards these awards. The manager holds the Registered Managers Award and the senior practitioner holds the NVQ Assessors award.

Agar & St Augustine’s has been set up to meet the needs of adults who want to undergo an intensive treatment programme, but retain as much of their independence as possible.

Clients must be:

* Between the ages of 18 and 65.
* Abstinent from and other drugs (excluding tobacco)

In order for clients to make full use of the structured programme offered it is essential that clients are able to demonstrate some cognitive and reflective capability. To this end whilst the scheme will accept some clients with mental health issues, this is done on an individual basis and always needs to take into account the needs of other residents currently in the scheme.

Clients on anti-psychotic and sedating anti-depressant can sometimes not only find it difficult to access the treatment programme but in some cases find their mental health condition exacerbated.

Unfortunately, the scheme is not suitable for clients with mobility difficulties, due to the steep steps. It is also unsuitable for highly vulnerable clients with complex needs.

All residents must be able to self-care as no nursing care is provided.

Services Provided

The Agar & St Augustine’s core programme is 12 weeks with an extension for another 12 weeks based on individual needs. Service users will receive a care management review at 8 weeks with their key worker and care management.

* Weekly individual key working
* A holistic structured therapeutic group work programme, based on the social learning model, using cognitive behavioural and motivational techniques.
* Individual client led Personal Development Plans and reviews
* Open therapeutic groups
* Relapse Awareness
* Anger Management
* Stress Management
* Gender Group
* Assignments and peer feedback groups
* Gaol setting
* Relaxation group
* Auricular acupuncture
* Formal and informal support
* Encouragement to establish local community networks
* After Care support

Contact Details:

Agar & St Augustines Residential Alcohol Treatment
71 Agar Grove
London

NW1 9UE

Telephone: 020 7916 7633

Bristol: Chrysalis Supported Association
Abstinence based 12 Step residential programme supporting recovery to community living.

About us:

Abstinence based 12 Step 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th stage residential programme supporting recovery from all addictions into interdependent community living.

Chrysalis is an unregistered abstinence based structured supported accommodation project offering good quality supported accommodation in single occupied units within shared communal accommodation. We are based in the Bristol and locally surrounding areas.

Aims of Chrysalis

\’At CSA Limited we aim to provide good quality, safe accommodation and support to men and women who have a history of homelessness or unsettled lifestyles and who seek to maintain their recovery from addiction / dependency and / or alcoholism.

We offer structured support in third (shared) / fourth (flat shares) and self contained flats with high to low level support available.

It is our belief that through living in a structured healthy and boundaried communal setting that residents can learn to develop healthy relationships, personal structure and self discipline. Assisting them to rebuild trust in both themselves and others. Therefore assisting the transition towards independant living free from all forms of dependancy.\’

Our project provides structured support through individually tailored support plans, one to one key working and support sessions with weekly groups and various workshops, including drop-ins.

Housing support costs and rent are met through combination of Supporting People and Housing Benefit. Clients must be eligible or in the receipt of statutory benefits or have funding to cover this.

Chrysalis has good links with other tertiary providers and looks to resettle individuals who are not staying with Chrysalis. For those who are staying with Chrysalis third/fourth and self contained accomodation/flats is available for up to 2 years. We are also negotiating with named providers for individual housing allocations within the Bristol Area.

Contact Details:

Chrysalis Supported Association
20 Avonvale Road
Redfield
Bristol

BS5 9RL

Telephone: 0117 939 2555

Recovery Resources, London
Services for employers, families, friends and colleagues of people with alcohol problems.

About us:

This is an abstinence based programme which takes a multi disciplinary approach to substance abuse. It uses the 12 step programme and the Hazelden and Institute models. There is no religious orientation.

Services offered:

Advocacy, Befriending, Brief interventions, Day programmes, Education and training to individuals, Family and/or couple counselling, Group work, Psychiatric assessment and interventions, Relapse prevention, Self-help and Structured programmes.

There are a variety of separate groups with the chemical dependency practitioner: single sex groups, prisoners, the over 60s, ethnic minorities and problem drinkers with children.

They also offer family therapy and dual diagnosis. The programme lasts 6 months on average. There is no disabled access (1st floor) but they will go out to visit.

Charges apply - contact for details.

Area: Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster

Referral: Self or via professional

About Drug And Alcohol Addiction

What is addiction?

Addiction - to drugs, alcohol or anything else - is an illness, which is progressive in nature. The British Medical Association, The American Medical Association and the World Health Organisation amongst many other bodies have officially recognised this for many years. \’Progressive\’ means that, once the addiction has taken hold, left unchecked it will get worse over time rather than better. It is not someone\’s \’fault\’ that they have an addiction, anymore than it is someone\’s \’fault\’ if they have cancer.

How can addiction be treated?

There are plenty of successful treatment programmes available both here in the UK and overseas. However, someone who has an addiction must first recognise that this is the case and then decide that they want help to overcome it. The problem is that one of the hallmarks of addiction is denial: the person concerned may not be able to admit that they have a problem. Denial can also affect those close to the addict or alcoholic - friends, family and colleagues may for some time be able to \’excuse\’ the behaviours of the person, rationalise them away or even help cover up the addiction. But, there usually comes a time when the destructive affects of addiction are too keenly felt by those close to the addict to be denied any longer.

How can family, friends and colleagues help?

Once the addiction is obvious to those close to the person in question, family members, friends and colleagues have basically two choices: do nothing, or do something. People with cancer or other physical diseases are not expected to wait until their condition is so bad that they are forced to seek help. As a society, we do what we can to offer treatment to people who are ill - so why should we treat drug addicts and alcoholics any differently? Rather than stand by and watch a loved one or respected colleague slide inexorably towards the famous \’rock bottom\’, they can choose to intervene with professional help to halt the progression of the addiction.

Contact Details:

Recovery Resources
38 Kings Road
London

SW3 4UD

Telephone: 020 7823 9099

Castle Craig Hospital, West Linton
For the treatment of alcoholism and other addictions

About us:

Our treatment programme aims to involve the immediate family as closely as possible in the therapy and educational and aftercare programme. Considerable damage will have occurred to the spouse, parents and children as a result of the chemical dependency and the family’s early involvement in the recovery process is important. In addition employers and supervisors are encouraged to participate in the educational programme and aftercare planning.

For patients who are alcohol or drug dependent abstinence is essential. Treatment leads to a new direction in achieving a fulfilling and meaningful life. It is the beginning of a life-long journey in recovery with sober friends and strong support networks.

The model of treatment is described as the Minnesota Model and more recently as Twelve Step Treatment.

Treatment includes the following components:

Assessment

All patients undergo a thorough and comprehensive assessment which begins before admission and continues during the subsequent few days following admission. Patients are assessed by the consultant in charge and by members of the multidisciplinary team.
Treatment Plan

Each patient has an individualised care plan which establishes objectives to assist him/her to understand the illness of addiction and to address relapse triggers. The weekly ward round and daily team meetings, supervised by the Consultant, monitor the patient’s progress.
Detoxification

Following admission the patient’s detoxification requirements will be assessed by the Consultant. Our staff are sensitive to the needs of patients during this difficult period, providing support, encouragement and easing discomfort.
Therapy

The treatment programme is intensively structured and there is an overall consistency and clarity of focus. Each patient is assigned a focal therapist (cursor) who will conduct individual psychotherapy. Group therapy sessions are held twice daily. Specialised group therapy includes:

* Relaxation therapy.
* Eating disorders group therapy
* Relapse prevention group
* Body image group therapy
* Cognitive behavioural therapy
* Relationship therapy
* Grief group therapy
* Cross-addiction therapy
* Coping skills therapy
* Equine assisted therapy
* Horticultural therapy
* Women’s group therapy
* EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)

Educational Therapy

The psycho-educational lecture component reinforces the group process and patients receive approximately 60 lectures during the six-week treatment period. The daily lectures by the clinical team cover a broad range of topics including:

* The illness of addiction
* Relapse prevention
* Assertiveness training
* The medical complications of addiction
* The Twelve Steps

Therapeutic Community

New admissions will receive a warm and caring welcome, not only from staff but also from their peers. Positive peer influences help in the identification of feelings, problem solving and the process of change. A renewed sense of hope and self esteem results from the shared experience and openness of other group members.
Discharge Planning

The importance of after care and discharge planning is emphasised throughout the treatment period. For some patients a period of time in our Extended Care hospital programme will prove invaluable. Ultimately the patient will be referred back to the general practitioner or any other medical practitioners involved in the patient’s care. When community addiction teams are involved, Castle Craig works in partnership with these referral bodies. Essential support networks include the 12 step fellowships and contacts within these fellowships can be are arranged by the patient’s therapist. Castle Craig also provides an after care programme, assisting graduates to apply the new knowledge they have gained.
The Patient’s Therapist

Upon admission each patient is assigned a focal therapist who will meet at once with the patient providing the medical condition is stable. The therapist will coordinate the assessments and treatment planning in conjunction with the medical and nursing staff. It is the therapist’s role to guide the patient through the first five steps of the AA programme and to prepare the patient for discharge. Individualised psychotherapy provides the opportunity to address the threats to recovery for the patient and for the family.

Contact Details:

Castle Craig Hospital
Blyth Bridge
West Linton
Peeblesshire
EH46 7DH

Telephone: 01721 722763

Black cabs half-painted as police cars and ambulances have hit the streets in the North West as part of the latest Know Your Limits safer drinking publicity campaign.

Seen from the front, the forty vehicles resemble a traditional black cab, or hackney carriage. From the rear a clever paint job transforms them into either police cars or ambulances. The two halves are linked by a simple line of text: ‘Don’t let a good night turn into a bad one’.

The message is plain: unless you are careful about how much you drink, a night that starts in a taxi might end up in a police car or ambulance.

The taxis will be on Liverpool and Manchester streets for eight weeks and have also be rolled out in Birmingham and London. They form part of a wider advertising effort that also includes a fleet of 1,000 buses emblazoned with a bus route-style map. Using the same ‘Don’t let a good night…’ strap line, the journey depicted on the side of the buses terminates at the Accident and Emergency department.

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said:

"The Know Your Limits campaign has been reminding young people of the dangers of excessive drinking in an imaginative, non-preaching and hard-hitting way since October 2006. Since the publication of the alcohol strategy in June this year, we have stepped up our efforts to educate people about the harm that alcohol can do not only to themselves but also to those around them. At this time of year when people will be out having a good time, these vehicles will, I hope, make people think twice about having one drink too many."

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said:

"We are determined to reduce the harm caused by alcohol and committed to raising awareness of the health and personal risks associated with drinking above sensible limits. This campaign is one more way to make people think about the consequences of the misuse of alcohol while they are out and about."

Home Office

Women’s Alcohol Service, London
For women with alcohol-related problems who want to reduce their alcohol consumption.

About us:

The Women’s Alcohol Service is offered to women with alcohol-related problems who want to either reduce their alcohol consumption or abstain from drinking altogether. The service is open predominantly to women from Islington and Camden although access is available to women from any part of London.

What we offer

* Assessment: This assessment available by prior appointment identifies client’s needs and finds a suitable support programme that meets them.

* One-to-one support: Staff work closely with clients on an individual basis to help reduce harmful drinking or to prepare them for detox.

* Groups: A programme of topic-based group sessions, such as relapse prevention, are repeated regularly throughout the year for women who are alcohol free on the day. The groups provide an opportunity for women to look at their drinking behaviour, learn new skills, techniques and effective ways of breaking past patterns and to share their experiences and strategies on coping with their alcohol problems.

* Satellite services: Staff from the Women’s Alcohol Service provide one-to-one support sessions on a Friday afternoon at Ampthill Square Medical Centre, 219 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1DR. Referral is through GPs at the practice.

* Limited assessments and regular group and one-to-one support sessions are provided at the NHS Women\’s Mental Health Crisis House and Resource Centre at 32 Drayton Park, Islington N5 1PB on Friday afternoons. Referrals are made by the Centre\’s staff.

* Housing and resettlement services: If homeless, we can refer clients to our housing services or if they are at risk of losing their home as a result of their drinking or drug misuse we can refer individuals to our floating support services.

* Complementary therapies: A range of therapies offered to complement the above services are available to registered clients.

Opening times
By appointment only

Accessing the service

Women can register for help by phone before being invited to attend for an assessment.

Referrals are accepted from GPs, voluntary organisations, statutory and private sector organisations via ARP’s agency referral form.

Contact Details:

Women’s Alcohol Service
1st Floor
3-5 Cynthia Street
London

N1 9JF

Telephone: 020 7278 8214

Cut price alcohol promotions from some of the leading supermarkets are putting teen drinkers at greater risk than ever. Cheap at twice the price: Young People, Purchasing Power and Alcohol provides an indication of just how much alcohol the average 12-16 year old can buy with their weekly pocket money.

Through an analysis of price information from supermarket branches throughout London and survey data from the Department of Health, the Home Office and HBOS (Halifax) plc a clearer picture of young people’s purchasing power has now emerged. In major supermarkets with a track record of selling alcohol to underage buyers, it is possible to purchase more than 3 times the recommended daily limit for adult men, and more than 4 times the recommended daily limit for women for as little as £7.29.

Crucially, cut price promotions extend to well known brands, including Smirnoff Ice, Budweiser and Bacardi. Continuing failures by retailers to eliminate under age sales mean it is now very easy for young people to buy into the brands they identify as being the most attractive.

Don Shenker, Director of Policy and Services for Alcohol Concern says:

"Young people quite often drink to get drunk. When they manage to purchase alcohol, the aim is generally to drink it over the course of one evening. Cheap alcohol promotions help explain just why those young people who drink can afford to do so at far greater levels than in the past. Until government gets serious about making alcohol less affordable, it’s hard to see how we can prevent young people from cheap alcohol and risky drinking".

The report recommends that the government introduce higher taxes on alcohol sales in order to halt its ever growing affordability and the consequent ease with which young people are able to access large volumes of drink.

Alcohol Concern