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How to Choose the Right Alcohol Support
What are the options?
Many people ask 'Who do I call? My GP? NHS? Charities? Mental Health Services? Groups like AA? How do I find the best option/options for me?'
Find what works for you
It's a personal journey and what helps one person may not suit another, and that's OK. That does not mean one service is 'better' or 'worse' than another; the best option for someone is one that works for them.
Research consistently shows that the strength of the match between an individual and their treatment is one of the strongest predictors of success.
A programme that allows you to feel connected, fits your circumstances and addresses your concerns and goals is far more likely to lead to lasting change than one chosen under pressure or without enough information.
So take your time, keep an open mind and look at a variety of options to see what seems like the best fit.
The web of support
The local Drug & Alcohol service in your area, provided by the Local Authority (e.g. the Council) but which may have some crossover with the NHS.
Everyone in the UK has a right to access free-at-the-point-of-care support through these services.
Your local IAPT service offers free NHS talking therapies for common issues such as anxiety and depression. Alcohol use and depression/anxiety often co-exist — but many specialists advise treating the alcohol issue first.
There are a number of national and local charities that provide support.
Usually local hubs or collections of organisations that support people directly in their community.
Also called Lived Experience Recovery Organisations — run by people who have been through addiction and use their recovery experience to help others.
Made up of people who have lived experience, including SMART Recovery and 12-step groups like AA.
Many private options, including private counsellors, coaching services, detox services and inpatient rehabs.
A variety of self-help and motivational apps that can support people dealing with particular issues, mental health or behavioural change.
What to look for in any provider
Registered and regulated in the provider's own name
- England — Care Quality Commission
- Scotland — Healthcare Improvement Scotland
- Wales — Healthcare Inspectorate Wales
- Northern Ireland — RQIA
Structured aftercare following detox
NICE clinical guideline CG115 recommends that detox should always be followed by ongoing psychosocial intervention. A credible provider will include aftercare as a core part of the programme, not as an optional add-on.
Independently verified outcomes
A personalised clinical approach
Your wider options in the UK
Your GP
Your GP is your advocate for navigating the healthcare service. They are a great resource for continuity of care and liaising between any specialist teams caring for you. If you have general concerns about your mental health then they can be a good resource too.
As Drug & Alcohol Support is usually provided by the Local Authority (council) rather than the NHS, your GP often just signposts you to contact the services directly (they don't usually need to refer you and you can contact them directly).
Your GP cannot usually prescribe specialist medications to help with alcohol dependence. If speaking to your usual GP feels uncomfortable, you can request a different doctor at the same practice or book a telephone appointment.
NHS / Local Authority community alcohol services
Every area in England has NHS-commissioned drug and alcohol services and most accept self-referrals. These typically offer assessment, key work sessions, group therapy and, in some cases, medically supervised detox.
You can find your nearest service using the NHS alcohol support service finder (nhs.uk/service-search) or by searching via FRANK at talktofrank.com.
These services are free and confidential. The trade-off is that waiting times and treatment intensity vary by area, and the level of ongoing support may be less structured than a private programme.
Private residential rehabilitation
Residential rehab provides an immersive, structured environment away from daily life. Stays typically range from 28 days upwards and costs vary significantly from around £6,000 for a four-week programme to considerably more for specialist or luxury facilities.
Before committing, check CQC registration, ask about aftercare provision and review their most recent CQC inspection report at cqc.org.uk/care-services.
Residential treatment can be the right choice for people who need a period of complete separation from their environment, or whose home circumstances are not safe for a home-based approach. It is generally not necessary for everyone and the evidence on long-term outcomes is mixed unless robust aftercare is included.
Peer support groups
Peer support provides something clinical treatment often cannot: the experience of being genuinely understood by someone who has been where you are.
12-Step / 'Fellowship' Meetings (e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous)
SMART Recovery UK
Both are free, require no referral and you can attend to listen before deciding.
Counselling, therapy and recovery coaching
One-to-one support
Valuable at any stage. The BACP therapist directory at bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists lets you search for accredited counsellors by specialism, including alcohol and addiction.
Trauma-informed
Such as EMDR or trauma-focused CBT can be particularly relevant for people whose drinking is connected to past experiences.
Recovery coaching
This is a distinct discipline from clinical therapy. Coaches work alongside you to build practical, social, and personal resources that sustain long-term change.
J2 ARMS
Our partner, J2 ARMS, offers personalised recovery coaching pathways designed to support individuals before, during, and after clinical treatment. More at j2arms.com.
Helplines and information services
Drinkline
0300 123 1110. Free national alcohol helpline. Weekdays 9am–8pm, weekends 11am–4pm.
Drinkaware
Independent information, self-assessment tools, and a service finder at drinkaware.co.uk.
Alcohol Change UK
Guides, research, and tools including the Try Dry app. More at alcoholchange.org.uk.
With You
Free drug and alcohol support across England and Scotland at wearewithyou.org.uk.
For people in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland
Scotland
Contact your local Alcohol and Drug Partnership, or call Drinkline Scotland on 0800 731 4314.
Wales
DAN 24/7 is a free, bilingual helpline available 24 hours on 0808 808 2234.
Northern Ireland
Lifeline helpline on 0808 808 8000, or search via the Public Health Agency.
Support for family and friends
Al-Anon (al-anonuk.org.uk) offers meetings and a helpline for families and friends. Nacoa (nacoa.org.uk) provides a free helpline for children and young people affected by a parent's drinking.
Making a decision
If you are comparing providers, use the criteria in this guide to ask informed questions. A good provider will welcome that scrutiny.
A few things worth remembering
Reach out
There is no obligation, no pressure, we just want to support you whether that is with our programme, or helping you find another service that works for you.
Why Clean Slate Clinic exists
NHS services offer valuable support, but demand can mean long waits and limited treatment. Residential rehab means weeks away from your life at considerable cost. Detox-only services address withdrawal, though the research is clear that detox without psychosocial aftercare does not work in the longer term.
Clean Slate sits between the two. Clinically rigorous, medically supervised and structured for the long term, delivered in your own home.
This is what Clean Slate looks like in practice
Doctor-led and CQC-registered
A 12-month programme, not a quick detox
Home-based by design
Independently verified outcomes
A social enterprise, not a volume business
Suitability matters to us
Who Clean Slate works well for
Many of our clients are professionals who have been functioning outwardly while struggling privately; people who need a programme that takes both the clinical and the practical realities of their situation seriously.
If that describes your situation, you can take our confidential suitability assessment or book a call with the team to find out more.
Latest articles
Supporting the families behind recovery: launching our Friends & Family Support Service with Adfam
September is Recovery Month. We joined Adfam at Cooley LLP in London to launch our Friends & Family Service, and to make the case for the people who support those in recovery.
Recovery Month rightly puts individuals in recovery at the very centre. But behind almost every one of them is a partner, a parent or an adult child living with the same illness.
Adfam is England's leading families and addiction charity, and estimates that more than five million people here are affected by someone else's drinking, drug use or gambling. Opening the event, Chief Executive Vivienne Evans OBE set out why that matters to anyone designing treatment. Adfam's Above and Beyond report found that three quarters of people in recovery credited family members with a significant role in it. Only a quarter said their families received specialist support in return.
Launching the Friends & Family Service
That gap is what our new service is built to close. Our Co-founder and CEO, Pia Clinton-Tarestad, launched the Friends & Family offer, delivered with Adfam, extending structured support to the people around every Clean Slate Clinic client. Because our care is delivered at home and online, those people are already part of the picture.
The family behind recovery
Chaired by broadcaster Fi Glover of Times Radio, the panel opened with Will Haydock, Chief Executive of Collective Voice, on where funding for families does and does not reach.
Dr Aaron J Brown, NHS GP and Managing Director of Clean Slate Clinic UK, and Ellie Brown, LERO Training Development Lead at Recovery Connections, spoke together, in the part of the evening that will stay with most of the room. Aaron and Ellie are partners, and they talked with warmth and candour about Aaron's recovery, from both sides of it.
Hearing a clinician describe his own dependency alongside the person who lived through it, made visible what statistics cannot. Ellie described the challenges; the vigilance, the unpaid caring work no one records, and the loneliness of it. It was the clearest argument for charities like Adfam.
If you are supporting someone through problems with alcohol, help is available for you as well as for them. You can find Adfam's services at adfam.org.uk. Our thanks to Adfam, Fi Glover, our panellists, and Cooley LLP for hosting us.
Clean Slate Clinic named a finalist in the UK Social Enterprise Awards 2026
A different way to do business
Social enterprises are businesses that trade for a social or environmental purpose, and reinvest at least half their profits to further that mission.
Our vision for what comes next
Earlier this year, we published a white paper with addiction charity Adfam and the University of Sussex. It found that over 17 million Britons may be drinking at dangerous levels without knowing it, and that long NHS waiting lists, fear of stigma and the cost of private treatment stop many people from asking for help.
Our vision is to help move alcohol care away from crisis-led, in-person models and towards earlier, digitally enabled support in the community. Medically supervised home detox reduces treatment costs compared with in-patient care, which means more people can get the right help, sooner.
We’ve now supported more than 5,000 people across Australia and the UK, and earlier this year we were named Impact Enterprise of the Year at the 2026 Australian Impact Investment Awards. Being shortlisted here in the UK is a proud moment for our growing UK team.
Commenting on being a UK Social Enterprise Awards finalist, Dr Aaron Brown, GP and Managing Director of Clean Slate Clinic UK, said:
Dr Aaron Brown,GP and Managing Director, Clean Slate Clinic UK
Find out moreabout the UK Social Enterprise Awards at socialenterprise.org.uk.
Reclaiming Life: Home Detox & Healing with Dr Aaron Brown
Reclaiming Life: Home Detox & Healing with Dr Aaron Brown
In a recent episode of the Your Choices Matter podcast, host David Lilley sat down with Dr Aaron Brown, Managing Director of Clean Slate Clinic UK, for an honest conversation about alcohol dependence and what it actually takes to break free. Aaron brings a rare combination of clinical rigour and lived experience: a York Medical School graduate and former GP partner, he faced his own cycle of dependence after shielding through the 2020 pandemic.
Listen to the podcast & learn more
- Clean Slate Clinic UK: explore the 12-month home detox programme or book a free exploratory call
- Care Quality Commission (CQC): verify clinical registration details
- SMART Recovery UK: self-empowered recovery tools
- Adfam: support for families affected by substance use
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