Drug & Alcohol Rehab Options in Barnet

Free adult drug and alcohol treatment in Barnet

Drug and Alcohol Service – Barnet is the borough’s commissioned service and is delivered by Change Grow Live. The adult pathway is free and confidential and supports people in Barnet who are experiencing difficulties with alcohol or drugs.

Support may include:

• advice on reducing the harms connected with alcohol or drug use
• medication to support reduction or treatment where appropriate
• one-to-one support
• group work
• a named member of the team to help work towards treatment goals
• access to detoxification or residential-rehab opportunities where assessment shows that a more intensive route may be needed

The service is in Hendon, around nine minutes on foot from Hendon Central Underground station according to CGL’s current directions. People living elsewhere in the borough — including High Barnet, Finchley, Edgware, Mill Hill and surrounding areas — can contact the service directly rather than assuming the nearest building outside Barnet is the correct route.

Help for people aged 24 and under in Barnet

Change Grow Live runs a separate Barnet Young People’s Service for people aged 24 and under. It is free and confidential and can help with alcohol or drug use alongside wider difficulties affecting day-to-day life, including emotional wellbeing.

The service offers one-to-one sessions, drug and alcohol advice and treatment, group work, emotional-wellbeing support and help connecting with services for housing, education, employment, mental health and other practical needs.

Abbington House is an adult residential service. For someone under 18, the Barnet Young People’s Service is the appropriate first route rather than Abbington’s admissions team.

Other drug and alcohol support in Barnet

Naloxone and needle exchange

Change Grow Live provides needle and syringe support in Barnet and lists local pharmacies where needle exchange or naloxone may be available. The Barnet service also provides free naloxone kits and training. Naloxone can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose and is worth asking about where heroin or other opioids are involved.

• Check current Barnet naloxone and needle-exchange information

Support when somebody else’s drinking or drug use is affecting you

Families and carers may need support in their own right even when the person using alcohol or drugs is not ready for treatment. The Barnet service signposts carers to Barnet Carers, which supports people caring for someone affected by illness, disability, mental-health difficulties or substance misuse.

• Visit Barnet Carers

The wider London drug and alcohol support guide also includes official service finders and national helplines.

When residential rehab may fit

Community treatment works well for many people. Residential rehab provides a different level and setting of support rather than an automatically better form of treatment.

It may be worth considering where:

• attempts to stop or reduce alcohol or drug use at home have not lasted
• withdrawal or prescribing needs require closer medical assessment
• several substances are involved
• the person struggles to remain stable between appointments
• the home or social environment is closely connected with continued use
• anxiety, depression, trauma or another mental-health difficulty is also part of the picture
• a period away from familiar routines would create more space to focus on treatment

Our residential rehab page explains how treatment works at Abbington House, including assessment, detox where clinically appropriate, therapy, family support, daily structure and aftercare planning.

Our alcohol rehab guide explains the main alcohol-treatment routes available in the UK.

Our drug rehab guide explains how care can differ by substance, including illicit drugs, prescription medication and mixed substance use.

Considering private residential treatment from Barnet

Abbington House provides CQC-regulated private residential treatment at its centre at 23 Hitchin Road in Stevenage for alcohol addiction, illicit and prescription drug addiction, and co-occurring mental-health difficulties.

Abbington House does not operate a clinic, consultation room or satellite treatment service in Barnet. Residential treatment takes place in Stevenage.

For someone whose life has become tightly connected with the places, routines and access around their alcohol or drug use, travelling outside the borough can create useful distance without taking family completely out of reach.

Treatment brings assessment, medically supervised detox where clinically appropriate, therapy, daily structure, family support and preparation for life after treatment into one residential stay. Suitability and length of stay are assessed individually.

Not every situation requires residential treatment, and not every person is suitable for admission to Abbington House. The first conversation and assessment are used to understand the complete situation rather than force it into a residential pathway.

Travelling from Barnet to Abbington House

Barnet stretches from Hendon and Edgware in the south and west to High Barnet and the Hertfordshire boundary in the north, so there is no single useful journey time for the whole borough.

By road

The A1 and A1(M) provide a direct route north towards Stevenage. From much of Barnet, a road journey can be practical for admission and family travel, but the time varies substantially with the starting point and London traffic. A journey that is straightforward from High Barnet can take longer from Hendon, Edgware or the south of the borough.

By train

Rail options also depend on where in Barnet the journey begins. New Barnet and Oakleigh Park have Great Northern services, but regular direct trains from those stations to Stevenage should not be assumed. One practical route is to connect through Finsbury Park, where frequent direct Great Northern and Thameslink services run to Stevenage.

The Finsbury Park to Stevenage leg can take around 19 minutes on the fastest direct services, but the full journey from Barnet includes the connection to Finsbury Park. Check the timetable for the day of travel rather than relying on a single borough-wide estimate.

The admissions team can help think through arrival arrangements, but train times, road conditions and stopping patterns should always be checked before setting out.

What the distance means for family involvement

Family involvement does not depend on travelling to Stevenage every week. Abbington House provides a structured weekly family group online, allowing partners, parents, siblings and adult children in Barnet to take part from home.

In-person contact may also form part of treatment where appropriate and agreed with the treatment team. Barnet’s position on the A1 corridor can make same-day travel practical for many families, but arrangements are planned around the resident’s needs rather than treated as ordinary visiting hours.

• Read about family support at Abbington House.

Talking through the next step

You do not need to decide between the Barnet community service and residential treatment before speaking to somebody.

You can explain what has been happening, what has already been tried, whether withdrawal or prescribed medication may be involved, whether mental-health difficulties are also part of the picture and what support is available at home.

The purpose of the first conversation with Abbington House is to decide whether the centre may be an appropriate option. Where the Barnet drug and alcohol service, a GP, hospital care or another specialist route appears more suitable, the team will say so and, where possible, explain where else to seek help.

• Call 01438 583222
• You can also request a confidential callback if you would prefer us to call you.
• Read more about assessment and admission, treatment costs or view our centre.

If community treatment sounds like the better starting point, contact Drug and Alcohol Service – Barnet on 0300 303 2866 or use its online referral form.

Return to the London drug and alcohol support guide.