Stopping for a few days is different from finding a way to stay well when cravings, stress or familiar company return. At Renewed Life Center in Lakeside, Cape Town, drug treatment combines medical help when needed with individual counselling, weekday therapy groups and preparation for life at home.
We treat addiction involving tik, cocaine, heroin and other opioids, mandrax, cannabis and prescription pills. You or a relative can start with a free, confidential conversation, even before the person has agreed to treatment.
Talk to us about drug treatment
When is it time for drug rehab?
Nobody has to use the word “addict” to get help. These are the things people describe, about themselves or someone they love:
If several of these fit, it is worth talking to people who treat drug addiction every day, and you can write on someone else’s behalf.
If you are not sure whether you need to stay in, tell us what is happening. The assessment helps decide between residential treatment and our outpatient programme, where you live at home and come in on weekdays.
What happens in the first days?
Tell us what you use, how often, what you take alongside it and what happened when you last tried to stop. A counselling assessment before admission helps our medical team decide whether you need a medical detox. Our GP, Dr John Wulz, examines you after you arrive and reviews your medication.
If someone has a seizure, becomes confused, has difficulty breathing or cannot be woken, get emergency medical help immediately. Do not wait for our reply.
Discuss the first step with our team
What changes during treatment?
The next step is understanding what keeps using part of your life: cravings, habits, people around you, or a way of coping with anxiety, low mood or trauma. These problems can reinforce one another. Our dual diagnosis treatment brings the addiction and mental health work together.
Where you stay and how the days run
The house is in Lakeside, with the mountain ridge right behind it and the beach a few minutes’ drive away. You share a room with one other person at most, men and women stay in separate rooms, and private rooms are available. Every weekday is a full day of therapy, and on Saturdays the group goes out together, on a hike, to a pottery studio or for a meal. Clients are tested for drugs and alcohol during the stay, which helps keep the house free of them. Your phone and laptop stay with you, and if some work has to carry on, you agree how much with your counsellor.
How long it takes, and the step back home
You plan the length with your counsellor, and most clients stay into a second month. The first month is about getting steady and seeing how the using works in your life; the second goes deeper into feelings, relationships and who you are without drugs.
While you are here, the old friends and the same streets are out of the way, and the weeks go into working out how you will handle them. Back home they are close again, so every discharge includes a written relapse-prevention plan built for your home, for the evenings, people and places that used to lead back to using.
If you want more time before that, sober living on our property can follow, with work or study by day and a counsellor once a week, and an outpatient programme is there after you leave if your counsellor recommends it.
What families can do
A parent or partner can talk to our team before the person has agreed to come. During the stay, news reaches the family through the counsellor, as far as the client agrees, and visits are possible from the first week, children included.
Families can join a support group by video every week. In family sessions planned by the counsellor, you can talk about the missing money and the stories that did not add up with a counsellor in the room. The family can also agree boundaries it is able to keep. Relatives can also have sessions of their own, because after months of worry the people at home need support as well.
How to start
Write to us with what is being used, how often and for how long, and anything taken alongside. We reply the same day. Talk to us for 20 to 40 minutes by WhatsApp, video or phone, free and in confidence. On that call you hear the fee for the programme and room that suit you, and get it in writing the same day.
An assessment conversation of 45 to 90 minutes with our team follows; after it, our medical team decides whether a detox is needed. Admission typically happens within three days of first contact, on a date agreed with you. If the person is still using, discuss the journey with our team before booking. We can arrange collection at Cape Town airport.
Questions about drug rehab in Cape Town
How long is drug rehab?
The first month is for getting steady, and most clients stay beyond it into a second month of deeper work. You and your counsellor plan the length together. A further stage, such as sober living or outpatient support, can follow.
Can I stop using on my own before I come?
It depends on the drug. With alcohol, mandrax, benzodiazepines, sleeping tablets, codeine or other opioids taken every day or most days, or with GHB, do not stop suddenly: tell us first. Once you have been assessed, the medical team makes the call on detox.
How much does drug rehab cost?
It depends on the programme and the length of the stay. The fee covers your room, all meals from our head chef, individual and group therapy, EMDR, family therapy and, for international clients, airport transfers. You hear the figure on a free first call, and it comes in writing that day. Ask what the quote includes for any medical care you need.
What if my son or daughter refuses to go?
Write to us anyway. A parent can talk to our team before the person agrees, and we will talk you through the options for a first step.
Can someone come from abroad?
Yes. We meet you at Cape Town airport and help with the visa documents; the 90 visa-free days for UK and US passport holders are for tourist visits, so check which visa a treatment stay needs before you book.