Dual diagnosis treatment at Renewed Life Center, in Lakeside, Cape Town, addresses addiction alongside mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, trauma or ADHD. You do not need a diagnosis before you write to us.

Admission does not automatically mean stopping prescribed medication for depression or ADHD: our doctor reviews it with you. The first conversation is free and confidential.

Dual Diagnosis Treatment in Cape Town

Tell us what you are dealing with

When drinking or using is covering something else

People rarely say “co-occurring disorders”. They say they drink to switch their head off. These are the patterns worth taking seriously:

Sleep only comes with it
A drink or a tablet has become the only way to get through the night.
Calm only comes with it
Panic, worry or a racing heart settle only after alcohol, pills or a joint.
The past keeps coming back
Something that happened years ago returns whenever you stop.
Worse after cutting down
Each attempt to stop brings the low mood or the anxiety back harder.
A diagnosis, or a doubt
You have been told you have depression, anxiety, PTSD or ADHD, or you suspect it.

Why the addiction and the mental health need treating together

Alcohol and drugs often start as relief: they quiet the worry, lift the mood for an evening, keep memories away. Over time the relief shrinks and the problem underneath grows, and both the substance use and the mental health difficulties need attention. In the US, 35% of adults with a mental illness also had a substance use disorder, NIDA reports.

For alcohol, NICE guidance advises assessing any depression or anxiety that continues three to four weeks after stopping drinking: what remains then may need treatment of its own.

How we treat both at Renewed Life Center

An assessment before you come
A 45- to 90-minute conversation with our counsellors about what you use, your mood, sleep, anxiety, any past trauma and any diagnosis you already have.
One team, one plan
Addiction and any anxiety, low mood or trauma are treated in one coordinated plan. Your own counsellor keeps the whole plan in view, and the clinical team discusses each client’s case together.
Arrival and medication
Our GP, Dr John Wulz, whose background is in mental health and emergency medicine, examines you after you arrive and reviews the medication you take. If your body needs help through withdrawal first, our medical team runs a medical detox lasting three days to two weeks.
Therapy for both, every week
Your own counsellor works with you one-to-one every week, 45 minutes at a time. Group work every weekday covers DBT for overwhelming feelings, schema therapy for old patterns, psychoeducation and relapse prevention. Cognitive behavioural therapy is part of the work, and in the second month an Internal Family Systems group is added. Trauma work uses EMDR, which NICE recommends for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder who seek help more than three months after the trauma. TRE, art therapy and yoga are part of the week as well.

Ruby Weber, the psychologist who leads the psychological side of our dual diagnosis work, has more than two decades in addiction treatment and a particular interest in how trauma can feed addiction. Anxiety and panic, depression, trauma and PTSD, ADHD, bipolar disorder, burnout and sleep problems are all part of what this team treats alongside alcohol, drugs and pills. For anxiety and low mood in particular, see anxiety and depression support.

For trauma and ADHD, the link with addiction is well documented. The ACE study of 9,508 adults found associations between childhood adversity and later alcohol and drug problems. A published review of the evidence found that ADHD roughly doubles the risk of a substance use disorder.

Ask whether this fits you

Support for the family

Living with someone whose drinking and moods change from day to day is exhausting, and relatives often feel they are imagining it. You can talk to us even while the person is still refusing help, and during the stay the counsellor keeps the family informed with the client’s agreement.

Families can join a support group by video every week. In family sessions planned by the counsellor, you and your relative can talk about the hard days at home with someone who knows both the drinking and the moods. You can also start to change how you speak to each other.

Going home with a plan

Before you leave, the relapse-prevention work becomes a written plan built for your own home. If your counsellor recommends it, an outpatient programme can provide further support. Coming home is a change for the family as well: they may still expect the person who left. Relatives can have sessions of their own to make sense of it.

Staying safe while you decide

If you drink every day or take sleeping tablets or benzodiazepines, do not stop suddenly on your own. Tell us what you take and how much, and the first call goes through how treatment would start. Our medical team decides after the assessment whether you need a medical detox.

How to start

The fee depends on the programme and how long you stay; we give it on the first call and send it in writing the same day.

Write to us about what is going on, in your own words; you get a reply the same day. We talk for 20 to 40 minutes first, free and in confidence, over WhatsApp, video or phone. After the assessment you can be admitted straight away; usually admission falls within three days of the first contact.

Begin with a conversation

Questions about dual diagnosis treatment

Do I need a diagnosis before I come?

No. Many people arrive with a suspicion rather than a diagnosis. The assessment looks at your mood, anxiety, sleep and history alongside the drinking or drug use.

Will I have to stop my medication?

Not because you are coming to us. Medication for depression or ADHD can carry on: the doctor goes through it with you after you arrive.

How long does treatment take?

Your counsellor plans the length with you. Most clients stay into a second month, after a first month of getting steady, and that month goes deeper into what sits under the drinking or using.

What if my partner will not come?

Talk to us anyway. A relative can speak to our team before the person agrees, and getting support for yourself is a good place to start.