Gauteng Addiction Treatment Centres

Houghton House Rehab in South Africa
Telephone: 011 787 9142
E-mail: info@houghtonhouse.co.za
Website: http://www.houghtonhouse.co.za/
Office Hours:08:30 17:00 Helpline 24/7
Notes / Special Features: Specialized professional treatment for Alcoholism, Alcohol and Drug Abuse/ Dependency and related disorders.
Houghton House | Interventions | Services | Treatment | About Us | Frequent Questions | Contact | Primary | Secondary | Tertiary| Outpatient | Johannesburg Rehab | Gauteng Rehab Program

Gauteng Addictions Program
Telephone: 011 787 9142
Website: http://www.thegaponline.co.za/
Office Hours:08:30 17:00 Helpline 24/7
Notes / Special Features: Specialized professional treatment for Alcoholism, Alcohol and Drug Abuse/ Dependency and related disorders.
Addiction Help | Program Costs | Our Facilities | News | Contact us

First Step Rehab Program
Telephone: 011 787 9142
Website: http://www.firststeprehab.co.za/
Office Hours:08:30 17:00 Helpline 24/7
Notes / Special Features: Specialized professional treatment for Alcoholism, Alcohol and Drug Abuse/ Dependency and related disorders.
About Addiction | Ask Yourself | First Step Rehab | Get Help Now | Rehab Info

Dan Wolf Psychologist and Addictions Counsellor
Telephone: 011 787 9142
Website: http://danwolf.co.za/
Office Hours:08:30 17:00 Helpline 24/7
Notes / Special Features: Specialized professional treatment for Alcoholism, Alcohol and Drug Abuse/ Dependency and related disorders. Choosing a rehabilitation centres in South Africa can be a daunting task. Dan has had many years in counselling and recovery advice.

Alex Hamlyn Addictions Counsellor
Telephone: 011 787 9142
Website: http://alexhamlyn.co.za/
Office Hours:08:30 17:00 Helpline 24/7
Notes / Special Features: Specialized professional treatment for Alcoholism, Alcohol and Drug Abuse/ Dependency and related disorders.

Horizon Alcohol and Drug Centre

Telephone: (011) 917 5105-8
E-mail: sandrka@horizonclinic.co.za
Website: www.horizonclinic.co.za
Notes / Special Features: Horizon is the only registered centre in Gauteng and neighbouring provinces that offers a specialised in-patient treatment programme for teenage boys AND girls. For adults with addiction problems, we offer a 28 day in-patient programme for drug and medication addiction and 21 days for alcohol addiction. We also offer out-patient treatment for drug and alcohol addiction for both teenagers and adults.

• SANCA Greater Heidelber: Telephone: 016 349 2892
• SANCA Central Ran: Telephone: 011 836 2460
• SANCA Eastern Gauten: Telephone: 011 892 – 0875/6/7/8
• SANCA Greater Carletonvill: Telephone: 018 786 – 1833
• SANCA Johannesbur: Telephone: 0861173422 – 011 673 0400/0416
• SANCA Nishtar : Telephone: 011 854 5988/9
• SANCA Soweto: Telephone: 011 984 4017/2326/4290
• SANCA Vaal Trangle: Telephone: 016 933 2055/52

KwaZulu Natal

Riverview Manor
Telephone: +27 33 701 1911
After Hours No: 082 922 5911
E-mail:reception@riverviewmanor.co.za
Website: http://www.riverviewmanor.co.za/

Notes / Special Features: Riverview Hospital is situated 190km west of Durban in the Drakensberg Mountain Range. It is an ideal healing environment among 200 hectares of private estate with inspiring views of the surrounding mountains.

Limpopo

Mpumalanga

Northern Cape

North-West

Western Cape

Pines Clinic
Telephone: 023 342 3113
Website: info@pinesclinic.co.za
Notes / Special Features: A private psychiatric clinic, part of the Life Path Health Group. Inpatient treatment for all psychiatric conditions.

Sereno Clinic
Telephone: 021 872 9760
E-mail: info@serenoclinic.co.za
Website: www.lifepathgroup.co.za
Notes / Special Features: A private psychiatric clinic, part of the Life Path Health Group. Inpatient treatment for all psychiatric conditions.

Claro Clinic
Telephone: 021 595 8500
E-mail:info@claroclinic.co.za
Website:http://www.lifepathgroup.co.za
Notes / Special Features: A private psychiatric clinic, part of the Life Path Health Group. Inpatient treatment for all psychiatric conditions.

Tijger Clinic
Telephone: 021 913 7142
E-mail:info@tijgerclinic.co.za
Notes / Special Features: A private psychiatric clinic, part of the Life Path Health Group. Inpatient treatment for all psychiatric conditions.

Oasis Centre

Telephone: +27 (0) 44 533 1752
E-mail: info@oasiscentre.co.za
Website: www.oasiscentre.co.za
Notes / Special Features: Private, specialized, in-patient addictions treatment centre
* 12 Step, 12 week intensive therapy to treat: drug, alcohol and sex addiction, eating disorders, self harm, dual diagnoses

Minnesota House

Telephone: 044 870 85 85
After Hours No: 082 69 69 669
E-mail:info@minnesotahouse.co.za
Website: www.minnesotahouse.co.za
Notes / Special Features: Treatment is based on the minnesota model 12 step programme the max capacity of 20 patients. Minnesota specialise in long term treatment and skills development

Highland House
Telephone : 044 533 6079/6499
After Hours :082491 5761
E-mail:admin@my-rehab.co.za
Website: http://www.my-rehab.co.uk
Notes / Special Features: At Highland House we are committed to providing our patients with an individualised Sustainable Wellness Strategy? to help ensure their long term success. Our treatment programmes are based on the “12 Step” approach, derived from the Minnisota Model of addiction treatment. Variety of programme options between 4 – 12 weeks with extended care facilities if required. All programmes include individual counseling sessions, group therapy, lectures, videos, audios, workshops, exercise, massage and attendance at local NA and AA meetings. Highland House is a mixed gender clinic for over 18′s with wheel chair access. A qualified multi-disciplinary clinical team comprising of a psychiatrist, psychologist, doctor, 24 hour nursing and accredited addiction counselors.

Kenilworth Clinic

Telephone: 021 763 4500
After Hours No:021 763 4500
E-mail:info@kenilworthclinic.co.za
Website:www.kenilworthclinic.co.za
Notes / Special Features: Private, specialised Adolescent Treatment Centre providing for the unique therapeutic needs of teenagers and young people in crisis. Therapeutic treatment and skills development for emotional, behavioural and substance misuse/abuse issues.

All South Africa

Addictions Treatment Directory
Telephone: 011 787 9142
Website: http://alter.za.net/
Office Hours:08:30 17:00 Helpline 24/7
Notes / Special Features: Specialized professional treatment for alcoholism, Alcohol and Drug Abuse/ Dependency and related disorders.

Al-Anon South Africa | Drug Rehabs South Africa | Naranon South Africa | Alcohol Rehabs South Africa | Drug Addiction | Substance Abuse

Researchers revealed how the highly-addictive drug brings on changes in the brain through a process which influences the expression of genes without changing the brain’s gene sequence.

These changes in the brain’s pleasure circuits, which are also the first to be influenced by chronic cocaine exposure, appear to promote cravings for cocaine, said the study published in Science.

“This fundamental discovery advances our understanding of how cocaine addiction works,” said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse.

“Although more research will be required, these findings have identified a key new player in the molecular cascade triggered by repeated cocaine exposure, and thus a potential novel target for the development of addiction medications.”

The research was carried out on mice. One group was given repeated doses of cocaine, the second was given a saline solution with a final dose of the drug to study what differences there were between repeated cocaine exposure and a one-time dose.

Those mice repeatedly given cocaine displayed dramatic alterations in their gene expression as well as a strong preference for the drug.

The study confirmed cocaine appears to block an enzyme that plays a critical role in the so-called “epigenetic” control of gene expression.

The study authors also showed that by reversing the repression of the enzyme, known as G9a, they could inhibit cravings for cocaine.

“The more complete picture that we have today of the genetic and epigenetic processes triggered by chronic cocaine give us a better understanding of the broader principles governing biochemical regulation in the brain,” said Eric Nestler, director of the Brain Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

That could “help us identify not only additional pathways involved but potentially new therapeutic approaches,” he added. – AFP

South Africa boasts some of the best rehabilitation centres for alcohol and drug addicions in the world. Many of these centres maintain full time nurses, doctors, psycologists and host a contingent of treatment facilities which includes gyms, saunas and services that one would typically only find in hotel accommodation.

As an international destination these rehab treatment centres in South Africa have become popular with patients from euorpean and american countries where the weaker rand dollar exchange permits a far better value for money service than is attainable in their home countries.

The Gauteng Addiction Program

Houghton House we do not believe addiction is determined purely by a person’s willpower or strength of character. Intensive and on going treatment is often the vital ingredient needed to beat alcohol and drug addiction.

Houghton House

Because not all individuals are able to attend a residential treatment programme, which require them to check in and stay on site for the full duration of their treatment, the Houghton House Group outpatient programmes caterers for both primary and secondary care. This gives patients the opportunity to get help without staying overnight at the addiction clinics.

Sommerville Place

Tertiary care is intended for individuals who have completed a residential treatment programs and are willing to commit to long-term, structured living. Recovery from addiction and alcoholism is a life-long process which requires ongoing commitment. Once a recovering addict / alcoholic moves out of a structured environment, the chances of a relapse increase.

The First Step

Because addiction affects all areas of a person’s life, recovering addicts and alcoholics need to establish and maintain a completely new lifestyle once the detoxification phase of their recovery (or primary care) has been seen through.

To understand, we look at the example of Pavlov’s dog. Pavlov was a researcher who looked at animal behavior,to understand better the behaviour of people.

The dog began to salivate when he got a bowl of food. The body of the dog was preparing in that way for the processing of food. Pavlov heard a bell sound whenever the dog food was ready. After a while the dog was so far that he began to salivate when he heard the bell alone. The body was ready for the food to be processed, while in fact only a bell was heard.

In humans, this works the same.
The body prepares itself for the arrival of alcohol in response to certain stimuli. The feeling that is created is called migration.
These incentives may be very diverse: the smell of alcohol in a particular place or situation, or it could also be linked to a certain feeling. What about you? What are your stimuli? Is it when you smell cigarette smoke? Is it maybe when you feel sad?
Recognizing and dealing with migration is an important part of learning to stop or reduce drinking. The the addiction treatment site for more info on how to stop drinking alcohol.

• Completely stop drinking
• Drinking less
• Prevention from you falling back into excessive drinking
• A period and then stop drinking or moderate drinking
• First try to drink less, but when it fails, completely stop drinking

Whatever you choose, it’s completely up to you. It’s important to support your choice 100%: it increases the chances of success.

If in doubt then you can still just phone a treatment centre near you for some sound advice (you can keep it anonymous). You do not instantly have to change. You only have to make a choice when you fully understand the implications and are ready to commit yourself 100% to the prescribed treatment.

There is no ready answer to the question of which is easier: to stop drinking or cut down. Sometimes it is easier for a period – for example three months, not to drink. That becomes ingrained habit that you get used to.

It is not easy to say what will work for an individual, cause everyone is different. But when there is a direct medical danger when you drink alcohol, then the choice is clear: stop.
Good reasons to moderate your drinking:

If you want to drink less, the list below will help you. It is good to use as a checklist.

1. You do not want to stop drinking completely and you will see yourself in a position where in the future you can be a moderate drinker.
2. You want a safe and responsible way to learn drink.
3. You want to learn to drink in a way that is not harmful to you.
4. Your loved ones are confident that you can drink moderately (they know you better than you think).
5. If moderate drinking does not appear to happen, you would you stop drinking completely.
6. You have a physical condition where moderate drinking is also medically justified (no medical benefit).
7. You want to remain a moderate drinking because you are nice to your friends will join in and drink because you like the way it tastes.
8. Your friends are moderate drinkers.
9. You haven’t been drinking excessively for a long period of time.

Moderate drinking is often more difficult than stopping completely, and sometimes it’s not. You must decide which works best for you.

In short: just try it and see if it works!

Several studies have shown that the probability of successful moderate drinking is greater when:

• You are under 40 years old
• There is no history of alcoholism in your family
• You do not suffer withdrawal symptoms and previously never have
• You are female
• You have had a drinking problem for less than 10 years
• You don’t have any major problems in other areas of your life, such as in your work, financially, your family, your love life, with housing

The more of the above points apply to you, the greater the chance of success.

If you find it hard, please phone a treatment centre near you. They are alway there to help and can give you sound advice.

To changeit  is important that you know your drinking habits in and out. You should know what your personal risks and pitfalls are.

This is your first trials: when do you run the most risk to go dinking excessively?

• What are my risky situations? In those situations, do I often feel like drinking?

• What are my risky thoughts? What often convinces myself to drink or to drink more than I had planned?

• What are my risky feelings? Whatever mood I’m looking forward to when drinking and which feelings I sometimes ‘drink away’?

• What is my risky behaviour? What do I do that helps me drink more often?

If you know what your  risks and pitfalls are, you can learn to break these habits. You learn to predict when you will be looking forward to drinking and what you can do in that case.
To stop (excessive) drinking is wise for you to want fix ingrained patterns around your habit so you can change.
In the second part of this self help section, we’ll  teach you step by step how to start changing your bad alcohol habits.

An example:
You are used to drinking when you are in a despondent mood. If you have a drink, you feel less gloomy. Drinking when you have this unpleasant feeling to reduce bad feelings is an ingrained habit. When you get in this gloomy mood, you fancy a drink. This you yourself, albeit unintentionally, taught. You will learn and recognize these habits – instead of a drink – you need to deal with this feeling head-on. Ask yourself this: What is causing this feeling? When you deal with the real casuse for your unpleasant feelings of depression, you’ll be able to deal with the root of the problem. Dinking is just a mask for something much deeper.

Another example:
You come home from work, hang your coat up, walk to the refrigerator and grab a beer. It goes like this every day. This is something, albeit unconsciously, you taught yourself. It became an automatic response. If coming home after work is your risky situation, you need to become aware of it and break that nasty habit. Stay away from the fridge after work. Instead, go to your family, your kids, or even get on your phone if you live alone and see where you can be of service to others. This will break you habit and bring more joy and happiness into your life.

When self-help tools don’t work, please seek professional help. Life’s too short for you to waste it with your bad drinking habits.

Addiction

A addiction is a common and subtle phenomenon. The line between addiction and judicious use is therefore very difficult to determine. Are you addicted generally or only every other day. There is a process that follows pre-addiction. A commonly used scheme distinguishes the following phases of drug use:

• Meet: you discover the existence of drugs but don’t use it immediately
• Experiment: you are curious about drugs and decided to try it yourself
• Social use: when on a special occasion, such a party, you use drugs
• Habitual use: drug use, becomes a habit where you will use on several occasions and not just on special occasions
• Problematic use: your day is increasingly dominated by alcohol and drugs
• Addiction: your life is completely controlled by the drug

Addiction help

You may at some point discover that your life depends too much on drug use. If you need addiction help there are several possibilities to choose from.

Outpatient or residential addiction treatment addiction

Addiction help often differs primarily in the form of aid. By entering, you don’t have to be admitted, but you have to show up to certain location at certain times. In residential addiction you’re usually admitted to a special detoxification clinic where you will be staying for the duration of you physical withdrawal. The form of treatment will generally depend on the severity of your addiction.

Detox (detoxification)

Drugs are poisons that actually intoxicate your body. It is therefore more difficult to stop, because your body (which is taking the punishment) is screaming for you to continue the drug use. When you stop the drugs your body needs time to get rid of the toxins. This is known as detoxification or detox.

Therapy

Some institutions have special forms of therapy but in most clinics they use cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational counseling. In motivational counseling, the advantages and disadvantages of substance abuse are discussed. This part jumps to awareness. Once you have decided that there really is a problem, it is often passed on with cognitive behavioral therapy. This gives you a broader understanding of the disease and that you  need to change the central problem causing the disease. Through training, your lifestyle is charted, so you can find out why you actually used and in which situations.

Tools for rehabilitation

Your body and mind are used to the daily dose of drugs and require the continued intake of these drugs. This may involve various physical and mental symptoms such as tremors, sweating, palpitations, confusion and more. You can help yourself through these withdrawal symptoms and get it somewhat under control using various devices.

Relaxation

Body and mind are interconnected and exert influence on each other. When your mind is relaxed it’ll relax your body is also make it easier (and vice versa). Through breathing exercises, meditation and other relaxation techniques you’ll be able to bring peace over your body and mind so that the withdrawal symptoms are easier.

How does Antabuse work?

In a normal situation where alcohol (specifically where ethanol is the substance) is used, it is degraded to acetaldehyde by the body (also known as ethanal). This substance is toxic and causes the well-known hangover effects such as headache and nausea. After the conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde the termination process follows. It creates acid which is harmless. The drug Antabuse distorts termination process in the second step, thus reducing the acetic acid formed from acetaldehyde. The concentrations of acetaldehyde is therefore run up to sometimes 10 times higher levels than in normal situations.

The effect of alcohol abusers who use Antabuse is much fiercer than those not taking Antabuse. The consequences may include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Sweating
• Thirst
• Hypertension
• Trouble breathing
• Hyperventilation
• Headache

And with overuse include:

• Depression
• Unconsciousness
• Death

Because these effects are at least undesirable, and usually very annoying Antabuse works as a sort of ‘punishment’ for alcoholics when they drink alcohol.

This teaching method has its basis in psychology. The idea is that certain people unlearn bad behaviour and good behaviour by learning to get punishment for evil, and rewards for good behavior. Penalties enable us to exhibit certain behavior less than others. Antabuse works as a kind of punishment for alcohol abusers because of their bad drinking habits.

Antabuse doesn’t take away the need for alcohol. It simply makes it an extremely unpleasant experience.

Use

Only people who want to stop alcohol abuse and are aware of the dangers of drinking while taking Antabuse should use it. It is very dangerous to give to someone without their knowledge, because the effects of Antabuse with alcohol can be very serious. It may even lead to death.

Does it work?

Antabuse is in pill form and must be taken daily. To work properly, users must therefore take it every single day. When used consistently and by someone really trying to quit, it can be a good way to start a non-drinking habit.

Antabuse

Antabuse is a drug with the active ingredient, Disulfiram. Disulfiram supports the treatment of chronic alcoholism by making the body sensitive to acute alcohol. Disulfiram is sometimes used to wean addicts off cocaine because it prevents the breakdown of dopamine and therefore makes anxious feelings worse, the blood pressure increases and restless feelings set in.

Under normal circumstances, alcohol is metabolised in the liver by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase into acetaldehyde. Then again it is degraded to a harmless acid. Disulfiram prevents this reaction of alcohol degradation by blocking the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. When drinking alcohol while taking Disulfiram it increases the concentration of acetaldehyde in the blood from 5 to 10. Acetaldehyde is one of the leading causes of a hangover. This induced a hangover which begins 5 to 10 minutes after the alcohol intake and may persist for several hours.

Disulfiram does not cause withdrawal symptoms. The longer it is used, the stronger the effect. It takes about 2 weeks before Disulfiram is completely degraded by the body.

Campral

Campral is the brand name of a medicine containing the active substance acamprosate. Acamprosate stabilizes the chemical balance in the brain which is otherwise jumbled by alcohol.

Acamprosate blocks the glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) and activates the GABA (gamma-aminobutyic acid) type A receptors. Chronic alcohol consumption leads to hyperactivity of the NMDAR’s. When you suddenly stop consuming alcohol, it’ll intensify the NMDAR’s operation and can lead to a delirium tremens or a sudden neural death. Campral prevents excessive NMDAR’s action.

Research has proved that Campral only works when it is combined with support groups and a full range of alcohol.

Serious side-effects such as allergic reactions, cardiac arrhythmias, changes in blood pressure, headache, insomnia and impotence can occur. If you suffer from kidney problems or allergies to any of the ingredients, you should not use Campral.

Revia

Revia is a drug with active Naltrexone as the ingredient. Naltrexone is an opiate-like receptor antagonist that is primarily used in the treatment of alcoholic dependency and opium dependency.

Alcohol stimulates the release of dopamine in the brain. When you stop consuming alcohol it will cause a rise of disturbance in the brain, because they create less dopamine because they receive no incentive. This may be the cause of desire for alcohol. Revia is will prevent the need of alcohol. This medication works only after two weeks after ingestion because blood levels of the substance have build up.

Addiction is a disease affecting the lives of all involved in its grip. Addiction is also the only disease that makes you deny the disease, which is why is it so difficult, once you’re addicted, to recognize this disease and seek help.

You’re not just get here by coincidence, you’ve probably searched for words focusing around addiction rehab centres, addiction help or even drug rehab. Or maybe you know someone who is addicted and you heard about this website from a colleague. Chances are that you have tried to quit by yourself, but you discovered that you need help. Perhaps you have already sought help from friends and family, but now you want to try another way. It is the first step: admit that you have a problem, that you are addicted, the next step is to work on this problem. This is a brave decision because it’s not an easy road, but one way that’ll ensure a better life for you and your loved ones.

If you make the choice that you want to work on your addiction, then a rehab centre can provide the necessary support and guidance. The first step is to phone a rehab centre near you. You’ll talk to a professional about your addiction and about your goals. After that, they’ll provide you with an action plan that’ll suite your lifestyle and your individual needs.

The most important step, is the first one. Admitting you have a problem and making that phone call. Once you’ve done that, you’ll see how everything will fall into place. It’ll be the first day of the rest of your life.