​How to treat Addiction Successfully - The CapeRecovery Way

How to treat Addiction – What is the best way to treat addiction correctly?​

How to treat Addiction Correctly – What is the best way to treat addiction successfully? This is a question that has been asked over and over for a very long period of time by many well versed, educated and widely read individuals. My views are of course all my own but I have had experience of treating addiction and also of observing different ways that others have gone about it, both from a professional point of view, as a nurse and counsellor in the UK and as an addict and an alcoholic in recovery myself. I believe that the combination of these two types of unique experiences, provides me with a good understanding of how this thing works from the perspective of a reasonably educated and open-minded insider. The first thing I need to say is that no two people are exactly the same, we have our similarities of course, ones which are vital to our understanding of addiction but we need to judge each and every person with absolutely zero preconceptions. This throws any of these ‘one size fits all’ notions of addiction treatment aside to start with so that eliminates a lot of places that I am willing to work with. Until every treatment centre begins adopting a client focused and not a mass focused approach to addiction treatment, nothing will change, we will all be judged by exactly the same archaic standards, our progress monitored alongside what people have been told is a benchmark for recovery, when in reality there simply is no benchmark. I believe that this fresh approach to client centred treatment has to be adopted for every single person who is admitted, that’s what we do over here at CapeRecovery and it is certainly what all of our specially chosen rehabs and treatment centres do. Making broad assumptions and generalisations about any addict coming for treatment is nonsense and it can be life threatening, some of the people judged to be sailing easily through rehab go on to relapse the second they leave, sometimes the individual who is the most difficult in rehab goes on to achieve a long term and fully authentic recovery. I know lots of people in recovery who have remarkable stories to tell and no one backed them at the start, I also know people in recovery who have not changed a bit and although the plaudits say that they have done well and got many years of clean time, the evidence, their attitude and their total lack of compassion for anyone but themselves, tells me otherwise and it speaks volumes. This is the thing, we just don’t ever know, we need a blank canvas, a base starting point, one which we will never get unless the one ingredient that I can always work with is their, the willingness and their total desire to change, we can work with that in anyone. Below are my ideas for the top 5 things required for my own personal recipe of how to treat addiction successfully, and what I believe to be the best way to treat addiction correctly and in an effective way.
How to treat Addiction Correctly, Best way to treat addiction successfully
How to treat Addiction Correctly - Best way to treat addiction successfully

What is the best way to treat addiction correctly?

Remember, this is of course, only my opinion and based on nothing but having lived with a damaging and crippling addiction to alcohol and other drugs for 25 years and my work in the industry for many years. My main point here is that there is no quick fix and there is no one way or one wholly appropriate treatment. What I do believe though is that if we ensure we have these following five boxes ticked, then we are giving every single one of our clients the best possible chance of a full and a life long recovery from all addictions, process addictions, dual-diagnosis issues and eating disorders. So, just what are the key ingredients required for the most effective recovery and the best way to treat addiction successfully?
How to treat Addiction Correctly, Best way to treat addiction successfully
How to treat Addiction Correctly, Best way to treat addiction successfully

Here is the CapeRecovery 5 step approach:​

1.) Client Centred Care – People forget the simple fact that everyone is different. Some ‘firefighting’ is usually necessary at the start, by this I mean dealing with the most obvious threats and things first whilst keeping the person safe. Things such as immediate health risks,  getting away from a dangerous environment or simply getting the person substance free! Stabilise first, start with a fresh slate, do this by focusing on the individuals priorities and not anyone else’s. Then plan care around what the person needs and which route is best for them. This sounds like basic stuff but it is rarely done correctly.

2.) Desire – We really can do very little about addiction until a desire and a willingness to do what is told or suggested is present. We can always encourage it by interventions and opening the addicts eyes to the harms and damages they are causing to themselves and to others but until they decide it’s a good idea, it’s a non-starter.

3.) Correct Placement and Quality Professional Support – I believe this is a key component to a successful recovery. Again, it doesn't always happen and far too many people are placed in an inappropriate environment supported by staff lacking in knowledge of their specific needs, this is a waste of both time and of money and it leads to distrust and confusion in the industry as a whole when people inevitably fail. In knowingly offering inappropriate placement you are literally setting the addict up to fail. My tip is, don’t go where you are told to go if you are not 100% happy, there may be hidden reasons for the particular place being suggested, usually financial, seek impartial and professional advice. Unfortunately, CapeRecovery are the only one’s that adopt this attitude towards all client placement, this is a sad state of affairs but it is true.

4.) Reasonable time in a supported environment – Again this is a hugely key component for a successful recovery. I am always being asked why the promised 21 day or 1 months treatment ‘didn’t work’ and why the person re-lapsed almost immediately on discharge. I tell people that’s because it doesn’t work, there is no quick fix to this disease, many years and decades of damage are not simply undone in a month. People need to stop going into treatment without a full plan of lengthy support, we do full pre-assessments and plan the entire journey of recovery before it even begins. This doesn’t mean it has to be vastly expensive and even that they are forced to stay for months in an expensive rehab. It does mean however that a correct care plan must be made and quality supported and lengthy sober living is what I believe to be the way forward here. Stay for longer in a fully supported environment, 3, 6, 9 months or even a year at a fraction of the average rehab rates. So, this leads to point 5.

5.) Surrounding oneself with the right people – This, combined with time, is probably the most important thing, once the crisis stage of addiction treatment is over and the client is fully stable and in the swing of things. For a while, we simply must be surrounded by positive people who want the best for us, it's the only way and this may mean cutting some people out of your life, it will certainly mean not revisiting certain places and things that make you vulnerable. There is no reasonable or logical reason for testing yourself in early recovery, it makes no sense, maintaining authentic recovery is tough enough as it is!

The CapeRecovery Experience

We have now developed our specially designed, cost affective and individually tailored CapeRecovery Experiences to treat all addictions (drugs and alcohol), process addictions (Sex, Love, Gaming, Porn, Gambling, etc.), dual-diagnosis issues (including depression) and eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating, food addiction, etc.). The way that we work means that our clients always have a local contact around to assist with any questions from them or their family back home at every stage of the rehabilitation process from primary, secondary and tertiary rehab to continued care and supported sober living. We live amongst the busy and enthusiastic recovery community here in Cape Town and work with our partners to offer volunteering opportunities making this the most complete and personalised rehab and recovery experience found anywhere in the world!

Contact Us Today

That's it and the rest comes and over time. Hope returns, with hope comes confidence and with confidence a new life becomes possible. That’s the real and unique CapeRecovery way, we can’t say we have all the answers on how to treat addiction correctly but at least we have ideas on a way to treat addiction successfully, things that work for us and more importantly, for our clients, contact us today or check out
The CapeRecovery Experiences!​
How to treat Addiction Correctly, Best way to treat addiction successfully
How to treat Addiction Correctly, Best way to treat addiction successfully