Harmony Addictions Clinic Testimonials

Testimonials

Anna

I came to Harmony after a failed suicide attempt, which was the rock bottom to a long history of depression and eating disorders. I arrived a wreck, scared and in desperate need of safety and containment. I had completed a primary treatment in the U.K. and felt I now needed extended treatment where I dealt with real life at the same time as undergoing treatment. From the moment I arrived at Harmony I felt safe and like I was in the right place. I stayed for a total of four months which is what I needed as my eating disorder is deeply ingrained and not an easy addiction to fight. At Harmony your peers are everything to you, they are your mirrors. It is through relating to them that I was able to see my destructive behaviour patterns and realize that food disorder is just a symptom of unmanageable feelings and relationships.

There are firm boundaries at Harmony, which keeps the environment safe and ensures that the people you are in treatment with keep challenging you and breaking your disease down so that the real you can emerge.

At Harmony, I was able to look at what was underlying my eating disorder. I saw the most amazing psychiatrist who I will be eternally grateful to. After years of misdiagnosed depression and medication in the UK, she listened to the patterns of my highs and lows. I was diagnosed cyclothymic and monitored closely until the right mix of medication was prescribed. It is the first time since I was eight years old that I am now living without being in the grip of a mood disorder. This combined with excellent psychotherapy I believe led me to be unafraid of life. It took me some time, but I grew to trust my therapist and through that relationship to begin to trust others and most importantly myself.

I will not lie - it was not easy. However, I went in there unable to work, without any sense of purpose for my life, struggling to complete my doctorate. Whilst I was there, I realized that academia is not for me. I found out who the real me is. Four months after leaving, I have changed my career to yoga teaching and I am now a qualified yoga teacher looking forward to helping others with eating disorders to have a new experience of their bodies through yoga, which has changed my life. My dreams are coming true and I know now I am meant to be on this planet. Life is a gift. I have restored relationships with my family. I had been out of touch with my mother for two years prior to my treatment, but in Harmony I learned acceptance and forgiveness and we are now engaging in a relationship on more positive terms than ever. I battled with investing in this treatment, but the truth is that without it I would still be existing in a very dark space. I realized that I needed help to get my life back as I had tried to recover on my own for years and failed miserably. It is a priceless thing to wake up in the morning and look forward to what the day will bring. Thank you Harmony!

Rob

Rob spent three months at Harmony overall. The time I spent there has played a pivotal part in my recovery and although I left the UK slightly apprehensive and a bit resistant to the idea of three months of treatment, it has turned out to be probably one of the most positive experiences and certainly one of the most beneficial of my life.

It took me a little while to settle in and adjust, I hadn't really asked too many questions about the programme before arriving and hadn't realized it would be so extensive. But I was made to feel very at home by the other clients and especially by the staff. There is a very tight support team there who work very closely with one another in order to keep informed of each clients individual problems and progress and it works very well. I felt very early on that I was being monitored and assessed which for me gave a feeling of containment within the whole community. The clients are also heavily encouraged to confront behaviour and help with each other's recovery process and this helps to build a very strong sense of community, working with and for each other, which remained present throughout my stay, regardless of who came and went.

I found the programme offered a lot of diversity and I was quite relieved to be kept so busy. The days are well structured, each one very different from the rest. The programme offers art therapy, mini groups, presentations, psychoanalysis groups, meditations, daily check-in sessions, gender groups and there is daily feelings group at the end of each day. It is quite rigorous but I found the structure it offered hugely beneficial. I also saw my counsellor once a week for a one to one session although he was constantly on hand if I required extra sessions or help.

There is a huge emphasis on step work at Harmony. Again this has had hugely beneficial results in terms of my own Recovery, I feel I have an achieved a very good understanding of the steps and the discipline required to continue working them constantly in the future. This largely exemplifies Harmony's approach to treatment.

The meetings in the area are also very good and easily accessible and I found the fellowship here has a very positive feel to it. Cape Town is beautiful and the house is in a very central area to explore it, and most weekends the community spends time together doing just that.

I could go on and just hope this has been of some help to you. I would highly recommend Harmony to any clients requiring Treatment. I am hugely grateful to the place and what it has offered me and hope others can take the same befits from it that I have.