Rise Recovery offers a unique and balanced approach to addiction treatment. Understanding the needs of adolescents and their specific interests, we have designed a program to offer a unique recovery experience. Our facility has partnered with role players in the agri-tourism industry and our patients will be treated via a multidisciplinary approach which includes group therapy, individual therapy and balanced lifestyle activities to reinstitute balance and offer healthy, integrated activities to break the cycle of addictive behaviours.
We firmly believe that routine, structure, exposure to new and unfamiliar activities and becoming involved in projects, assist to propel recovery and offer building blocks to change lifestyle choices and patterns. The adolescents will be involved in a myriad of activities that will include amongst others apiculture and production of honey, strawberry farming and an eco-project to eradicate invasive species and help with ecosystem balancing.
There will be time for relaxation, swimming in the beautiful ocean and having fun on the stunning, sandy, beaches. Having so many options and attractions in the vicinity, sandboarding may also be in the cards!
Rise Rehabilitation Centre offers a comprehensive, holistic program focused on not only addressing addictive behaviour but also helping form a strong sense of self, which will empower teenagers leaving the program to know who they are, what they stand for and how to navigate life challenges in a healthy way.
We make use of an adapted version of the standardized Matrix program to address addictive behavior. In addition, we use experiential groups to facilitate self-exploration and value clarification as well as to provide opportunity to practice life skills such as setting healthy boundaries in a realistic manner. We also offer media-based groups where we address cognitive skills and emotional regulation skills in a practical form. Given our unique setting in the heart of Jeffreys Bay, the program involves farm/ nature reserve-based activities, activities at a local community primary school and activities in the retirement village, which allows practical application of therapeutic groups in everyday life situations as well as the opportunity to reflect on their behavioral responses when placed in new, unknown environments. These experiences are then again discussed in group settings and linked to various life skills such as challenging thoughts, regulating emotions, and communicating boundaries.
Our program is designed to work in symbioses. Thus, nothing stands on its own and the program has a natural progression to it. For example, in the first week as we focus on triggers and the root of the behavioral patterns our nature activities are deforestation, at our community school and retirement village sanding of a wall/ breaking down certain structures – the focus thereby is ‘breaking down’, ‘uprooting’ and ‘unmasking’ the negativity. From there as we start to lay the new foundation and rebuild our nature activities (such as planting of indigenous trees) and community school activities (such as repainting) also start following that theme. Then in our final week we start reaching out and showing our teens that they too have a lot to offer others. They start mentoring children at the community school and reaching out to the elderly in the retirement village. In their media sessions they start making products for the family. The whole program moves them through the process of breaking down, laying foundation, and starting the new building work.
There is room for homework in our program to allow teenagers to stay up to date with the most important scholastic tasks to decrease anxiety upon discharge. The teenagers also work on a community service project throughout their stay. We provide them with a budget and list of resources, but they are responsible for all the arrangements for their community event. On their last Saturday, they complete the project, and their families will join for the event.
These are just some of the unique features of our program. We can truly say our program is like no other and we feel passionate about the gains teenagers will make when committing to the program and fully engaging in its entirety. The Rise Rehabilitation program is not about finding a quick fix it is about making a long-term investment to help develop healthy, productive and thriving future adults.
Research indicated over five years ago that Facebook, Twitter and other social media can be more addictive than tobacco and alcohol because, among other things, access to them is simple and free. They indicated that the developer of the iPad, iPod and iPhone himself, Steve Jobs, restricted usage time of his own children! Many experts assert that the use of social media – and that includes instant messaging services – underpin serious addictions and translate into associated consequences inclusive of: irritability, isolation, detachment from relationships and loss of control. The very reason adolescents reach for social media (connection) often becomes quite the opposite, leaving them feel isolated, self-conscious and bullied.
Gaming Addiction has reached such distressing numbers that it is already classed as an illness by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is characterised by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other activities. Gaming addiction occurs when teens prioritize gaming over every other thing including their personal and educational lives — leading to unhealthy gaming behaviour and dependency. The behaviour pattern must significantly impair personal, family, social, educational or other areas of functioning and must be evident for at least 12 months.
Shopping addiction is known as omniomania. Of all the addictions, it is the most reinforced by the media, advertising, billboards, and consumerism in general. Shopping addiction usually begins in late adolescence. A shopping addiction is often a way to cope with experienced stress but when it becomes excessive, it severely affects finances, relationships and functioning. The act of buying is often preceded by a feeling of depression, tension, or boredom, according to the journal Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. The act of buying gives compulsive shoppers a ‘rush’ or a feeling of euphoria, but it seldom lasts.
Exercise causes the release of certain chemicals in the nervous system. These chemicals create a sense of pleasure or reward. Exercise addiction may be, in part, a dependence on this pleasure response. Extreme weight loss and health conditions related to weight loss could result from exercise addiction.
Experts identify ultra-processed foods, as the culprit: sugary drinks, salty snacks, processed meats, pre-packaged biscuits, sweets, chocolates and fast foods — usually high in added hydrogenated fats, sugar and salt, as well as additives, flavourings, colorants, all of which are there to create an addictive “bliss point” for the consumer. Our collective addiction to UPFs begins in childhood, fuelled, often by advertising and marketing by food manufacturers, especially targeting children. It is a global issue and playing out prominently in South Africa especially given child obesity rates and rising conditions such as Diabetes.
An addiction with sex includes compulsive behaviour where there is a loss of control and an adolescent spends large amounts of time engaging in sexual-related activity to the point where he or she is neglecting other responsibilities. An addiction to sex includes obsessive thoughts about sex that disrupt functioning at school, home or at the work place; an inability to refrain from viewing pornography or engaging in sexual behaviour and avoiding time with friends or other typical teen activities to instead spend time on the computer or have sexual encounters.
Substance dependence is the abuse of drugs or alcohol that continues even when significant problems related to their use have developed.
Half of the South Africa’s teenagers use alcohol. Adolescents are exposed to alcohol in many settings and whilst peer pressure contribute heavily to exposure, a myriad of other factors are also present. The combination of readily available household products, mixed with illegal substances are creating affordability to drugs which hold extensive health ramifications. Lack of supervision and control in public spaces also translate into minors gaining access to these substances at a much younger age.
The South African Anxiety and Depression Group (Sadag) said age 12-years was the average age for drug dependency in South Africa. Adolescents are exposed to drugs in many settings and whilst peer pressure contribute heavily to exposure, a myriad of other factors are also present. The combination of readily available household products, mixed with illegal substances are creating affordability to drugs which hold extensive health ramifications. Lack of supervision and control in public spaces also translate into minors gaining access to these substances at a much younger age.
Prescription drug abuse is common. Their abuse is often underpinned by misconceptions such as having more fun, losing weight, fitting in, and even assisting to study more effectively. Access to these drugs is often easier as family and friends may have them in their homes. Commonly abused drugs are:
Many forms of these prescription drugs are abused. Often your child may have been prescribed the drug for a diagnosed condition but has altered dosage frequency and use. Using the right drug for the wrong reason has serious health risks.