Compassionate Medical Detox and Addiction Treatment in Johannesburg

Changes is a full-service addiction centre, not just a detox bed; we provide medically supervised detox, inpatient primary care, longer-term secondary treatment, halfway house sober living, an outpatient programme for people who can still work or study, and structured aftercare so you are not sent home with a pamphlet and hope. Across all levels of care the focus is the same: safe withdrawal, solid diagnosis, evidence-based therapy, 12-step support, and practical work on the damage addiction has done to health, work and relationships.

You or your family speak directly with our admissions team, we take a clinical and financial history, check your medical aid benefits, secure pre-authorisation and give you a realistic picture of any co-payments before you arrive, instead of surprising you once you are desperate and admitted. On the day of admission we handle the paperwork, settle you on the unit and start detox or assessment immediately, so you are not left sitting in a waiting room with withdrawal and panic.

We treat adults with alcohol and drug addiction, including opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine (tik), cannabis and prescription medications, and we routinely manage dual diagnosis cases where anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder or trauma sit alongside the substance use. We are not a general wellness retreat or a clinic for gambling and eating disorders only, and if your presentation falls outside what we can safely manage we will say so and help you find the right level of care instead of admitting you just to fill a bed.

Detox is run as a medical process, not a test of character; our doctors and nurses monitor vital signs, manage withdrawal with appropriate medication, correct dehydration and vitamin problems and watch for complications like seizures or delirium, especially with alcohol and benzodiazepines. Every detox is planned around the specific substance, dose, duration of use and medical history, which is why trying to “dry out” alone at home is often far riskier than families realise.

Days are highly structured: mornings usually include groups, education and individual check-ins; afternoons are used for one-to-one sessions with psychologists, counsellors or the addiction psychiatrist, occupational therapy and skills work; evenings focus on 12-step meetings, reflection and routine. Phones, visiting and pass-outs are managed within clear rules so that patients can stabilise, sleep properly and engage with treatment instead of running the same chaotic schedule that fed the addiction outside.

If you have a long history of use, repeated relapses, complex mental health issues or a very unstable home environment, 21–28 days is rarely enough time to untangle everything, and stepping into secondary care or a halfway house gives you months of contained practice at living clean. Our long-term and halfway options focus on deeper work, real-world responsibilities, work-seeking where appropriate and stronger relapse-prevention, so you are not trying to rebuild your life in one big jump from the ward to the old neighbourhood.

During intensive inpatient care your primary job is getting medically and psychologically stable, but our outpatient and step-down programmes are built for people who must keep some normal routine going and who have safe, supportive home environments. We use flexible scheduling, regular check-ins and family involvement so that you can apply what you learn in treatment directly in your workplace, campus or home life, instead of keeping recovery and real life in two separate boxes.

We treat addiction as a family illness, so relatives are not just allowed in for visiting hours; they are offered education, counselling, boundaries coaching and structured feedback about progress so they can stop guessing in the dark. Families learn how to support recovery without funding the problem, how to respond to manipulation and relapse risk, and how to protect children and themselves instead of waiting passively to see what the addict does next.

Your care is managed by a multidisciplinary team: a GP and addiction psychiatrist handle diagnosis, medication and medical safety; psychologists and counsellors do the deep therapeutic work; social workers deal with legal, family and practical issues; occupational therapists rebuild daily functioning; and experienced nursing staff provide 24-hour supervision. This mix matters, because addiction is never just a “mindset” problem that one type of professional can fix alone.

Discharge is planned weeks in advance, with a written relapse-prevention plan, referrals to ongoing therapy or outpatient care, links to 12-step or other support groups, and clear agreements with you and your family about boundaries and warning signs. Aftercare groups, follow-up appointments and, where needed, halfway or outpatient support mean that leaving the building is not the end of treatment but a shift into a different level of structure, so you are not relying on willpower and luck to stay clean in Johannesburg traffic and real life.