Spending a month in rehab at Harmony Clinic was the most beneficial thing I’d done in 15 years

Herschelle Gibbs
South African Cricketer

It is wonderful to have this opportunity to write to you to express my utter joy and gratitude for a whole year of abstinence. I realise that my true recovery began the minute I gave in and decided to come to Harmony Clinic.

Of course, I felt very special and different at first and not at all a “proper” addict! I soon learnt that I am one but that it doesn’t make me a bad person, just a person with a bad disease.

That month in Primary Care taught me to really confront my powerlessness over my drug of choice, food (and to own up to my abuse of dagga and codeine over the years).
It also taught me to face the consequences of my addiction – the consequences for my own life and the effects on the people I love. Finally, I was taught to hand over my self-will and self-pity to an ever-present, loving Higher Power.

Today, just over a year later I am a different person. The wounds of addiction go very deep, layer upon layer. I believe that I am healing from the inside out.
My recovery (like my disease) effects three areas in my life. Physically, I have lost 35,5 kg (without dieting). Emotionally, I am learning to know myself and actually feel my feelings.

Spiritually, I have learned to meditate and pray and to find a safe space inside of me where the God of my understanding lives. I am never alone and I am always loved (even when I am far from perfect).
I wish I could really put into words how incredibly grateful I am for having had the opportunity to take time out and spend a month at Harmony. I was determined to work extra hard and stay clean.

It has paid off. I am safe in a Twelve Step Program with other people who are just like me. The Twelve Steps and the Tools and the Fellowship combine to keep me protected, one day at a time.

It has helped to know that I can phone Harmony anytime for help.

Pam

This is just a short note to say, with the utmost gratitude, thank you for all your help and guidance. Without the support from Harmony Clinic, I would not be the hopeful person I am today.

I came to Harmony with so much doubt, darkness and pain but quickly found light, trust and love and a path out of my spiralling compulsions. The counsellors were all pivotal in my early journey and I am so appreciative of everybody’s patience, kindness and wise words.

Thanks to you, Steve, I was able to get even further help at Harmony’s secondary care facility. I really enjoyed our long chat and your wisdom.
It was at secondary that I learnt how to change my behaviour and to become a well-rounded, healthy member of society. I found a new home in the fellowships and a new level of care from the counselors.

They are truly incredible people. I can never thank them enough. I hope to remain a part of the Harmony family in friendship and service.

Wendy

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!

Anna

When I first spoke to you, I was desperate. I felt alone and scared and I thought that I might not survive another day on drugs. After I was admitted to Harmony, I knew that for the first time in my life my prayers were answered. There was hope for me. I worked hard during my stay and I am proud of myself for being diligent, asking for help and for completing something for the first time in my life.

When I entered treatment, I was frightened and distressed. Thanks to Harmony, I left a strong woman with a sense of self-worth. Now I know who I am and of what I am capable. On behalf of my beautiful daughter, mom and sisters, I would like to thank you for giving them back their mom, daughter, sister and aunt. They have me back. I have their love and trust and that alone is priceless.

Thank you for everything and for a second chance in life. I will never forget what you have done for my family and me.

Ursula

On 14 January 2010, I was clean for 19 months. I owe this clean time to the people of Harmony House, as I have been trying to get clean for over 15 years. I have been in a total of 20 treatment centres over this time and my longest clean time, prior to this, had been two days short of six months – twice!
I just have not been able to stay clean outside of a treatment facility.

I entered Harmony Secondary Care on 12 June 2008. My experience of the programme provided was rebellion at first, but that moved towards compliance and finally, surrender.

My ‘addict’ is very strong and I needed Harmony House to help me break my denial, but also to be tough on me and not allow my ‘addict’ get away with anything. Harmony House was firm in dealing with me and I believe that this has been the main contributing factor to my clean time today. Give me an inch, and I will take your arm.

I was in Secondary Care for four months, and learnt more about myself than I have over the past 36 years. I then moved to Serendipity Tertiary Care, and was made to find employment within a month.
The support of my fellow house mates, combined with the ever seeing eye of Steve T, allowed me to slowly grow more confident and integrate myself back into the society I had shunned for all of my adult life.
I completed three months of Tertiary Care and moved across to a Satellite House. Here I was given a lot more freedom, but still had to attend groups and was monitored by the treatment staff.

I honestly believe that had it not been for Harmony House, I would still be out there using, psychotic and either in a mental institution or dead. I owe my life to Harmony…

Mike