Nearly one year after establishing South Africa’s first privately owned rehabilitation centre for adolescents in Jeffreys Bay, Rise Recovery has been successfully treating children from all over the country and plans to offer a school curriculum to extend the three-week programme in the next two years.
As previously reported, co-directors, George van der Watt, Marlize Watermeyer, and Chanette van der Merwe, have extensive experience in the mental health industry, both in the private sector and within communities.
Consequently, they have been approached by parents seeking guidance on managing teenagers’ negative behaviour.
The three then decided to establish a centre for adolescents in Dogwood Street, Jeffreys Bay, in May 2024.
At their secure, access-controlled estate, which caters for 12 adolescents, they offer a unique recovery programme where they draw from existing therapeutic recovery programmes and combine this with life skills and an outdoor experiential approach.
According to Rise Recovery’s website, the centre has an attending general practitioner, a registered nurse, counsellors, registered psychologists, and occupational therapists from the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
Furthermore, the centre offers treatment for both chemical addictions and behavioural addictions.
Now, nearly a year later, Van der Watt reports that the centre is thriving, referring to it as “the best treatment facility for children in South Africa,” and mentioned that the Department of Social Development played a crucial role in launching the programme.
He stated that they offer both group and individual therapy sessions based on the child’s needs.
Van der Watt said that after completing the three-week in-patient care programme at their facility in Jeffreys Bay, each child receives a detailed discharge report and is referred to their nearest healthcare professional to continue with their aftercare programme.
Since the facility serves both local children and those from across South Africa, he mentioned that they have established a robust network of healthcare professionals nationwide to ensure each child receives ongoing treatment.
“The children who make use of the facility have follow-up appointments with a social worker during their treatment at the centre, before their discharge and once they are home again. They continue with treatment for about a year,” said Van der Watt.
Although they would like to extend the programme to give the children more time at the centre, he explained that the children need to attend school.
Therefore, they have kept the programme length to three weeks, with plans to extend it at a later stage.
“Over the next two years, we plan to integrate a school curriculum into the centre to ensure that children stay up to date with their schoolwork, allowing us to extend the programme for a longer period,” said Van der Watt.
For more information, visit the Rise Recovery website at www.risecare.co.za or contact George van der Watt on 064 774 7618.
