Our Program

The Four Pillars

If you’ve made the decision to do something about your addiction it’s our goal to provide you with the opportunity to make significant, lasting changes you’ll be able to live with.

We provide a structured program focused on building life skills, developing insight, and healthy lifelong habits. The program is built around four key pillars of wellness and will open the door to living the life you want.

  • Physical Health

Exercise, nutrition and sleep to help you feel good in your body.

  • Mental Health

Understanding your relationship with addiction and building skills.

  • Spiritual Health

Counselling, group therapy and mindfulness.

  • Social Wellbeing

Building social skills and making healthy connections.

View From Property Lookout

What We Provide

Each of these elements work within an integrated and individualised program, strengthening and supporting each other for maximum benefit.

  • Individual Therapy — Individual therapy to focus on your life and what’s important.

  • Group Therapy — Group therapy and team building in a safe, nurturing community. Develop enduring, mutually supportive friendships with others who know what you are going through because they’ve been there.

  • Educational Seminars — Psychobiology of addiction seminars to help you understand what’s happening to your mind and body so you can intervene.

  • Adventures — Adventures and new experiences (e.g. horse riding, archery, bushwalking in national parks, golf, tennis, etc) to rediscover the excitement in life itself – like you had before addiction became the only thing in life.

  • Therapeutic Techniques — Therapeutic techniques to help addiction. This includes Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.

  • Exercise — Exercise, yoga, mindfulness and meditation, and wholesome food to help you become physically and mentally well.

  • Location — A semi-remote location, removed from the stress, complications and temptations of everyday life. Southern Highlands is in a beautiful, tranquil area, close to some of Australia’s most scenic national parks and within 2 hours of Sydney and Canberra.

  • Family Therapy — Integrated family therapy, as required.

Weekly Program

Each week follows a structure similar to the following (with occasional changes when required). A healthy daily routine is one of the essential habits that you will develop at Southern Highlands and hopefully continue after your time with us.

  • Each Morning— Mornings begin with some kind of exercise, along with a group check in to help bond the group, resolve issues, and support guests.

  • Each Evening— A group session to help guests make time for reflection, improving wellbeing through gratitude and setting achievable daily goals.

  • 6 x Weekly Group Sessions— 6 group sessions facilitated our qualified therapists, focusing on specific recovery topics from our Four Pillars.

  • 2 x Weekly Individual Therapy Sessions— Guests receive two individual sessions each week. Guests are also offered family therapy opportunities whilst here.

  • Weekly Adventure — Each week we will go off-site for interesting, exciting or fun activities.

  • Medical Care — Our doctor will review you weekly and is also available 24/7 via telehealth if required.

  • Creativity & Mindfulness— Creativity and mindfulness come together with a regular program including Meditation and Art Therapy.

  • Each Sunday— Sundays are available for friends and family to visit, and they are welcome for lunch.

  • Sunday Morning— Whilst we are not a 12 step program, we offer the option to attend a weekly meeting if desired, alternating between AA and NA.

Before, During & After

To make sure you get the most out of our your stay and create the best possible chance of success, we have a comprehensive process for before, during and after your stay.

  • Detoxification (detox) is a process that removes unwanted substances from the body of the addict, which may take about a week. Rehabilitation (rehab) may include detox at the beginning but generally refers to further work focused on building the capacity of the patient to live a healthy life, into the future, with the addiction under control.

  • Unfortunately, no. Generally, it is more effective for teenagers to participate in programs specifically focused on teens, due to their unique stage of life and their different social and program needs.

  • Some weekly activities will be undertaken outside the facility. These will be supervised by staff.

    On occasions, a guest may leave with supervision or with family. This is decided on a case by case basis.

    Should a guest choose to leave during their stay without our consent they may not be allowed to return.

Expectations

  • Guests attend on a voluntary basis.

    Guests commit to participate in all activities.

    Unfortunately we cannot treat people with serious unmanaged mental illness or a significant history of perpetrating violence.

  • Our program is for a minimum of 28 days (4 weeks) but we encourage you to stay for 12 weeks if you can. Some guests stay longer. Studies have shown that 90 day rehab is more than twice as successful in achieving long term recovery as shorter periods. However, we also understand that it may be extremely difficult for you to take that amount of time out of your life and so our program starts at 28 days, to balance effectiveness with what you may be able to manage. We only want to have you as our guest once and we are serious about you getting your life free of addiction.

  • Should you not feel ready to leave after 12 weeks we will happily discuss extending your stay. If however we feel that an extended stay would not necessarily assist you we will advise an alternative course of treatment.

  • Yes and No. Whilst we are not a 12 step program, we recognise that the 12 steps are beneficial for many people. And so, we provide opportunities for guests to participate in 12 step meetings. At Southern Highlands we are constantly striving for evidence-based best practice so we try to adopt the best of all treatment philosophies including certain parts of the 12 step process. We have a holistic approach to make you mentally and physically strong and healthy so you can beat addiction forever.

  • The healthier you are before you come to Southern Highlands, the easier your life changing journey will be. Try to eat well, sleep well, exercise and minimise or stop any unhealthy habits as early as possible before you come to us.

    Above all, please come to Southern Highlands with an open mind and a genuine desire to give 100% to your recovery.

  • Addiction medication will be addressed as part of the entry procedures.

    No unboxed or non prescribed medications are allowed – any brought will be confiscated.

  • Unfortunately, no. We already have a number of animals at Southern Highlands.

  • Coffee is available. However, in the afternoon and evening, we recommend only decaf or herbal teas. We want to make sure that you can relax and get a good sleep at night.

  • We discourage romantic relationships. You have more than enough to deal with in terms of overcoming your addiction without having to negotiate a new relationship. Most relationships that begin in rehab do not last. In fact, starting a relationship can be a subconscious way of avoiding dealing with what you need to. Any sexual activity between guests can be a reason for exclusion from the program.

  • See our costings page for all information about cost and inclusions.

  • Private health insurance may (depending on your particular policy) assist with the cost of your stay for detox in a hospital. However, Southern Highlands is not a hospital and, in Australia at the moment, private health insurance does not cover the cost of your stay in a private residential addiction recovery facility.

  • Guests may bring only one phone with them.

    You may keep your phone with you, however, if you wish to make the most of our program we encourage you to limit using it or to even give it to us for safe-keeping. This is because spending time on your phone can become an easy way to subconsciously avoid the important personal work involved with your recovery.

  • The best coverage is available with Telstra (or Telstra related providers such as Aldi Mobile and Belong) and Optus. Vodafone is either limited or does not work on our property. Other providers not listed may not have service, please be aware and prepared for potential reception problems.

  • We strongly encourage you not to bring a laptop or tablet unless you need it for work or study. It can easily become an unhelpful distraction from the work you really need to do.

  • Internet/WiFi access is provided to all guests unless the clinical staff advise otherwise. Given our location, access may suffer disruption at times. Due to the fact that we are on a satellite connection, data is limited and not suitable for video streaming.

  • If the Guest wishes to leave for whatever reason, then the program fee for the first 28 days is non refundable. (This provides an incentive to the Guest to stay on, rather than opting out, when they hit difficult points in their personal recovery process). Advance payments for days 29 onwards will be refunded on a pro rata basis unless a guest is asked to leave (as per the section headed Involuntary Discharge) in which case payments made will be non refundable.

  • The management of Southern Highlands reserves the right to discharge any client from our treatment program, and no refund will be given, for any of the following reasons:

    • A guest is found to be intoxicated (with alcohol or drugs) during their stay at our facility or is in possession of any alcohol or non-prescribed drugs. This includes refusal to take a drug test or alcohol test.

    • A guest causes disruption to the treatment program and/or disturbs the treatment of other clients during their stay. This includes, but is not limited to, inappropriate behaviour, theft, and the breaking of federal or state laws.

    • Refusal to comply with the treatment program. This includes, but is not limited to, leaving the property without approval, leaving the group without approval when on an excursion, serious non-participation or active undermining of the program.

    • Undisclosed acute mental illness or criminal history.

    • A guest is found to be medically or psychologically unstable/ unfit to stay in the program. (In this situation, a refund will be considered on a case by case basis).

    • Any sexual activity between guests.

  • You must arrive before 2 pm on your scheduled day of admission. Our admission day is Monday (prior to 2 pm) and no admission will be expected on other days or at later times.

    On arrival, if we find you have withheld important relevant information, you will not be admitted.

    On arrival, if we assess your condition to be high risk, we will refer you to a medical detox facility or mental health facility, for your own wellbeing.

Ready to make a change? We’re here to help make it happen.