“Mark and Laura changed my life. The immense amount of time, dedication and belief they invest in people is truly admirable. Thank you are not strong enough words to describe the gift of a clean, sober and happy life that they helped me achieve.”
MARK LEWIS
I love what I do and I live to serve those still struggling. I celebrated 13 years clean and sober in January 2019 and pride myself in being a living testimony of the many great blessings recovery can bring. My 13 year journey has most certainly exposed me to all the elements of the recovery process from prevention and education, intervention, primary care treatment and after care support and my involvement in the recovery process of the family has given me valuable insight into the ever reaching impact an individuals addiction has on those that love them most.
I am passionate about getting people into recovery and will do what ever it takes to achieve this goal. I understand addiction at a personal level and I understand the journey one must follow to get out and am more than willing to walk that journey with any individual who wants their life back.
“Laura was my counselor and changed my life and without a doubt saved my life. Jahara Treatment Centre will change lives in ways thought unimaginable.”
Laura lewis
I am passionate and committed about saving people. Through my many years of counselling I have found my passion in working with those who have been broken and destroyed by traumatic histories and have developed a unique ability to work closely with those individuals in order to bring healing.
My experience in managing the halfway house and working in primary care treatment has exposed me to the many valuable components required to get your life back and I feel called to guide broken individuals back to a fulfilling life. I have a specific soft spot for those individuals struggling with dual disorders and love working toward bringing stability and peace back into their lives.
I have completed my psychology degree and I have a deep love and care for animals and am passionate about pursuing animal therapy in order to implement that into the therapeutic process.
Support staff
Jahara Treatment Center employs a fantastic senior social worker alongside an additional social worker who lives onsite and plays an integral role in the daily lives of the residents. We have an HPCSA qualified counsellor also living onsite and an additional addiction specific counsellor also living onsite. Our Kitchen manager is also training as a counsellor and has previously managed a treatment centre prior to coming back to his first love - cooking.
Our medical department is run by two brilliant nurses who enjoy the full support of the local doctors who run the Hoedspruit medical centre. The doctors play a crucial role in ensuring that recovery takes place from a medical perspective. We are also blessed to have the support of a well known psychiatrist who specialises in addiction.
We are further supported by volunteer staff as well as our student counselors, all of which help to provide the best level of care to our residents while ensuring that there is an extremely low resident to staff ratio.