Addiction & Dependencies
Recovery starts with understanding what's actually happening.
Addiction is a chronic condition of the brain’s reward system — not a failure of character. Whatever substance or behaviour you’re facing, we start with an honest, confidential assessment and build the right path from there.
Before you read further
Three words people use interchangeably — and shouldn't
Understanding the difference helps you name what you or someone you love is actually experiencing.
Compulsion despite harm
A pattern of use or behaviour that continues despite clear negative consequences, driven by changes in the brain's reward circuitry. This is the behavioural core of the condition.
The body adapts
Tolerance (needing more for the same effect) and withdrawal (symptoms on stopping) — the physiological adaptation that can exist even without compulsive use, as with some prescribed medications.
The mind relies on it
Using a substance or behaviour to cope, feel normal, or avoid distress — often the hardest part to treat, and present in behavioural addictions with no physical withdrawal at all.
Find your starting point
What are you facing?
Every path below leads to a dedicated page with specific signs, screening guidance, and treatment detail.
Alcohol Addiction
High dependence potential; well-defined withdrawal syndrome.
Prescription Drugs
Misuse of benzodiazepines, sedatives, or stimulants.
Cannabis
Tolerance with a mild-to-moderate withdrawal syndrome.
Nicotine
One of the highest capture rates of any substance.
Opioids
High dependence potential; significant overdose risk.
Amphetamines
Stimulant use disorder with pronounced psychological pull.
Heroin
Fast-acting; severe physical dependence and withdrawal.
Gambling
The only behavioural addiction formally classified in DSM-5.
Pornography
Compulsive use affecting relationships and mood.
Sex
Compulsive patterns causing distress or harm.
Exercise
Harmful over-exercising, often tied to body image.
Shopping
Compulsive buying used to regulate emotion.
Work
Compulsive overworking that often masks avoidance.
Food
Compulsive eating tied to the same reward circuitry.
Love
Compulsive pursuit of romantic intensity or validation.
Video Games
Recognised by WHO (ICD-11) as Gaming Disorder.
Internet
Compulsive, harmful use of internet-based platforms.
Recognising it
Signs & symptoms
Each addiction has specific markers, but most share a common cluster across three dimensions.
- Loss of control over frequency, duration, or amount
- Continued use despite clear negative consequences
- Neglect of work, relationships, or responsibilities
- Secrecy, lying, or hiding the behaviour
- Repeated unsuccessful attempts to cut down
- Tolerance — needing more for the same effect
- Withdrawal symptoms on stopping or reducing
- Changes in sleep, appetite, or appearance
- Preoccupation or cravings during abstinence
- Using the substance/behaviour to cope with stress or low mood
- Irritability or anxiety when unable to engage
- Denial or minimising the problem's severity
Why it happens
Causes & the neuropsychology of addiction
Addiction develops through an interaction of biology, psychology, and environment — rarely a single cause.
- Genetic predisposition — a meaningful heritable component
- Co-occurring mental health conditions
- Chronic stress or unresolved trauma
- Genetic predisposition — a meaningful heritable component
- Co-occurring mental health conditions
- Chronic stress or unresolved trauma
How we classify it
Diagnosis & classification
We assess against both major clinical frameworks, not the substance or behaviour in isolation.
DSM-5-TR — Substance Use Disorder
Diagnosis rests on 11 criteria across impaired control, social impairment, risky use, and pharmacological indicators (tolerance and withdrawal). Severity reflects how many are met within 12 months.
ICD-11 — Dependence Syndrome
The WHO frames dependence as a cluster of behavioural, cognitive, and physiological features: impaired control, increasing priority over other life areas, and physiological markers of tolerance and withdrawal. ICD-11 also formally recognises Gaming Disorder as a behavioural addiction.
Assessment tools we use
Screening & assessment
Before any treatment plan, we run a structured, confidential assessment using validated clinical instruments.
TAPS
Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use tool — a brief screen that flags problematic use across multiple substances in a single pass.
DAST-10
Drug Abuse Screening Test — a 10-item self-report measuring the severity of drug-related problems over the past 12 months.
ASSIST
WHO’s Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test — grades risk as low, moderate, or high across multiple substances to guide the intensity of care.
How recovery is structured
Our treatment approach
Three phases, tailored to severity and personal circumstances.
Assessment & safety
Medical and psychological assessment, safe withdrawal management where needed, and immediate stabilisation of risk.
Therapy & structure
Individual and group therapy addressing the psychological, behavioural, and relational drivers behind the addiction.
Sustaining recovery
Relapse-prevention planning, alumni support, and reintegration support for the long term.
Therapies we offer
15 evidence-based modalities
Restructures the thoughts that drive cravings and relapse
Reinforces abstinence through structured incentives
Challenges irrational beliefs sustaining compulsion
Builds motivation and resolves ambivalence
Distress tolerance, regulation, and mindfulness skills
Addresses addiction within the family system
Combines modalities tailored to the individual
Non-directive support that builds self-understanding
Repairs communication and rebuilds trust
Processes emotion through movement
Non-verbal emotional expression through creative work
Regulates mood through musical engagement
Present-moment awareness for craving management
Adjunctive support for withdrawal, stress, and sleep
Guided relaxation supporting behaviour change
Levels of care
24/7 supervised care combining medical support and daily therapy — for moderate-to-severe dependence.
Structured routines and habit replacement to interrupt compulsive patterns.
Continued therapy for those transitioning out of residential care.
Alumni support and relapse-prevention check-ins.
A closer look
Alcohol Use Disorder
How we assess and treat one of the most common — and most treatable — forms of dependence we see.
Why alcohol is different
Alcohol carries one of the highest population-level dependence potentials among legal substances, owing to its wide availability, social normalisation, and a well-characterised withdrawal syndrome.
Escalating tolerance, morning drinking, inability to stop after starting, withdrawal (tremor, sweating, anxiety, in severe cases seizures).
High — regular heavy use reliably produces physiological dependence; capture rates rise sharply with early onset and frequency.
Use to manage anxiety, low mood, or social discomfort, with strong craving during abstinence.
Alcohol Use Disorder, rated mild/moderate/severe on the standard 11-criterion framework.
Alcohol dependence syndrome — impaired control, increasing priority over other activities, tolerance and withdrawal.
TAPS and ASSIST first-line; AUDIT commonly applied specifically for alcohol.
Medically supervised detox where indicated, followed by CBT, Motivational Enhancement Therapy, and family therapy. Residential care recommended for moderate-to-severe presentations.