A licensed private psychiatric hospital for dual diagnosis care

Dual diagnosis describes the presence of a substance use disorder and a mental health condition at the same time. The two commonly occur together: mental health conditions raise the likelihood of developing problems with alcohol or drugs, and substance use frequently triggers or worsens existing psychiatric symptoms. In many cases, the relationship runs in both directions.

Treating one condition without the other tends to produce poorer outcomes. Someone who receives addiction treatment without support for an underlying mood disorder faces a higher relapse risk because the condition driving the substance use goes unaddressed. Psychiatric treatment alone is unlikely to be effective if active substance use is disrupting brain chemistry and undermining the therapeutic process. Effective dual diagnosis treatment addresses both conditions at the same time, within the same programme.

Houghton House is registered as both a rehabilitation facility and a psychiatric hospital. This means patients with a dual diagnosis receive integrated assessment and treatment for both conditions within a single admission. Few rehabilitation centres can provide the level of psychiatric care that dual diagnosis cases require alongside addiction treatment.

No, at present, we only admit dual diagnosis patients to our psychiatric hospital – in other words, patients who present with mental health conditions alongside addiction. While we would love to help everyone who needs help with their mental health, we don’t currently treat psychiatric conditions in the absence of substance use disorder or gambling disorder. This is so we can help more of the people who will benefit the most from our highly specialised psychiatric treatment services, i.e., people in recovery from addiction.

No, Houghton House only treats adults; the minimum age of admission is 18. We usually refer parents of younger patients to Akeso for adolescent-specific services. Akeso has facilities across South Africa and provides specialised age-appropriate care for young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who are struggling with mental health, substance abuse, and addictive behaviours.

No, unfortunately, we don’t currently have the capacity to offer rehab for burnout, stress, or behavioural addictions (such as pornography addiction, social media or screen addiction, etc.). At present, Houghton House only treats mental health conditions like burnout and stress when they present alongside a substance addiction or gambling disorder.

Depending on your circumstances and location, we have a network of psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric hospitals to which we refer patients.

Yes, as a dual-licensed psychiatric hospital, Houghton House can claim under both addiction PMBs and psychiatric PMBs for patients with co-occurring conditions that qualify under psychiatric benefits. This can result in broader coverage for eligible patients. The admissions team can confirm what your specific scheme covers.

The only times we won’t admit a psychiatric patient are if there is no accompanying substance use or addiction, or if they are actively psychotic. In such cases, we will usually refer the patient to a specialised facility first to stabilise before we can admit them for addiction treatment.

Yes. Houghton House has an on-site psychiatric team that assesses patients at admission. The same psychiatrists also prescribe and monitor medication where indicated, and provide patients with ongoing psychiatric care throughout their treatment.