Stress, alcohol, and drug use are some of the factors leading to mental health problems.
The Hephzibah Treatment Centre is one of the facilities that accommodate youth as young as 15 years old grappling to overcome these psychological problems.
The centre on the outskirts of Windhoek was established as a solution to positively change lives, using the family unit as the foundation.
Inspired by her father’s struggle with alcoholism during her youth, Cynthia Martin, the centre’s manager, envisioned a sanctuary as a beacon of hope for those who want to rise from their situations.
Martin said for her, it’s more than a treatment centre; it’s a nurturing haven for the lost and wounded, a place she’s turned into a home for healing and restoring affected people.
“And out of that, I have decided to let me help. Who is it that I can help so that everybody can have their own destiny calling and also reach their full potential? We know that substance abuse is a very big problem, especially among youth and adult groups. It’s really a problem, so it’s not about me; it’s about what all of us can do to contribute to substance use in this country as well as mental health problems.”
She further underscored treatment programmes that help her assess and measure the centre’s success rate.
“So number 1: our first programme is with the whole team because we are working with a multi-disciplinary team, so each and everyone needs to do a perfect assessment, and within the assessment, after doing the assessment, we all come together and try to integrate what the psychologist has picked up.”
In collaboration with Hephzibah Treatment Centre, psychotherapist Ceaseria Matiti explained the process of evaluating their patients’ mental health by determining the best course of treatment they offer.
“Once you have a client, you do a mental status exam to evaluate the person’s body language, posture, and speech. Are they aware of the date and what their psychological state of mind is in that instance? Basically, after that, we employ certain techniques according to the story.”
Warren Klazen, a recent addition to the centre, courageously shared his bumpy journey. “Being here is a great experience. At first, I didn’t want to come here because I thought it was time-wasting, but when I first came here, everyone was like family, and I learned every day how to be myself, even how to face my fears. To encourage someone else who has been in this situation, I want them to consider themselves to be a good person.”
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