Getting better without putting your job on the line
For a lot of people, the biggest thing standing between them and help isn’t the drinking, the pills or the betting.
It’s the job.
“I can’t just disappear for a month.”
“What if my boss finds out? I’ll never get promoted again.”
“I’m the one bringing in the money. Who’s going to pay the bond if I lose this?”
“If anyone at work knew, I’d never be able to look them in the eye.”
These are real fears, and I take them seriously. You’ve probably worked very hard to build your career. Maybe you’ve built it while struggling, which takes a kind of strength people rarely give you credit for. Of course you’re afraid of losing it.
So let me walk you through how we handle this, because I think you’ll find it’s a lot more possible than you imagined.
It fits into a working week
You don’t need to take a month off. You don’t need to explain a sudden four-week absence to anyone.
The REBUILD Programme meets once a week for two hours, from 15:00 to 17:00 on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. For most people, that simply means leaving work a bit early one afternoon a week.
Our clients usually sort this out through:
- flexitime or an adjusted schedule
- annual leave, taken one afternoon at a time
- sick leave, where appropriate
And the Monday groups run in the evening, from 19:00 to 21:00, well after most people knock off.
That’s it. One afternoon a week. Your life carries on, and your recovery happens right alongside it.
Online, if you need extra privacy
Everything we offer is available on Zoom: the assessment, the coaching, the REBUILD Programme and the Monday groups.
That means you can join from your home office, your car parked somewhere quiet, or a closed boardroom, from anywhere in South Africa. Nobody sees you walking into a building. Nobody in the parking lot recognises your car. For many professionals, business owners and people in senior positions, that extra discretion makes all the difference.
Will my employer find out?
Only if you choose to tell them.
You don’t have to disclose what your treatment is for in order to take time off. If you need it, we can give you a letter confirming that you attended, without stating the reason. A sick note doesn’t need to state a diagnosis either.
And because we don’t claim from medical aid, there’s no addiction diagnosis sitting on a medical aid record that could surface later, with your employer’s scheme, with a future insurer, or anywhere else.
Your recovery is your business.
What stays confidential
What you share with us stays with us. It isn’t passed on to your employer, your family, or anyone else without your consent. The only exception is where the law requires it, such as an immediate risk to someone’s life.
Group sessions work a little differently, because other people are in the room, so I want to be honest with you about how we handle it. Every session starts with the same agreement: who you see here, and what they share, stays here. We ask everyone, including family members and people joining online, not to record, take screenshots, or repeat another member’s story outside the group.
We can’t legally guarantee what other people do. That’s simply the truth. So you’re always in control of how much you share. On Zoom, you’re welcome to use only your first name and keep your camera off. And anything you’d rather keep completely private, you can talk about one-on-one with a facilitator.
In practice, people in recovery tend to guard each other’s privacy fiercely. They know what’s at stake, because it’s at stake for them too.
The bigger risk
I want to say something gently here, and I hope you’ll hear it in the spirit it’s meant.
The addiction is almost always a bigger threat to your job than getting help is.
Think about it honestly. The Mondays you’ve called in sick. The mornings you’ve arrived late, or arrived but weren’t really there. The short temper with colleagues. The mistakes you’ve had to cover up. The money stress that follows you into every meeting. The way you’ve started avoiding certain people, or certain conversations.
People notice those things. Often long before you think they do.
An afternoon off once a week to get well? Hardly anyone will notice that. And the version of you that comes out the other side, clearer, calmer, more present, more reliable, is going to be a far better employee, manager or business owner than the one who’s been white-knuckling it.
Your career and your recovery aren’t enemies
You don’t have to choose between your job and your health. You can protect both. In fact, getting well is one of the best things you can do for your career.
Start with a confidential conversation. No one at work needs to know.
Book a confidential assessment or WhatsApp Steven on +27 76 402 7083.
