Alcohol Rehab and Detox
The term high functioning alcoholic is not a clinical diagnosis, but it describes something real, and it is what most people who Kontakt us are quietly searching for. Work is going well. Nobody has said anything. The house has not fallen down. And the drinking has slowly stopped being optional. At InHarmoni we treat alcohol dependence in a private residential setting near Marbella, with medically supervised detox, therapy and an English speaking team. Most of our clients arrive long before anything has visibly collapsed, and that is the best time to come rather than the wrong one.
Call us on +34 665 163 104
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Functioning is not the same as fine
The reason this pattern runs for so long is that the usual warning signs never appear. There is no lost job, no crisis, nothing anyone can point to.
What there is instead tends to look like this:
- Drinking every evening, and noticing when a day is planned without it
- Needing more than you used to for the same effect
- Waking at three or four in the morning, regularly
- Periods of stopping to prove you can, followed by returning to the same amount
- Managing the evidence, the bottles, the receipts, what you say about how much
Waiting for something dramatic to justify getting help is the most common reason people lose another five years to this.
Why alcohol detox needs medical supervision
Alcohol is one of the few substances where withdrawal itself can be dangerous. In established dependence it can produce seizures and, rarely, delirium tremens. That is the reason a supervised detox is not a matter of comfort but of safety, and the reason we do not recommend attempting it at home.
Our programme follows four stages, and the core residential stay runs for 28 days and can be extended where there is a clinical reason.
Assessment
A clinical conversation before arrival about how much, how long, physical health, medication, geistige Gesundheit and previous attempts. It is also where we say honestly whether we are the right level of care.
Medically supervised detox
Withdrawal managed with medical oversight and medication where appropriate, so that the first week is safe and considerably more bearable than most people expect.
Therapy
The part that decides whether recovery holds. Individual sessions, group work, trauma informed therapy where relevant, and relapse prevention built around the specific evenings, people and pressures that lead to drinking.
Nachsorge
A plan for going home, including continued therapy, contact with us and the practical changes that stop the old routine from reasserting itself.
Alcohol detox abroad, and why distance helps
Doing this away from home is not avoidance. Drinking is bound up with place, routine and the people around you, and a month somewhere else breaks that chain in a way that a month at home cannot. Discretion is part of it too, for clients whose professional lives make a local admission complicated.
Our clinic is in El Paraíso, minutes from the beach and a short drive from Marbella. Malaga airport is under an hour away, with direct flights from most British and Nordic cities, and we arrange transfers on arrival and departure.
Alcohol rarely travels alone
Burnout, depression, anxiety and prescribed sleep medication are all common companions to heavy drinking, and often it is genuinely unclear which came first. It does not greatly matter. What matters is that both are treated in the same programme, because removing the alcohol and leaving the reason for it untouched is the most reliable route back to where you started.
Clinically led
Every programme at InHarmoni is overseen by qualified medical and psychotherapeutic staff. That distinction matters in this region, where a good deal of what is marketed as treatment is not clinically staffed at all. You are welcome to ask us directly what qualifications sit behind your programme, and we will answer plainly.
Frequently asked questions
Am I an alcoholic if I function normally?
The label matters far less than the pattern. If drinking has become difficult to stop, if the amount is rising, or if you are managing what other people know about it, that is worth having assessed regardless of what you call it.
Can I detox at home instead?
We do not recommend it in established dependence. Alcohol withdrawal carries a risk of seizures, and that risk cannot be judged accurately from the outside.
How long does detox take?
The acute phase is usually three to seven days, followed by therapeutic work for the rest of the programme. Sleep and mood commonly take several weeks longer to settle.
Will my employer find out?
Not from us. Nothing is shared with an employer, insurer or family member without your written consent.
Do I have to commit to lifelong abstinence?
That conversation belongs in therapy rather than on a website. What we ask at the start is a willingness to complete the programme and to be honest inside it.
Can I come from the UK or Sweden?
Yes. Most of our clients travel to us, the assessment happens before you fly, and we can speak both English and Swedish.
Related treatment areas
- Burnout treatment
- Prescription medication and painkiller addiction
- Depression treatment
- Drug rehab in Spain
Have the conversation before something forces it
Almost nobody regrets making this call earlier than they had to. A first conversation with us is confidential, costs nothing and carries no obligation, and you will get an honest view of whether alcohol rehab here is the right step for you.
14 Tage
Enough to stabilise the situation, restore sleep and get a clear clinical picture. A start rather than a full course of treatment.
28 Tage
The standard programme. Long enough to get through withdrawal and into therapeutic work, with four months of individual aftercare afterwards.
56 Tage
The right clinical choice where there is more than one diagnosis, or where earlier attempts have not held.
