Our History

Learn more about what guides our work, and how we aspire to engage as the Center for Healing and Life Transformation

Established in 2012 by Mark L Lockwood BA(hons)(psy)

Mark L Lockwood BA(hons)(psy) is the clinical director of the team, holding two degrees in psychology and with thousands of hours of therapy time as a counsellor, life strategist and healer and transformer of body, mind and soul. He has been helping people recover since 1997 from basically every kind of trauma, emotional disorder and type of pathology that affects peoples lives, their functioning, those around them and of course the roads that their present and future lives will take.

Mark has both short term and long term clients who he has been seeing for many years, who continue to improve their lives and live well balanced and free lives as No Limit, Self actualizing people who have learned to live their purpose. Mark has fast developed a reputation for not only helping with the healing of the mind, body and soul and the restoration of spirit. He moves past these confines and helps people find meaning in their lives, and actualize their true potential from their. “Depression is sometimes not about staying stuck, or settling for life with a disease, it’s about learning from your past and developing your higher self. It’s about living better than well!”

“I changed the way I looked at things, and the things I looked at really did change.”

— Tracy D., CHALT Graduate

Mark L Lockwood has a passion for the psychology of how people think and why and more importantly has a deep love for healing, theology, psychology, spirituality and Christianity in its truest form and believes all paths, traditions and religions lead to God as you understand Him. Mark has hundreds of hours of therapy time with patients from all spheres of life, dealing with trauma, lows, ED, depression through to disorders and suicides. Marks study of human behaviour, self reliance and human development over the past 20 years have provided invaluable insights into how people think, function and behave.

HOLISTIC TREATMENT TEAM

Our expert team of therapists is led by a treatment team of consultant psychiatrists, specialist doctors, doctors and healing professionals who provide a full range of treatment options for our clients. Because we utilize an individualized treatment program that is highly client specific, our treatment team is considerable and highly collective in terms of skills.

The balance between growth and development and empathic loving care is second to none. You will feel the atmosphere as you walk through the door. We are down to earth, earthy and spiritual. Open to all people, religions and lifestyles. We are all about connection, support and profound personal growth.

A PERSONAL NOTE FROM MARK 

Everyone is capable of change, however ships are built, they don’t come in. We all suffer the inevitable trauma of life in our youth. Our brains run programs to help us survive and find certainty in an uncertain world. These programs soon become outdated and turn against our own desires of personal evolution and growth. We become entrenched in our personalities that we have developed over decades. These ‘masks’ imprison us and before we know it we are using these programs to cope and survive rather than arrive or thrive. That is depressing in itself. We are all creates with unlimited potential and we al have a burning desire to fulfil that need. When we learn how to go past our genetic, learned tendencies a new consciousness soon emerges. When we become aware and then create this change the miraculous happens and we are set free to explore a new world of unlimited potential. This is the science of finding your spiritual self and it is a marvellous and wondrous journey into new and unknown territory, mystery and bliss is available to everyone who is willing to do the work to get there. 

Why the Name Center for Healing and Life Transformation?

Journey from Healing to Life Transform

HEALING

Healing is one thing. Going beyond physiology and even above thinking and feeling can, and are probably necessary sometimes to really get the miracle of lasting life change to happen. Especially when there is a chronic or long history of suffering, sickness or disorder that we need to heal from.

What does it mean to actually heal and does it work, or last, or is it just a temporary cure for ailments that we encounter? When we re-named our center after much deep thought and inquiry, a center that we opened in 2012 to help people heal process addictions, depression and other diseases and disorders, we called it Center for Healing and Life Transformation we really had to go into these things and what we found was incredibly profound and even mind blowing on many levels. Now you’re getting to know more about us and why the success rates are insanely high.

What we discovered is that to heal is simply to change a normally physiological or biological pattern. To bring new energy and towards creating a positive paradigm shift. It is to move from disease, injury what is unwanted and ugly, bad or unwelcome in our lives to the opposite. Now notice here as you learn more about us, very importantly, that this is the opposite of addiction or any stuckness. It is doing the same old things that don’t work, even though we may be trying to get good results and heal ourselves and others.

We learn as children to grow up with negative aspects of ourselves, they may develop codependence or personality disorders for example. But that is almost inevitable in our society. Trauma as such is unavoidable. So healing from what doesn’t work, we can now see, is essential work that we will do when we are older. When each of us are ready, then we can see that healing, what is unwanted is eventually necessary. So healing is the premise of our existence, it always has been. It is inevitable and is possibly a great part of why we are here living life. To learn to grow and shift and expand beyond the old into the new.

Healing really isn’t the finishing line, even though it restores balance, but more of the start of a spiritual journey for most people. The sky is not the limit! That’s as far as healing can take us, but transformation literally means to go above yourself. It really expresses the essence of the spiritual journey which is where we focus most of our work. But enough about us.

THE PARADIGM SHIFT

More about us at the Center. Life Transformation is about quantum and metaphysics. It’s about going above the physical aspects of self, of what we can heal and change. Life is different from non-life because it is a growth process that uses energy for conscious development. We can in fact see that healing, life and transformation are all growth processes that we go through towards something greater, which for me is the Imago Dei – Self Actualization and God Realization.

Transformation is about giving birth to something that doesn’t exist. It is not healing that changes things from bad to better. It is about the journey of the worm to the butterfly which is a metamorphosis which is derived from the Greek words for transformation, really meaning after form. And what we as human beings having a spiritual experience believe is that this refers to the spiritual side of ourselves that is beyond form, the side we are really trying to get to attain  fulfilment, joy and peace. So it is this process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. These stages I refer to as the two halves of life. The before and after that we see in summer, then winter, day and then night and cold and then warm.

In the second letter of Corinthians in the New Testament it says we are being unveiled transformed into the image of God, the Imago Dei with more and more intensity. And of course later in Romans the infamous text that urges to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing or of course by experiencing Life you may discern what is Good and acceptable and perfect.

REAL LIFE TRANSFORMATION

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Henry David Thoreau. This desperation is really prevalent in people today. There is a yearning for meaning and purpose and a transformation to a much more fulfilling acceptance. Knowing that this change or transformation is necessary is half the battle. People who don’t know there is meaning to the madness find themselves hopeless. They feel like they are the caterpillar that is dying, not knowing they will be transformed into the proverbial butterfly and not die at all. The story from the ancient text of Chuang Tzu puts it so beautifully. He said, “Once upon a time, I dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was myself. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.”

So nothing short of life transformation is necessary to a fulfilling life experience, healed emotionally, mentally and physiologically through these two energies. If we try and avoid the inevitable transformation we get stuck into more of what will need to be healed, more of what doesn’t work. Most of us avoid change as long as we can and this is where obsession, compulsion and dis-ease start and then flourish. So we named our Center a Center for Healing AND Life Transformation, which really bring together the two halves of life as Carl Jung suggested. He said “The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it.”

FROM NECESSARY HEALING TO LIFE TRANSFORMATION

First, as you learn more about us, know that we think we first heal and then we need to go on a journey of life transformation, changing our very nature, that once defined our personalities and what we thought, felt and did. So a life transformation is a complete and dramatic change where our very appearance and even our shadows are transformed to the reality of the Imago Dei or the image of God. This is what most people would understand as seeing reality and the nature of being, other people and the world, without the veils and without the projection, to see it exactly as it is. To see others and God the way they are and importantly to now see our transformed selves as the way we really are.

So Carl Jung, who wrote the second step of Alcoholics Anonymous by the way, a favourite psychologist and teacher of mine puts it this way. “Thoroughly unprepared, we take the step into the afternoon of life. … But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning, for what was great in the morning will be little at evening and what in the morning was true, at evening will have become a lie.”

So healing is the start of the process of change from our first half of life, and this metamorphosis into the spiritual transformation to the second stage is very much what we all seem to seek. And it is that healing and life transformation that we have devoted our life’s work to at the Center where people become butterflies so to speak by changing themselves first and then the Universe itself. Get in touch to learn more About Us.

South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) — South Africa’s leading mental health non-profit and primary resource for local epidemiological data on mental health. Visit SADAG →

South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) — the professional body for psychiatry in South Africa, whose guidelines inform our clinical protocols. Visit SASOP →

World Health Organization (WHO): Mental Health — global evidence base for depression, addiction, and co-occurring disorders. WHO Mental Health →

American Psychological Association (APA) — peer-reviewed research standards that guide our therapeutic modality selection. Visit APA →

Psychology Today — Self-Actualisation — the theoretical foundation of our Paradigm Process model, rooted in Maslow’s hierarchy and Jungian individuation. Read about Self-Actualisation →

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) — evidence base for our addiction treatment protocols, including dual diagnosis and medically-assisted approaches. Visit NIDA →

Our team continuously reviews published clinical literature to ensure that all programmes remain aligned with current best practices in mental health treatment. We are committed to the highest standards of clinical and ethical integrity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions About Inpatient Treatment in South Africa

What makes CHALT one of the best inpatient treatment centres in South Africa?

CHALT combines over a decade of clinical excellence with a luxury, personalised approach. Led by Clinical Director Mark L. Lockwood BA(Hons)(Psy) — with 25+ years of experience — and a multidisciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and specialists, we offer evidence-based treatment for depression, addiction, dual diagnosis, trauma, and personality disorders in a private, nurturing setting in Knysna, Western Cape.

What conditions do you treat at your inpatient centre?

We treat depression, anxiety, burnout, drug and alcohol addiction, trauma, dual diagnosis, eating disorders, OCD, personality disorders, suicidal ideation, and executive stress. Our holistic inpatient programmes are individually tailored for each client. See the full list of conditions we treat →

Where is the Centre located, and can I visit from outside South Africa?

We are located at 30 Louire Street, Knysna, Western Cape, South Africa, 6571. Yes — we regularly receive international clients from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and across Africa. South Africa offers world-class inpatient mental health treatment at a fraction of the cost of comparable European or American facilities. Contact us to discuss your admission →

How long does a residential inpatient programme last?

Programme lengths are tailored to each client. Short-stay programmes typically run 21–28 days; longer programmes of 6–12 weeks are available for complex dual diagnosis or chronic conditions. Our clinical team will recommend the appropriate duration following an initial assessment.

Do you provide aftercare support after inpatient treatment?

Yes — comprehensive aftercare and family support programmes are a core part of our treatment continuum. We believe that sustainable recovery is built over time, and we support our clients throughout the transition back to their everyday lives. Learn about our aftercare programme →

How do I get started or enquire about admission?

You can contact us directly, call +27 (0)82 442 4779, or email centreforhealingandlife@gmail.com. We respond promptly and treat all enquiries with complete confidentiality.

Take the First Step Towards Healing & Transformation

Whether you’re seeking help for yourself or a loved one, our team is ready to listen with compassion and guide you towards the right care. All enquiries are completely confidential.

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Health Disclaimer: The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All clinical decisions are made by qualified healthcare professionals. If you or someone you know is in a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) on 0800 456 789 (24-hour helpline) immediately. Read our full Health Disclaimer →