Over the past five years Papillon has achieved a 70 percent success rate in assisting people to lead wonderful and fulfilling lives

Tamie is doing so well Yolande. Of course we all understand that she has challenges but she uses her tools and works on herself constantly and consistently.

Despite being admitted to Papillon for the last part of her Honours year, Tamie still graduated with the rest of her class. We are beyond proud of her achievements.

The experience of having had 20 odd years of severe abuse and dysfunction within my childhood and young adult life left me with little real understanding of the world we inhabit and a very poor reserve of healthy coping skills. It did leave me with a spectrum of scars and issues now commonly know as mental illnesses. (The depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and social anxiety disorder ruled my life. Lack of trust, co-dependency tendencies, the list could go on)

My life was nothing but disaster before I came to Papillon. I was not a functional human being. I was crippled emotionally and mentally. When I entered Papillon, I felt nothing but relief. They accepted me for who I was and helped me reach the goal of being a healthy and functional human being. I was able to express myself without judgement.

I was admitted to Papillon last October as a dual diagnosed patient. I suffer from bipolar mood disorder and was at the time addicted to over-the-counter medication. Before going into Papillon I felt that my life had lost all meaning and beauty: I had lost my job; my family relationships were in ruins; I felt as though I had nowhere to turn; and I was suicidal.

Dear Team, ‘Just as the caterpillar thought it was over, it grew wings and became a butterfly’ – its name is Papillon. This portrays our daughter, Jessica’s, journey precisely. I stumbled upon Papillon’s website and it seemed an answer to prayer. Yolande listened attentively to our dilemma and, for the first time, in a very caring and compassionate way, explained to us what was happening to our daughter and assured us that Papillon would be able to accommodate and help her with her recovery.

Papillon provided a safe space for me to heal. Safe in that here were people who recognised my symptoms, understood them, did not judge me. Yet, they wanted to help me start the process of healing:to see and accept the reality of my illness, attempt to get me on the right medication, build up self-esteem, find the courage to look within and remember what my purpose and loves in life actually are.