“It is a great privilege to write a reference for Colin Garnett. I have known Colin since 2002 when he helped me to recover from heroin addiction. Since then Colin has been a counsellor, employer, mentor, and role model to me. I am very grateful for having met him when I did.

Colin was the owner and clinical director of Bethesda Addictions Treatment Centre where I worked as an addictions counsellor from 2007-2019. He was a supportive leader that continually encouraged personal development in studies and personal life.

In the 18 years of knowing Colin he has always been someone with great integrity and whose personal life reflected his teaching about recovery. He has immense insight into addiction recovery with a highly effective way of communicating it.

I have seen many people’s lives change as a result of Colin’s counselling. He has had a massive impact on addiction recovery in South Africa and trained up several addictions counsellors who are now helping people in various countries in the world.

Most impressive is Colin’s personal life. He is a good role model in how he lives his life, especially in the areas of marriage, parenting and social life. He is someone you can learn from by how he lives his life. This congruency supported Colin’s empathetic and non-judgmental counselling style.

If I had to sum up Colin’s counselling approach, it would be lovingly confrontational and comforting. The combination of insight and communication that Colin has is a rare and effective gift. Any person with an addiction would be blessed to meet him.”

“I would like to tell you how I experienced Mr. Colin Garnett in our working relationship.

I met Colin in 2017 when I was looking for a working partnership in the treatment of my clients from Belgium. I refer clients for addiction treatment to South-Africa and therefor need a trustworthy partner to work with. My standards are quite high in this, as I need to trust my clients are in good hands.

Not only is Colin a man of his word, he’s also very compassionate about clients and their history. He knows what they are going through and can reach their hearts which his motivating and compassionate words. He is able to earn their trust in following the advice in what’s the best for them, which is an important quality for me. Colin is not a 9-5 colleague: whenever I needed him or wanted to talk about a client or crisis with a client, he is always open to discuss any client issues and finds it important for the team to be on the same page when it comes to reaching the best outcome for the client. Colin is a team player and likes to be surrounded by motivated and energetic colleagues. He’s a man of ongoing ideas and passion for the work and strives to be the best he can; in this regard, he’s open for advice and discussion.

I know Colin as an honest person, who can and will say ‘no’ when something is been asked from him what is against his (moral) values and when he does not believe it will serve the common purpose. But not without discussing this upfront.

I hope this information of my experience in working with Colin in partnership, as well as in personal contact, suits you. If you want to discuss some more, please do not hesitate to contact me.”