I think it’s fair to say that 95% of my student colleagues at Theological College went to Church-based positions for their work experience placements.

I went to a private addiction treatment clinic and Cape Town’s notorious Pollsmoor Prison. For over two decades since my graduation in 2001, I’ve mentored mongrels and millionaires and everything in between, with the exact same approach across the board, and the exact same undeniable results.

It all really started when I listened to the cry of my heart to resign from my position as head of an international prison ministry, and to work among the sick and broken homeless and chronically addicted men in a smelly Cape Town squat.

Many people said it was an insane idea at the time, but I just knew in my heart that, for me to try and hold on to prestige, I would have to pretend that I hadn’t really seen the plight of these broken men. When the truth was, I’d not only seen it, I knew that I could improve their situation, if I could first earn the right to live with them.

I was right.

‘Earning the right to live with them’, meant I could take my influence into their nest, on a day-to-day basis, and be the primary influence at the end of each day, with each of them being drawn gradually out of their defeatist mindset, towards freedom, integrity and growth. 

It worked.

From that hovel, some of South Africa’s finest Mentors came to the surface, who still work as primary influencers in the lives of broken people, at every level of society, all over the world.

So when Covid came along 16-years later, having reached private sector status, being forced to stand down brought an immense sense of excitement for me, and once again, the climb down proved to be one of the most rewarding experiences of this long life of mine.

I don’t belong on pedestals. I’m a change agent. 

Yes, we’d gone with the clinical flow until our team successfully ticked all ‘government department boxes’, and we’d received official registration as a ‘registered facility for the treatment of addictions.’ But then in all that red-tape nonsense, I lost touch with why I was in South Africa in the first place, walking with people, and talking with people, without feeling any need to pretend to be more than I actually am.

In each of the above mentioned scenarios I somehow evolved into a leadership guru figure. But in reality, I knew that people need a mentor, suggesting what might be the best way to change direction, and how to break free and stay free from historical defects.

For a long time I wanted but feared the transition from therapist to mentor, until I was left feeling anxious that I might be too old to be taken seriously in today’s fast paced world. However, the fact is, my age is my asset. Who better from whom to seek mentorship, than a senior citizen with experiences and qualifications as ridiculous as mine?

I bring 30-years of an internationally recognized recovery lifestyle, and a reputation as a game-changing therapist.

I’ve mentored counsellors who now work in clinics all over the world, advised youth programme development, and provided consultancy services to psychiatric teams of military specialists in their dealings with traumatised troops returning from the most horrific of war zones.

I’m Colin Garnett, founder and principal mentor of 180 Degree Mentorship. From this point forward, I’m not only going to address the progressive relapse statistics of men and women coming out of treatment centres all over the world; I’m going to reach out to and speak into every form of personal dissatisfaction.

Whilst Google searches for ‘relapse statistics’ are only ever relevant at the time of publication, we cannot ignore the shocking numbers of people who relapse in the first year of their recovery.

Whatever the relapse realities might be, I’m going to reduce these statistics, for one person at a time, and one family at a time, by Personal Mentorship and nurture into a 3D recovery root system of spiritual, psychological and relational balance.

The influences on offer for each person undertaking 180 Degree Mentorship are going to extend beyond themselves, into each family and each workplace.

180 Degree Mentorship is a walking talking relationship for that first 12-months of early recovery following treatment, culminating in training to become a Mentor of others.

This is why I also walked away from offers from two of London’s most prestigious clinics, including a private practice in the city, to work with individuals and families in a recovery relationship, excluding the financial weight of what can sometimes be an unnecessarily heavy invoice.

Very few families in the traumatic wake of a substance abuse disorder know how to protect themselves against adopting high hopes when a troubled loved one is booked into a treatment facility.

Entrepreneurial representatives of clinical facilities know exactly what to say to make the sale, and scared parents and siblings are unable to avoid creating unrealistic expectations. 

During the treatment process, all of these hopes are then supplemented and manipulated by the troubled loved one, who starts to look better, and sound better, and can recite a long list of promises and ambitions on every visit and every phone call.

So when, in the majority of cases, a relapse occurs within the first few days after treatment, hopes are crushed, ambitions become an embarrassment, and the way back gets harder and harder.  

180 Degree Mentorship offers the whole family a panoramic view of what the best case scenario for year one could look like. We are going to expose potential potholes and blocks to progress, with mentorship in how to navigate the unavoidable spiritual, psychological and relational turbulence on the road ahead of us; and we can now face these issues together, and all become wiser, happier and better people because we went through them together.

180 Degree Mentorship

• Quality • Transparency • Integrity • Passion •

Our values in a world overwhelmed by uncertainty