Constantia · Cape Town
A private home where data-driven recovery
meets considered, holistic living.
Our Approach
Recovery isn’t a destination.It’s a return to yourself.
Beyond Society is a private home in Constantia for people stepping out of addiction and back into a life of their own making. We pair evidence-based recovery with the tools of modern, data-informed living: genomic testing, biomarker tracking, considered nutrition, and access to Cape Town’s most respected specialists.
The work is grounded and honest. Clients author their own days; we provide the data, the amenities, the network, and the structure they choose to lean on. What we offer is a way of living that is measurable, comfortable, and entirely your own, built to outlast your time here.
The Practice
Six threads, measured and woven together around your biology.
Evidence-Led Recovery
A twelve-step framework, integrated with current clinical thinking. Progress that's measured, not just felt, and reviewed honestly with you.
Evidence-Led Recovery
The twelve steps give a proven scaffold for accountability and community. We hold it alongside current clinical thinking: CBT and DBT skills, trauma-informed care, and motivational work. Progress is tracked against real markers, mood, sleep, cravings, and biomarkers, then reviewed with you on a set cadence, so the plan adapts to what is actually working rather than what should work on paper.
Comprehensive DNA Testing
Full genomic panels reveal how your body metabolises medication, nutrients, alcohol and stress. The foundation for a recovery built around your biology, not a template.
Comprehensive DNA Testing
Your genome shapes how you respond to medication, nutrients, caffeine, alcohol, and stress. Pharmacogenomic panels show how quickly you metabolise common psychiatric and pain medications, which helps clinicians dose precisely and avoid trial and error. Nutrigenomic markers guide nutrition and supplementation. We use this as a baseline, not a verdict, the starting map for a plan built around your biology.
Biomarker Tracking
Quarterly blood panels, HRV, sleep architecture, and cortisol patterns. We track what changes so the work can be adjusted, not guessed at.
Biomarker Tracking
Quarterly blood panels, heart-rate variability, sleep architecture, and cortisol patterns turn recovery into something you can see. HRV tracks nervous-system recovery and stress load. Sleep staging shows whether rest is actually restorative. Inflammatory and metabolic markers reveal what is changing under the surface. When something drifts, we adjust early, before it becomes a setback.
Performance Nutrition
Chef-prepared meals informed by your genomic profile and current biomarkers. Eating to rebuild. Sharp, simple, and quietly excellent.
Performance Nutrition
Food is the most consistent intervention in the day, so we treat it as one. Meals are chef-prepared and informed by your genomic profile and current bloods: protein to rebuild, micronutrients to correct deficiencies common in early recovery, and a steady glycaemic load to protect mood and energy. Alcohol-free by definition, and built to be genuinely enjoyed, not endured.
A Network of Specialists
We don't keep therapy in-house. We connect you with Cape Town's most respected psychiatrists, addiction specialists, somatic therapists, and physicians, chosen for fit, not for proximity.
A Network of Specialists
We deliberately keep therapy out of house so you are matched to the right person, not the nearest one. Our network includes Cape Town's respected psychiatrists, addiction-medicine doctors, somatic and trauma therapists, and physicians. We coordinate referrals, share data with your consent, and keep everyone working from the same picture, so care is joined up rather than fragmented.
Considered Re-entry
Work, study, relationships, responsibility. The return to ordinary life, paced honestly. We don't rush the return. We help make it durable.
Considered Re-entry
Relapse risk is highest when life resumes too fast. We rebuild the ordinary load deliberately: work and study, relationships, responsibility, and money, each reintroduced at a pace you can hold. You practise the hard conversations and the daily systems while support is still close, so independence becomes something you grow into rather than fall back into.
The Vision
What I wish had existedwhen I was looking for it.
I went through several rehabs myself.
What I found, across all of them, was a focus on mental health , but very little on what comes after. The tools you need to cope with day-to-day life were either missing or barely sketched out.
When I went into treatment a second time, for PTSD and severe anxiety, I had to discover most of those tools on my own. The research was limited. The protocols, even more so. And my anxiety, at its worst, was more debilitating than the drug addiction and the alcoholism that came before it.
That experience is the foundation of Beyond Society.
Our vision is to become a pioneer in this industry, authentically. Not by pushing recovery as a sales product, not by maximising bed nights, but by taking on only the people who genuinely want this for themselves. Mental health and physical health, because the two are not separable.
We won’t get it right 100% of the time. No one is capable of that. But the work is to give as many people as possible the tools to sustain a healthier life long after Beyond Society is no longer their address.
We also believe recovery should never become an identity. So we use workshops, structured discovery, and small experiments to help people find what they actually love, not what a programme tells them they should. Volunteering can be a beautiful path for some, but it isn’t everyone’s calling. Purpose, when it’s real, is built from the inside out, driven by your own passions, not by what someone else has prescribed for you.
That’s the work. That’s the vision.
Gilles Colruyt, FounderFounder
The home he wishes had existed.
Beyond Society was founded by Gilles Colruyt, a Cape Town local with lived experience of addiction, recovery, PTSD, and severe anxiety.
After several rounds of treatment in rehab facilities (some excellent, others less so), he came home convinced that what was most often missing from recovery was what came after it. The skills. The structure. The data. The network. The patience to discover a life that was actually worth returning to.
Beyond Society is his answer to that gap. It’s the home he wishes had existed when he was looking for one. The standard he believes anyone willing to do the work deserves to have access to.
“The work isn’t to stop being who you were. It’s to discover who you actually are.”
Amenities
Everything required for serious recovery, on site.
The house is designed as a working tool, equipped with the recovery, heat, cold, and light therapies that support nervous- system regulation and cellular repair. Used daily, by choice, and never as a prescription.
Private patio rooms
Every room opens onto its own outdoor space. Quiet, private, and yours.
Positive benefits
- Direct access to daylight, which helps regulate the circadian clock and improve sleepDaylight-exposed workers slept ~46 min longer a night (Boubekri, 2014)
- Morning sunlight exposure supports a healthy cortisol rhythm and steadier moodMorning bright light lifts mood, effect size ~0.5 (meta-analysis)
- Green views and time in nature lower stress, blood pressure, and rumination20 minutes in nature cut cortisol ~21% an hour (Hunter, 2019)
- Fresh air and ventilation for deeper, more restorative restDoubling ventilation raised cognitive scores 60%+ (Allen, 2016)
- A nature view alone is linked to faster recovery and calmer moodA hospital nature view shortened post-surgery stays ~8% (Ulrich, 1984)
- A private threshold for breathwork, stretching, or quiet grounding
- Somewhere to step outside without leaving safety, in the harder moments
Hot tub
Heat exposure for circulation, recovery, and the small ritual of an evening soak.
Positive benefits
- Eases muscle soreness and joint stiffnessAmong the top-ranked methods for next-day soreness (network meta-analysis, 2022)
- Improves circulation and blood-vessel functionFlow-mediated dilation nearly doubled over 8 weeks, 5.6% to 10.9% (Brunt, 2016)
- Supports lower resting blood pressure over timeMean arterial pressure fell ~5 mmHg after 8 weeks (Brunt, 2016)
- Activates the parasympathetic, rest-and-digest stateResting heart rate dropped from 62 to 58 bpm in 4 weeks (Kuwahata, 2022)
- Lowers stress and perceived anxietyPerceived stress fell ~3 points on a 10-point scale (Latorre-Roman, 2025)
- A warm soak before bed speeds sleep onset as the body cools afterwardA warm bath 1-2h before bed cut time to fall asleep ~36% (Haghayegh, 2019)
- Relief for arthritis and chronic painEased knee-osteoarthritis pain, sustained to 12 months (meta-analysis, 2017)
- A simple, repeatable evening ritual that anchors the dayFrequent bathers had ~28% lower risk of functional decline (Yagi, 2019)
Ice bath
Daily cold protocols for nervous-system resilience, inflammation, and clarity.
Positive benefits
- Reduces post-exercise inflammation and muscle sorenessLarge reduction in post-exercise soreness, pooled effect ~1.0 (meta-analysis)
- Triggers a large rise in dopamine and noradrenaline for mood and driveNoradrenaline +530% and dopamine +250% after immersion (Sramek, 2000)
- Builds stress resilience through controlled, hormetic exposureThe stress-hormone response habituates within about 4 weeks of practice
- Improves vagal tone and nervous-system regulation
- Sharpens alertness and mental clarity
- Supports metabolism and brown-fat activationResting energy expenditure rises ~14% during cold exposure (van Marken Lichtenbelt, 2009)
- Trains slow, deliberate breathing under discomfortTrained breathing under cold stress cut inflammatory markers ~50% (Kox, 2014)
- Each session is a concrete daily win for confidence and moodPositive mood rose ~24% and negative mood fell ~28% (Yankouskaya, 2023)
Traditional sauna
Dry heat, used as a daily practice. Cardiovascular load with a calmer nervous system.
Positive benefits
- Regular use is linked to lower cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortalityUp to ~50% lower cardiovascular mortality at 4-7 sessions a week (Laukkanen, 2015)
- Associated with reduced risk of stroke and high blood pressure61% lower stroke risk and 47% lower hypertension risk (Kunutsor, 2017-18)
- Frequent use is linked to lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's~66% lower dementia and ~65% lower Alzheimer's risk (Laukkanen, 2017)
- Improves blood-vessel (endothelial) functionFlow-mediated dilation improved from ~4.0% to ~5.8% in 2 weeks (Imamura, 2001)
- Releases endorphins and is associated with lower rates of depressionWhole-body heat therapy eased depression for up to 6 weeks in a trial (Janssen, 2016)
- Promotes deeper, more consolidated sleepPre-bed heating raised deep, slow-wave sleep ~10-15% (review, 2019)
- Triggers heat-shock proteins that aid cellular repair and resilience
- Eases muscle tension and speeds recovery
Swimming pool
Year-round, for training, recovery, or simply being in the water.
Positive benefits
- Full-body cardiovascular exercise that builds endurance and lung capacityRaises cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2max) by roughly 10% (training reviews)
- Low-impact and joint-friendly, ideal during injury recoveryWater cuts hip and knee joint loading 36-55% versus land (Kutzner, 2017)
- Builds strength and mobility without heavy loadingAdded ~4 reps on a 30-second strength test (meta-analysis, 2025)
- Lowers stress and lifts moodEases mood and anxiety symptoms, effect ~0.77 (meta-analysis, 2022)
- Supports healthy weight and metabolic fitnessBurns ~400-500+ calories an hour at a moderate pace (Compendium, 2024)
- Improves sleep qualityImproved sleep efficiency ~6% over 8 weeks (Sun, 2015)
- A safe, low-pressure way to rebuild a daily movement habitRegular swimmers had ~50% lower all-cause mortality (Chase, 2008)
- The rhythmic, repetitive motion is calming and almost meditative
Ozone chair
Targeted ozone therapy for cellular recovery and immune support.
Positive benefits
- Combines gentle heat with ozone to raise tissue oxygen delivery
- Thought to nudge the body's own antioxidant defences through mild, hormetic stress
- Explored as support for immune modulation and resilience
- Ozone has well-documented antimicrobial properties as a disinfectant
- May support circulation and oxygen utilisation
- A relaxing, low-effort recovery session that pairs well with heat and cold work
- Offered honestly: the clinical evidence is still early, so we treat it as a complement to medical care, never a replacement
Infrared therapy
Whole-body infrared for sleep, mitochondrial support, and faster recovery.
Positive benefits
- Gentler on the body than traditional sauna, so longer, more comfortable sessionsRuns at ~60°C versus 80-90°C in a traditional sauna (Imamura, 2001)
- Improves circulation and oxygen delivery to tissuesFlow-mediated dilation rose from 4.0% to 5.8% after 2 weeks (Imamura, 2001)
- Eases chronic pain and arthritis symptomsChronic pain scores fell roughly 40-60% over 4 weeks (infrared trials)
- Promotes skin health and collagenVisible skin and wrinkle improvement in ~69% of users (Wunsch, 2014)
- Supports lower blood pressure and cardiovascular functionSystolic blood pressure fell ~6 mmHg over weeks of use (Imamura trials)
- Deep, penetrating heat that relaxes muscles and releases tension
- Red and near-infrared light is thought to support mitochondrial energy production
- Aids gentle sweating at a lower core-temperature load
- Calms the nervous system and supports sleep
In partnership with
Biocode is a precision biohacking lab. Comprehensive DNA, blood, and hormonal testing, peptide therapies, and IV protocols. Their data is the foundation for the personalised recovery work we do at Beyond Society.
Visit biocode
Workshops & Groups
Discovering what you love is part of the work.
A lot of people who arrive in sober living come in lost. They don’t know what they like anymore, or whether they ever did. So we run workshops: small groups, real experiments, designed to help you find what actually lights you up.
Not the standard volunteer-at-a-soup-kitchen template (though that’s available for those genuinely called to it). A broader menu, opted into by choice, that changes with the season and with who’s in the house. We believe finding purpose isn’t a side-effect of recovery. It is recovery, in its most durable form.
Identity built on what you love is identity that holds.
Your Day
A life of your own making — with us alongside.
Beyond Society is not a programme. It’s a home with structure available when you need it, and quiet competence when you don’t. Clients build their own days: work, training, time with family, the gym, the doctor, the coffee with a friend who needed checking on. We’re alongside it: handling appointments, providing meals, tracking the data, holding the boundaries, and making sure the hard parts have someone in your corner.
01
Your schedule, our support
Clients author their own days. We're alongside the parts you want help with: appointments, meals, accountability. And quietly out of the way for the rest.
02
Data over dogma
Decisions are grounded in your genomic data, biomarkers, and what's actually changing. No slogans. No one-size-fits-all programme.
03
Real life, not a retreat
Work continues. The gym continues. Coffee with the friend who needed checking on continues. We design for the life you're returning to, not a parallel one.
04
Built for return, not retention
Our measure of success is the years that follow, not the months you spend with us. Everything is engineered for a durable, self-led life beyond Beyond Society.
For Families
To the parent reading this at 2am — we hear you.
The sleepless nights. The silence between calls. The not knowing whether to push or to step back. Families carry their own version of this, and they deserve their own care.
- Regular, transparent updates on your loved one's progress
- A dedicated family liaison, one person, every time
- Monthly family support circles, in person & online
- Guidance on what to say, when, and what to expect
Podcast
Honest conversations, coming soon.
The Beyond Society podcast. Long-form conversations on recovery, longevity, identity, and the slow work of becoming someone you actually want to be. Founders, clinicians, researchers, and the people quietly doing it well.
Episodes will be linked here as they are released. To be notified when the first one drops, send a short note via the inquiry form.
Episode 01 · in production
Newsletter
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Donate
Giving back is part of the work.
Recovery shouldn’t depend on the size of someone’s bank account.
A percentage of every fee paid at Beyond Society is set aside to help people who can’t afford it access a recovery programme of their own. Sometimes that means a place with us. Sometimes it means contributing to a programme that fits them better. The point is access.
If you’d like to contribute alongside us, privately, without recognition, or as part of a longer-term giving plan, we’d welcome a quiet conversation.
Why we do it
“The price of treatment shouldn’t be the reason someone doesn’t recover.”
A quiet, ongoing commitment
Inquire
Begin a quiet conversation.
Whether you’re asking for yourself, your child, a partner, or a client, every inquiry is read by someone who cares, and answered with discretion.