# Synthetic Drug Rehab in Spain | Sierra Recovery, Malaga > Treatment for synthetic drug addiction at a licensed residential centre in Malaga, Spain. Published pricing, English-speaking clinicians, no referral fees. [Home](/) / [Alcohol & drug addiction](/drug-addiction/) / Synthetic drug addiction Synthetic and novel psychoactive drugs # Synthetic drug addiction treatment in Spain A licensed 28-day residential programme in the Málaga countryside, run by an English-speaking team, for dependence on spice, mephedrone, monkey dust, nitazenes or the tablets sold as something they are not. A private room as standard, a price published in full, and no referral fees paid to anyone for sending you here. Clinically reviewed by[Nerea Encinas Sánchez](/clinical-team/)Director of the centre, MSc General Health PsychologyRegistered psychologist, COPAO AO13857 Checked for accuracy on 28 July 2026. Next review due July 2027. This page is general information about our programme and is not a substitute for advice about your own situation. Synthetic drug addiction is treated at Sierra Recovery as a 28-day residential programme in the Málaga countryside, published in full at £9,900. Because these compounds vary enormously in potency and contents, the withdrawal plan is built from the pattern of use rather than from a product name: where a medically supervised withdrawal is needed, and with synthetic opioids and novel benzodiazepines it always is, it is completed in an appropriate medical setting before you arrive, because we are a registered health centre and not a hospital. What follows is three structured group sessions a day, one-to-one therapy, a seventeen-module curriculum and a discharge plan that treats harm reduction as part of the work. Below is what that actually involves and who it suits. Programme 28 days residential Published price £9,900 Group work 3 sessions a day Room Private, as standard Language English throughout Registration N.I.C.A. 67331 ## What synthetic drugs actually are Synthetic drugs are laboratory-made compounds designed to imitate the effects of established drugs while sitting outside the laws written for them. They were sold for years as legal highs, and in the United Kingdom the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 removed that loophole. The trade did not stop. It moved. Four families account for most of what reaches treatment. Synthetic cannabinoids, sold as spice, mamba or K2, sprayed onto plant material and far more powerful and less predictable than cannabis. Synthetic cathinones, the stimulants including mephedrone, MDPV and alpha-PVP, sold as bath salts or monkey dust. Synthetic opioids, principally nitazenes and fentanyl analogues, now appearing in heroin and in counterfeit tablets. And novel benzodiazepines such as etizolam and flualprazolam, which turn up in tablets sold as Xanax or diazepam. The defining risk of all of them is that nobody knows what is in the packet, including the person selling it. Potency varies enormously between batches of the same product, formulas change faster than testing can follow, and the dose that was fine last week can be dangerous this week. Unknown contents means unpredictable riskSynthetic drugs vary wildly in potency between batches, and synthetic opioids such as nitazenes are turning up in heroin and counterfeit tablets without the buyer knowing. Never use alone. If you use anything that could contain an opioid, carry naloxone, which is free from UK drug services. Seizures, chest pain, very high temperature, unresponsiveness or slowed breathing all need an ambulance. In an emergency call 999 in the UK or 112 anywhere in Europe, or NHS 111 for urgent advice that is not an emergency. ## What each family does Family What it does, and what it costs Synthetic cannabinoids spice, mamba, K2 Far stronger and less predictable than cannabis. Causes collapse, seizures, psychosis, severe agitation and a marked withdrawal syndrome. Dependence forms fast and the drug bears almost no clinical resemblance to the cannabis it imitates. Synthetic cathinones mephedrone, MDPV, monkey dust Stimulants with an intense compulsion to redose. Associated with sleeplessness lasting days, paranoia, psychosis and, where injected, serious vein and skin damage. Synthetic opioids nitazenes, fentanyl analogues Extremely potent and increasingly found in heroin and in tablets sold as something else. The main driver of the current rise in overdose deaths. See [fentanyl and synthetic opioids](/fentanyl-addiction-treatment/). Novel benzodiazepines etizolam, flualprazolam Sold in tablets marked as Xanax or diazepam, often at unpredictable strength. Withdrawal carries the same seizure risk as prescribed benzodiazepines and must be tapered under medical supervision. See [benzodiazepines](/benzodiazepine-addiction-treatment/). ## The signs people recognise too late What you might notice What it usually means The same product hitting completely differently between batches Variable potency. It is the defining hazard of this whole category. Redosing compulsively, with no natural stopping point Characteristic of synthetic cathinones in particular, and it is what turns an evening into three days. Blackouts, collapse or seizures Common with synthetic cannabinoids and a clear signal to stop using alone, today. Paranoia or psychosis that did not happen with the original drug Synthetic compounds are frequently far more psychotogenic than what they imitate. Severe withdrawal from something believed to be harmless Spice withdrawal in particular surprises people. It is real and it is difficult. Buying online or through messaging apps The standard route now, and the reason contents are unknowable. Repeatedly deciding to stop and not managing it The gap between intention and behaviour is the definition of the disorder, not a failure of character. If several of those land, our [four-question self-check](/self-assessment/) takes under a minute, stores nothing, and will tell you whether a fuller conversation is worth having. ## Where the treatment actually happens People ask for photographs before they ask about therapy, and they are right to. You are deciding whether you could live somewhere for a month. This is the place, not a stock library. The pool and terrace, open through the day Your own private room, included as standard The veranda, where most groups spill out to Cooked by our Michelin-trained chef, three times a day The horses live here, on the land Forty hectares of working farmland, forty five minutes from Malaga [See the full gallery](/facilities/) · [how people get here](/travelling-to-spain-for-treatment/). ## Detox, and why the assessment matters more here With synthetic drugs the withdrawal plan cannot be written from the name of the substance, because the name means very little. What matters is which family it belongs to, what else has been involved, and what the pattern of use has actually been. That is why assessment carries more weight on this page than on any other. Sierra Recovery is entered in the Registro Andaluz de Centros, Servicios y Establecimientos Sanitarios (the Andalusian register of health centres, services and establishments) under N.I.C.A. 67331, authorised by the Junta de Andalucía for the care unit atención sanitaria a drogodependientes (healthcare for drug dependency, authorised care unit U.71). That is a registered health centre with a supervised treatment residence. It is not a hospital and it is not a detox unit. Where a medically supervised withdrawal is needed, and with synthetic opioids and novel benzodiazepines it always is, it is completed in an appropriate medical setting before you arrive and billed separately from the programme fee. Qualified nursing is part of the team during your stay. Where psychosis is active, a hospital is the safer setting and we will say so rather than admit you. You can [check our registration yourself](/regulation-and-licensing/) on the Junta's public register. ### Not sure what you have actually been taking? Most people in this position are not. The assessment works from the pattern and the effects rather than from the packet, and it happens before you travel. [How admission works](/admissions/) [+44 1202 653136](tel:+441202653136) ## What a day here looks like Nobody arrives knowing how twenty eight days are actually spent. This is the real timetable, Monday to Friday. Time What happens 08:00 Breakfast, cooked by a Michelin-trained chef 09:15 Planning: the day is set out together 10:30 Process group, the harder one 12:00 Therapeutic group 13:15 Lunch 14:30 Psychoeducation, working through the curriculum 16:00 Group activity, often outdoors or with the horses 18:30 Dinner 20:00 Day closing, together Saturdays turn to holistic and body-based work. Sundays are a supervised excursion, because reconnecting with the world outside a clinic is part of the treatment rather than a break from it. 28days, the typical stay 3group sessions a day 17curriculum modules 1986PROMIS method, developed in ## What the treatment actually involves The programme runs Monday to Friday on a fixed structure, with Saturdays given to holistic and body-based work and Sundays to a supervised excursion. Rather than list therapy names, here is what each part of the week is for. Group work Psychoeducation One-to-one Holistic Equine Aftercare ### Three group sessions a day, five days a week The day opens with a process group at 10:30, a second therapeutic group runs at midday, and a psychoeducation session follows lunch. A group activity fills the late afternoon and the day closes together in the evening. That is roughly fifteen structured group contacts a week, which is the part most people underestimate before they arrive and value most afterwards. Groups are small, in English, and run by the clinical team. Hearing someone else describe your own thinking back to you does something that individual work cannot, and it is the fastest route out of the isolation that synthetic drug use builds. ### A seventeen-module curriculum, not a rest cure The psychoeducation strand moves through a fixed seventeen-module curriculum written by our clinical director. It is the core of what we call the Regulation Model, which is our adaptation of the PROMIS Clinics methodology to this centre rather than a model of our own invention. It covers skills training, communication styles, boundaries and decision-making, trigger recognition, self-esteem and self-concept, dual diagnosis, self-care and habits, emotions, crisis identification and management, suicide prevention, goals, grief, values, trauma and relapse, perfectionism, loneliness and isolation, and cross-addiction. Every module runs the same structure: check-in, theory, an experiential dynamic, shared reflection, and a commitment carried into the week. The cognitive work uses the ABC model, the same structure that underpins cognitive behavioural approaches: the event, the belief you attach to it, and the consequence that follows. It is taught, practised, applied between sessions and reviewed, rather than talked about once. ### Individual therapy alongside the group programme One-to-one sessions run three times a week and are where the material that will not surface in a group gets worked. For most people that is the thing underneath the use rather than the use itself. You are treated by the same small team throughout, in the same house. Nobody is handed between departments, and there is no rotation of therapists mid-stay. ### Yoga, meditation and body-based work Saturdays turn to holistic and body-based practice: yoga, meditation and mindfulness, breathwork, art, and time outdoors on the land. This is not decoration and it is not a spa timetable. Early recovery is a physiological event as much as a psychological one, and sleep, appetite and the ability to sit still are usually the first things to return. The self-care and habits module runs alongside it, treating rest as a right rather than a reward and food as connection rather than control. ### Equine therapy on working farmland The horses live here, on the forty hectares around the house, and equine work is part of the working week. Horses respond to what you are actually feeling rather than what you say you are feeling, which is why the work reaches people who have learned to talk their way around a therapy session. ### What happens when you go home Aftercare is planned before you leave rather than mentioned on the last day. For clients returning to the UK, care continues online or in person at the PROMIS clinics in London, with a weekly session for a full year, more than 48 in the twelve months after discharge, and a written handover to your GP so nothing has to be explained from scratch. For clients elsewhere in Europe we arrange continuity online and help find local services. Alongside that, mutual-aid groups are free, run everywhere, and are worth using whatever else you choose. ## Who will actually treat your addiction A small team, in one house, in English. You are not handed between departments and there is no rotation of therapists halfway through your stay. ### Nerea Encinas Sánchez Director · General Health Psychologist MSc General Health Psychology. Leads clinical standards, the assessment you have before you travel, and admissions. ### Berenice Paramés Jones General Health Psychologist Individual and group psychological work inside the house, crisis follow-up and coordination of the group programme. ### Marta Leal Social worker Family mediation, links to services back home, and preparing for independent life after discharge. ### Robin Lefever Founder of Sierra Recovery; MD, PROMIS Clinics UK Founder of Sierra Recovery and Managing Director of PROMIS Clinics, whose method this programme adapts. PROMIS has been treating addiction in the United Kingdom since the mid-1980s, and Robin has worked in addiction treatment for around 35 years, with thousands of patients treated with the PROMIS method in the United Kingdom. [Meet the whole clinical team and their qualifications](/clinical-team/). ## What is treated, and what that looks like day to day What you arrive with How it is worked Withdrawal Managed under medical supervision before admission wherever the family requires it, which is always for synthetic opioids and novel benzodiazepines. Qualified nursing on site throughout. Psychiatric symptoms Assessed carefully before admission. Where symptoms are active, psychiatric care is arranged through the appropriate medical route and we will not admit anyone for whom a hospital is the safer setting. Compulsive redosing The trigger-recognition module works on the actual mechanics of a session rather than on abstract willpower, because with cathinones in particular the decision point is early and easy to miss. Cravings Mapped to your own cues and built into a personal safety plan, practised in group rather than described in theory. Trauma The trauma and relapse module, run alongside the addiction work rather than after it. See [trauma and addiction](/trauma-and-addiction-rehab-spain/). Harm reduction Naloxone, never using alone, and testing where available are part of the discharge plan rather than an afterthought, because the supply will still be unpredictable when you go home. ## Treatment options for synthetic drug addiction, and how they compare Residential rehab is one treatment option among several, and it is not automatically the right one. Being straight about that is more useful to you than a page that pretends otherwise. Option What it involves, and who it suits Medical detox Required for synthetic opioids and novel benzodiazepines, and decided by family rather than by product name. Arranged before admission and billed separately. Residential rehab inpatient treatment Living at the centre for the whole programme. It suits people whose use is daily, whose supply is unpredictable, or who have had seizures, collapse or psychotic symptoms. Outpatient treatment day programmes and therapy sessions Attending sessions and going home between them. Reasonable where use is occasional and there is stable housing and support. Community and NHS services Free local drug and alcohol treatment services, reached through your GP or by self-referral. Waiting times vary and residential placements are rationed, but the support is real and it costs nothing. For many people this is the right first step rather than a lesser one. Mutual aid and support groups Free peer support meeting in person and online, everywhere, with no waiting list and no cost. Worth using alongside whatever else you choose rather than instead of it. A treatment plan should be built around your circumstances. If an outpatient or community route fits you better, we will say so at assessment and we will not charge you for the conversation. ## The therapies used, in plain terms Every centre lists the same acronyms, so here is what each one actually is and where it appears in the week. Therapy What it is, and when you would meet it here Cognitive behavioural therapy CBT, and the related REBT Evidence-based work on the link between an event, the belief you attach to it and what you then do. Taught through the ABC model in psychoeducation, practised in group therapy and applied between sessions. It is the backbone of the cognitive work rather than an optional extra. Acceptance and commitment therapy ACT Learning to have a difficult feeling without having to act on it, and choosing behaviour by your values instead. Module eight, on emotions, is built on it. Dialectical behaviour therapy DBT Distress tolerance, emotional regulation and interpersonal skills, used where emotions arrive faster and larger than they can be managed. See [DBT](/dialectical-behaviour-therapy/). EMDR A structured trauma therapy, used where trauma is driving the use and always after stabilisation rather than before it. See [EMDR](/emdr-therapy/). Group therapy Three group sessions a day, five days a week: a process group, a therapeutic group and psychoeducation. It is the largest single component of the treatment programme. See [group therapy](/group-therapy-for-addiction/). Individual therapy one-to-one counselling Three therapy sessions a week with the same clinician throughout, where material that will not surface in a group gets worked. Family therapy Offered where it is wanted, in person or online, because the people around you are part of what happens next. See [the family programme](/family-programme/). Motivational interviewing Used throughout rather than booked as a session. It is the stance the team takes: working with your reasons for change rather than arguing you into someone else’s. Holistic therapies Yoga, mindfulness and meditation, breathwork, art and equine work, on Saturdays and through the week. See [equine therapy](/equine-therapy/) and [all our therapies](/therapies/). Every element above is delivered by the clinical team as part of the residential programme. Your treatment plan sets out which of them apply to you, and it is reviewed during the stay rather than fixed on day one. ## Where else to get help, free Not everyone needs residential rehab, and nobody should be waiting on a private programme before they get any support at all. Everything below is free, and none of these organisations pays or receives a fee from us. Organisation What they do [NHS drug and alcohol services](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/drug-addiction-getting-help/) Free local treatment services, reached through your GP or by self-referral. The usual starting point for community-based drug and alcohol treatment. [Talk to FRANK](https://www.talktofrank.com/) Confidential drugs information and advice, 24 hours a day, on 0300 123 6600. No judgement and no cost. [Narcotics Anonymous](https://ukna.org/) Free mutual aid meetings for anyone with a drug problem, in person and online, with no cost and no waiting list. [We Are With You](https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/) Free, confidential support for drug, alcohol and mental health problems, in person in many areas and by webchat. [Adfam](https://adfam.org.uk/) Support and information for families and friends affected by someone else’s drug, alcohol or gambling use. [Samaritans](https://www.samaritans.org/) Free and confidential, 24 hours a day on 116 123, for anyone struggling to cope or having thoughts of suicide. Sierra Recovery neither pays nor accepts referral fees, so nothing on this list depends on where you go. If a free or community service is the right fit for you, use it. ## How to get ready - Compare on licence, not on photographsAsk any centre abroad for its registration number and the register it sits on, then look it up yourself. Ours is N.I.C.A. 67331 on the Junta de Andalucía register. - Get the medical picture togetherCurrent medications, any previous withdrawal, and any diagnosed conditions. This is what the pre-travel assessment needs, and it is what decides whether a detox is required first. - Ask what the price actually includesOurs is published: private room, meals, the core therapy programme, and a year of weekly UK aftercare, with medical, psychiatric, laboratory and hospital costs quoted separately. You get an itemised written quotation before admission. - Describe the effects, not just the nameWhat it did, how long it lasted, how you took it and how often. With synthetic compounds the effects are far more informative than whatever was written on the packet. - Get naloxone if opioids could be involvedNitazenes and fentanyl analogues are turning up in things sold as something else. Naloxone is free from UK drug services and it reverses an opioid overdose. ## How Sierra compares with private rehab at home What you get Sierra Recovery Typical private residential clinic 28-day residential programme £9,900, published in full UK £12,000–£40,000 · Australia A$30,000–A$50,000 Is the price on the website Yes, in full Usually "contact us for pricing" Your own private room Included as standard Often an upgrade Referral fees paid to third parties None Common Written itemised quotation before admission Yes Varies Distance from the people and places tied to use Rural Andalucía Usually close to home Medically supervised detox Arranged and quoted separately Quoted separately Comparison figures are the published ranges collected on our [cost calculator](/cost-calculator/): the United Kingdom at roughly £12,000 to £40,000 a month, Australia at roughly A$30,000 to A$50,000, and the United States at roughly $20,000 to $40,000 for a 30-day programme. New Zealand, South African and Canadian ranges are set out on the [country cost guides](/local-treatment-guides/). Indicative, not a quotation. Every clinic sets its own fees. ## When synthetic drug use sits on top of something else It very often does, and with this group the underlying picture frequently includes housing instability, isolation or untreated mental illness alongside trauma. At Sierra the emotional and trauma work runs alongside the addiction curriculum rather than after it. Our [dual diagnosis](/dual-diagnosis-rehab-spain/) and [trauma and addiction](/trauma-and-addiction-rehab-spain/) pages explain how the two are worked with together. Where psychiatric care or medication is part of your treatment, it is arranged through the appropriate medical route, and we will be honest with you before admission if a more intensive setting is the safer choice. ## When is it time? Sooner than with the drugs these compounds imitate, because the risk is not proportional to the amount you take. It is proportional to what happened to be in the batch. If you have collapsed, had a seizure, become paranoid, or found yourself unable to stop redosing, that is enough. ### Talk to a clinician today You will speak to our admissions team, all of them clinicians. Confidential, no obligation, and we will tell you honestly whether this programme fits or whether something closer to home would serve you better. [See how admission works](/admissions/) [What £9,900 covers](/pricing/) ## Questions people actually ask What counts as a synthetic drug? Laboratory-made compounds that imitate the effects of established drugs. The main groups are synthetic cannabinoids such as spice, synthetic cathinones such as mephedrone and monkey dust, synthetic opioids such as nitazenes and fentanyl analogues, and novel benzodiazepines such as etizolam. They were sold as legal highs until the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 in the UK, and are now supplied illicitly. Do I need a detox before I come? It depends entirely on the family. Synthetic opioids and novel benzodiazepines always require a medically supervised withdrawal, completed in an appropriate medical setting before admission and billed separately. Synthetic cannabinoids and cathinones usually do not, though the withdrawal from spice in particular is more difficult than people expect. The assessment decides this before you travel. I do not know what I have been taking. Can you still treat me? Yes, and most people in this position do not know. The assessment works from the pattern of use, the effects and the route rather than from a product name, because the product name is unreliable by design. Being straightforward about what happened is far more useful than being precise about what it was called. Is spice withdrawal real? Yes, and it surprises people who assume it behaves like cannabis. Synthetic cannabinoids act far more strongly on the same receptors, and withdrawal commonly involves severe anxiety, agitation, sweating, nausea, insomnia and intense cravings. It is one of the more difficult withdrawals to sit through without support. How long is the programme and what does it cost? It is a 28-day residential programme, published in full at GBP 9,900. That covers a private room, meals, the core therapy programme, and a year of weekly UK aftercare. Detox, where needed, is arranged and billed separately, as are medical, psychiatric and laboratory costs. You get an itemised written quotation before admission. What if I become psychotic during treatment? Psychosis is assessed before admission precisely so that this is planned for rather than improvised. Where symptoms are active we will not admit you, because a hospital is the safer setting and saying so is part of doing this properly. Where they have resolved, the risk of recurrence is built into the plan and psychiatric care is arranged through the appropriate medical route if needed. How do I get help for synthetic drug addiction? The first step towards recovery is an assessment, and ours is free and carries no obligation. You can also seek help through your GP, through a free local drug and alcohol treatment service, or through a mutual aid group, and none of those routes costs anything. If you want to talk it through with a clinician, call +44 1202 653136 and you will reach our admissions team. What does synthetic drug addiction treatment involve, from start to finish? The course of treatment runs in four stages. An assessment before you travel, which decides whether a medically supervised detox is needed first. Any detox, completed in an appropriate medical setting and billed separately. Then the 28-day residential treatment programme itself: three group therapy sessions a day, individual therapy three times a week and the seventeen-module curriculum. Then aftercare, agreed before you leave and continuing online or in person in London. How much does synthetic drug rehab cost, and what affects the price? Sierra publishes a single figure: GBP 9,900 for the 28-day residential programme, with a private room included. What changes the total is whether you need a medically supervised detox, which is arranged and billed separately, and any medical, psychiatric or laboratory costs. Private residential rehab elsewhere commonly runs from around GBP 12,000 to GBP 40,000 a month in the United Kingdom and from roughly A$30,000 to A$50,000 in Australia. You get an itemised written quotation before admission, and we neither pay nor accept referral fees. What are the signs and symptoms of synthetic drug addiction? The signs are the same product hitting completely differently between batches, compulsive redosing with no natural stopping point, blackouts or seizures, and paranoia or psychosis that did not happen with the drug it imitates. Withdrawal depends on the family rather than the product name. Is lasting recovery from synthetic drug addiction actually possible? Yes, and the evidence is better than the public conversation suggests. What predicts long-term recovery is not willpower but what is in place afterwards: continuing therapy, a treated mental health condition, a support network and a relapse plan that was written before it was needed. That is why completing synthetic drug rehab matters less on its own than what follows it, and why aftercare is planned during the stay, so it is in place before you leave. How can I help someone with synthetic drug addiction? Start by getting support for yourself, because living alongside someone with an addiction is its own burden and Adfam and Al-Anon exist for exactly that. Beyond that: raise it when they are not intoxicated, be specific about what you have seen rather than general about what they are, and offer a concrete next step such as an assessment or a call to a free service. Ultimatums delivered in anger rarely work. We speak to families every day and that conversation costs nothing. + ## Talk to a clinician today You will speak to our admissions team, English-speaking clinicians who know the programme and the people in it. Callback within 24 hours. Step 1 of 3 Confidential, and no obligation Registered health centre. Authorised by the Junta de Andalucía, N.I.C.A. 67331. ### Related pages [The Regulation Model](/the-regulation-model/)[Assessment & detox](/medical-assessment-and-detox/)[Our programme](/our-programme-at-sierra-recovery/)[Dual diagnosis](/dual-diagnosis-rehab-spain/)[Pricing](/pricing/)[Admissions](/admissions/) --- Source: https://sierrarecoveryspain.com/synthetic-drug-addiction-treatment/ Retrieved: 2026-08-27 Canonical HTML version of this page: https://sierrarecoveryspain.com/synthetic-drug-addiction-treatment/