ABOUT US
Istana is a luxury private rehab created for clients with real-world responsibilities and reputations to protect; people who can’t enter a public environment for recovery or simply feel they would not thrive in a group therapy environment.
Our clients are individuals, families, and organisations from around the world who require the most effective treatment conducted in an environment of privacy, discretion, and comfort. Over the years we have treated many high-profile clients from all walks of life, none have ever even been identified as clients of Istana or even been noted as entering treatment.
We opened our first facility in Bali, Indonesia in 2018 and since then have added Ibiza and Barbados to better serve our global clientele.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
An Elite Team at Your Service
Our teams in each location consist of best-in-class practitioners from a broad range of healthcare, therapeutic and bodywork disciplines.
Treating teams are curated specifically for their skills and experience in the rapid and effective resolution of each client’s presenting issues and their unique therapeutic requirements.
All Istana practitioners are qualified and certified to the highest levels of international accreditation and are leading professionals in their fields.
They are highly experienced, non-judgemental and, above all, compassionate.
As Istana Jiwa’s Program Director, Emily oversees team management and all aspects of each client’s program ensuring that their experience with us is exceptional in every way and treatment goals are met.
Emily’s personal journey combined with her years of experience working with VIP clients around the world makes her uniquely qualified to work closely with our clients in their quest to change their current circumstances for the better and take charge of their lives again.
Dr. Jeremy Alford is a graduate member of the British Psychological Society, Member of the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy and the Member of The British Society of Clinical and Academic Hypnosis.
He is a qualified clinical hypnotherapist and neurofeedback/biofeedback therapist and is the Founder and President of the Middle East Eating Disorders Association www.meeda.me a non-profit organisation.
Jeremy adopts an integrative cognitive behavioural therapy approach in addition to mindfulness practices. This combination and Jeremy’s progressive attitude offer the best results in the overall psychological intervention of mental health therapy treatment.
From her Harley Street practice, Lila Ramsahai is the main point of contact for Istana’s UK-based clients providing on-the-ground psychotherapeutic support and smoothing the path for admission to one of our locations in Barbados, Bali or Ibiza.
Lila comes with a wealth of experience personally and professionally as an Intercultural Psychotherapist, Wellbeing Life Coach and Family therapist. Lila is a registered member of the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) and an accredited Holistic or Wellbeing Life Coach and feels honoured to help others in their personal growth and well-being, which she views as her true calling.
The last couple of decades of her life has resulted in the life path of understanding the human psyche, existential freedom, anxiety, purpose, and happiness. A true seeker of ‘the meaning of life’ or Truth, she prides herself on never giving up on living an authentic and balanced life.
Lila maintains an integrative approach in her therapeutic work, which allows her to use various techniques/modalities to help each individual with their own specific needs. Her conviction that we are all unique beings looking for unique solutions, especially for our health and well-being, is evident in her work. Lila’s therapeutic work includes the latest findings on ‘mindfulness’, ‘trauma’ and ‘living in the here and now’. Her hybrid therapy approach that combines the core principles of psychotherapy, life coaching and mindfulness is very successful and received very well by current clients.
Catalina is Istana’s Bali-based Psychologist. Catalina specialises in holistic psychology incorporating breath-work and meditation techniques into her practice.
Clients coming to us for depression and anxiety respond particularly well to Catalina’s uniquely versatile set of skills.
She is trained in Art-therapy, Gestalt, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Sound Healing and Kundalini Yoga. She believes in reconnecting with your inner voice, and that the only possible guide is yourself and your own body.
Using these tools Catalina accompanies her client’s growth process, facilitating the space needed to observe with honesty, accepting each facet of oneself, understanding the specific function of each emotion the client experiences, and doing so with the confidence to express and assume it in order to transform it into something productive in their evolution.
Using psychotherapy, the body and breath, Catalina teaches our clients to express their true essence and connect with their own ability to change and shift old patterns and beliefs to become the person that they have always wanted to be.
Dr Yasmin Halim is a graduate of Hasanundin, the finest medical university in Indonesia. Yasmin and her team provide expert care in the management of withdrawal from substance abuse and they specialise in working in the field of mental health.
Yasmin has deep experience in emergency medicine and is internationally certified in traumatology and cardiology.
Yasmin oversees all medical screens, medical supervision protocols and ensures that our clients are safe and have appropriate medical care for as long as required.
Dr Marja van Engelen heads our clinical and nursing team in Europe. She is a graduate of the University of Utrecht with over 40 years of experience in international clinical operations.
Dr Marja’s experience ranges from general practice to internal medicine (Amstelveen Medical Hospital), occupational medicine (KLM, royal Dutch airlines) and she specialises in the latest practices of integrated medicine.
Dr Majeks leads the Istana medical team in Barbados. Specialising in emergency medicine and substance abuse and withdrawal, Dr Majeks and his team are well-versed in treating VIP patients away from the confines of a traditional medical practice allowing delivery of a fully featured hospital/clinic within a client’s villa.
Dr Majeks is the doctor of choice for most VIP and high-profile clients visiting, or residing in, Barbados. He and his team are absolutely discreet and bring the expertise, compassion and experience to help our clients through even the most difficult situations.
Dr Majeks was born in the UK and is of Nigerian and Bajan descent. He earned his medical degree from the University of the West Indies in 2003 and has worked in Emergency Medicine, Surgery and Family Medicine in Barbados and the UK. Dr Majeks holds a doctorate in Emergency Medicine.
Dr Majeks has co-founded two medical practices the most recent of which is Urgent Care Mobile in 2016. Dr Majeks maintains a very active lifestyle balancing the responsibilities of working for Istana, running two busy medical practices, a family consisting of a wife and a young child and social activities such as participating in charitable initiatives around the island.
“Hi, I’m Agathe, I lead the wellbeing practices team at Istana. I love life and want to help others feel the same way! My mission is for everyone to unearth their inner luminosity and spread joy and love so that we may all vibrate higher.
I have been fortunate enough to learn from beautiful bright souls in the world of yoga, meditation, breathwork, Buddhist dharma, self-love, and inner child healing and have studied in California, Texas, New York, Mysore, Dharamshala, and Bali. My passion is to now share these many treasures and sacred practices with others.
It brings me great joy to connect, listen, hold space, and guide our clients to become their own teacher and healer – for them to see themselves, love what they see, and recognise their power.
I am curious and playful; love to travel, jump in the waves, and frolic on the beach. I am passionate about environmental conservation, particularly the ocean and our colourful friends that call it home.”
