For Stef, addiction grew out of pain.

The 20-year-old from Playa del Rey lives with a chronic pain disorder that surfaced after a swimming injury when she was 10. To deal with the pain, doctors gave her prescription painkillers.

By high school, she was running through a prescription in a week or two.

Now a fine arts major in college, Stef has taken ecstasy to create bright, bold paintings, and meth for meticulous work.

She found Stone Eagle Retreat, a residential rehabilitation facility in Malibu, through a friend who had been helped by the clinical director and co-founder, Nancy Szakacsy.

Stef said the center saved her life, in part due to Szakacsy's unique approach to therapy.

She has patients describe certain parts of their personality and then flesh out each aspect of themselves, including names and ages. "This is a loving way to look at all the parts of who you are and make peace with them," she said.

Stef has Gerth, the in-your-face addict. She also has Sarah, the good girl who maintained the image that everything was fine; Jasper, her androgenous inner artist; and Zara, her survivor and warrior who keeps her going.

Now, when she runs into a difficult situation, she can recognize what is driving her to want to use drugs and recognize that it is coming from the addict part of herself. Then she draws on the part of herself that can counteract that impulse, such as her survivor, because she wants to live.

"It's been really helpful," she said of the approach. "It takes a lot of guilt or shame off of me in finding the addict."

Szakacsy is passionate about her approach, lighting up as she talks about what it means for patients to be able to look at their addictions in such a way.

She draws on more than 20 years of addiction experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist with a master's degree in counseling.

She calls Stone Eagle a "gift," both to her and to patients seeking help.

Her husband, Doug, is the center's health and wellness director. The couple live in Oxnard.

Nestled picturesquely on a hilltop surrounded by 21 acres in Malibu, Stone Eagle Retreat is trying to offer all of the luxury of a high-class rehab facility while still carving a separate niche from other high-priced facilities in the area.

Private, for-profit treatment centers are on the rise in the U.S., treating 29 percent of patients in 2006, compared with 26 percent in 2002, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. About 10 percent of people getting treatment were in non-hospital residential settings.

Danette Henthorn, a Santa Rosa Valley resident and one of the retreat investors, said she thought Nancy Szakacsy could provide a different solution than what was being offered elsewhere in the industry.

The $4.75 million property was purchased with the rehabilitation center in mind, but what made it work was the core of people running the program, she said.

The price of recovery

Stone Eagle Retreat carries a hefty price tag for its clients. From the claw-foot tubs and custom tile work to the gourmet chef preparing meals, the site and its services embody luxury. The retreat takes six residential clients at a time but also offers its services on an outpatient basis.

So far, about 10 people have gone through treatment at the center.

For a 30-day stay, the price runs about $35,000. Szakacsy said that is on the low end of the scale for a Malibu rehab center.

The center is still in its growth stages, but Henthorn said she invested in the business knowing it wouldn't be an overnight success.

The center offers patients the option of Prometa treatment, a process of using three drugs to physically curb addiction cravings.

The treatment has been controversial due to its high cost — Stone Eagle clients get a slightly discounted treatment that runs about $10,000 — and the thin sampling of studies on the treatment.

On Jan. 17, Dr. David Smith, founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics of San Francisco and owner of The Prometa Center in Santa Monica, will speak at an open house at Stone Eagle Retreat.

Treatment has to reach beyond the biological assistance Prometa offers, said Dr. Matthew Torrington, medical director at The Prometa Center. He likens the treatment to helping fix a patient's brakes — but that's not the only thing that needs to be in good working condition for a car to run properly.

Patients also have to take care of the psychological, social, nutritional and spiritual aspects, he said. That's where the partnership with Stone Eagle Retreat comes in.

Mental, physical tune-up

Not every patient comes for the Prometa treatment. "Mark," a patient from New York, didn't use Prometa, but came to the center for the other therapies it offered.

Mark owns an international business. For years, he had been a highly functioning alcoholic who would start drinking during the week and drink to excess through the weekend. While drinking, he often used drugs such as ecstasy or cocaine.

Finally, he came home one night and his wife and parents told him he needed to do something or he would ruin his life.

He committed to going somewhere for help. He went online and found Stone Eagle Retreat. The minute his wife spoke to Szakacsy, Mark said he knew that was where he would go.

Mark said the services offered at Stone Eagle beyond the actual therapy ended up being a therapy of their own.

He was eating healthy meals and working out on a regular basis. He slept better. On Friday nights, to alleviate the past associations with partying, the center offered "chef and chess," where the residents would cook with the chef and then play chess.

"By the third week, I was not only mentally at ease, but physically feeling 100 times better than when I walked in the door," he said.

He went hiking, mountain biking and kayaking, activities he had never done before.

Szakacsy said it is important for people to experience natural ways to find joy without using drugs.

"Boredom is a great criminal of addiction," she said. "Being active is important because, until you master all of the things that need to be healed for you to be able to do life without using ... you have to be busy."

Doug Szakacsy likens Stone Eagle to the womb. Patients eat nutritious meals, get the supplements they need, exercise and feel great. They don't want to use again, they feel so good, he said.

But when they leave, they are dropped back into the real world.

Continuing success

The center encourages supportive bonds between clients so they can help one another through those trying times.

"As much as you want to be everything for them, you can't be that," Doug Szakacsy said.

One client did relapse, which can be a natural part of the recovery process.

He remained in close contact with the center and has now been sober for about three months.

Once clients leave Stone Eagle, they know they can call when they run into a problem, or if they don't live too far away, even drop in for a visit.

On a recent day, the pain in Stef's foot was so fierce she didn't know what to do. She got in her car and drove to Stone Eagle Retreat for support.

Stef is starting her own organization to help artists struggling with addiction and to promote the idea that the best artwork comes from a sober mind. Stone Eagle is hosting a fundraising art show in March.

Mark is adjusting to being back in New York. He said he's not nervous about the adjustment but is taking it slow.

"I don't want to throw big challenges at myself," he said. When friends threw a weekend party, he and his wife decided not to go because he wasn't quite ready.

He credits the retreat with his recovery but also emphasized that an individual has to be willing to make the change.

"I came in there with no clue what was going to happen," he said. But he went in with the attitude that he would do whatever it took "so when I left I would be able to be a better father, a better husband, better co-worker and better human being."

On the Net:

www.stoneeagle-retreat.com