Addiction Treatment Center Brings Spirituality to Recovery

MONTREAL, Canada — For almost 20 years, an addiction crisis center in Montreal, Canada, has provided counseling, family support, financial assistance, intervention, education and aftercare to clients with any type of addiction. What makes the center unique is its spiritual focus: The institution, Chabad Project Pride-Centre Lifeline is a full-fledged Chabad House.

Founded by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Ronnie Fine, who at the time served as a chaplain at McGill University, Project Pride emerged when Fine encountered more and more cases of students and their parents seeking help for drug abuse and other addictions. He took up counseling, brought in experts and eventually developed the drug crisis drop-in center that exists today. But what began as a drug addiction service quickly expanded to handle everything from alcohol dependency to behavior addictions with a holistic approach that focuses on the root causes of unwanted behavior.

Its clients include thousands of area residents of all ages, and religious and ethnic backgrounds.

Rabbi Benyamin Bresinger, who directs the center today, came to the project after developing a seminar combining elements of a 12-step recovery program with principles derived from Chasidic thought. The seminar attracted a following of people interested in exploring their Jewish roots, so Bresinger turned to Project Pride for the opportunity to put the philosophies extolled by his seminar into action.

Article continued (Chabad.org News)