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De Novo Treatment Centre A New Beginning

279 Adams Rd. Sundridge ON. P0A 1Z0 Phone: 705-384-1466 or Toll Free: 1-800-933-6686 www.denovo.ca

De Novo Treatment Centre is an alcohol and drug treatment service op-erated as a partnership between Management and Unionized members of Ontario’s Construction Trades.

Our Centre is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are here to help men, women and youth who are in need of treatment for substance abuse. Our services are not limited to the members themselves as we also assist family members who are covered under the benefit plan. Please feel free to call us for additional information or assistance.

Events

Once again we are looking forward to our annual Alumni Barbeque. This year we will be holding this event on Saturday August 08, 2015 from 11:00 to 3:00.

We hold this event to celebrate recovery, strength, and hope in addiction recovery. We invite De Novo Alumni, Family, Union members and Employ-ers, as well as the De Novo Board of Directors to come celebrate this event. Please R.S.V.P. by July 31, 2015 if you wish to attend.

For information regarding De Novo Events, please contact the Centre or check out our website for details.

The De Novo Building Block - Newsletter Spring and Summer 2015 — Issue 9

Client Comment

My biggest issues when

arriving at De Novo were

self-esteem, self-worth and

believing in myself. I feel

that De Novo has provided

me the information, tools

and way of thinking to look

deeper inside myself and

find practical answers and

solutions to my issues and

difficulties around addic-

tion.

- Anonymous Client

In This Issue

Page

Events 1

Executive

Director’s Report 2

Our Team 2/3

A Recipe from our

Kitchen 3

Program Report 3

The Medicine Wheel

Teachings 4

Aftercare Report 4

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“A Healthy Standpoint”

It is always a pleasure to address the

folks who read our newsletter. One of

the recent areas of concern for work-

ing professionals is the increased

amount of time spent sitting during

the day. As De Novo continues to pro-

mote healthier lifestyles in the lives of

those affected by addiction, we also

promote good health choices for our

staff when the opportunity presents

itself. One of the up and coming strat-

egies to counteract the issue of sitting

is alternative office arrangements. Recently De Novo has provided a

desk that has the option to raise or lower as needed. This allows staff

working at this workstation to stand or sit while working and do so ac-

curately based on ergonomic needs.

We all talk about addiction and the impact that it has on the person

who is struggling with the disease. We sometimes forget the war zone

the family lives in. At De Novo we have initiated a program where the

family of the client also gets help. This can begin with a phone call to

the family member by a De Novo counsellor. A referral can then be

made to a 12 step support group for the family, along with a referral to

any other agency that may be required within the family member’s

community. The family member is also invited to meet with a De Novo

counsellor onsite. Statistics show that if we can treat the family as well

as the person who is struggling with the addiction, the client’s chance

for success in recovery is greatly increased. Sometimes when the family

member thinks they are helping the individual, the family member can

in fact be enabling them in their substance abuse. It’s important to

know that positive family help has a huge influence on recovery for the

family. Please know that family members can call De Novo anytime and

receive confidential support from our staff.

Helga has been a part of our

team at De Novo since Janu-

ary 2014.

Helga worked as a long-haul

truck driver, but in 2002 de-

cided to follow another

path.

Helga enrolled in the Culi-

nary Management program

at George Brown College

and completed at the top of

her class.

Helga brings a great deal of

experience working in the

food industry. Helga com-

pleted her apprenticeship at

Deerhurst Resort in Hunts-

ville, Ontario. In 2006, Helga

obtained her Red Seal Certi-

fication. Helga enjoys mak-

ing healthy meals and snacks

from scratch.

Helga is a dedicated and

hard working employee. We

are very pleased to have her

on our team.

Helga Mertins, Cook

Executive Director’s Report By: Marie Lloyd, ICADC - Executive Director

TEAM-MEMBERS

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Jason is a Canadore College

graduate of the Mental

Health and Addiction worker

program.

In the Spring of 2014, Jason

completed his college place-

ment with De Novo and

joined our team permanent-

ly in May of that year.

Jason enjoys working with

clients in group settings as

well as one-on-one.

Jason is one of our newer

employees bringing new

ideas, a contagious sense of

humour and a great amount

of energy to the De Novo

team.

Jason is involved with the

community in his spare time

and enjoys an active life-

style.

We are pleased to have Ja-

son as a part of our team

and looking forward to the

future.

Jason Paquette, Counsellor

A Recipe From the De Novo Kitchen Helga’s Favourite Recipe - Best Ever Banana Bread

1/2 cup Butter

1 1/2 cups of sugar

2 eggs

1 cup mashed, ripe bananas

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups of flour

1/2 tsp. of baking powder

3/4 tsp. of baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup of sour milk or sour

cream mixed with milk

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, then bananas and vanilla. Sift the

dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture by alternating be-

tween the two, dry ingredients and milk. Use a lightly greased bake pan.

Bake in the oven at 350 for approximately 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Program Report By: Brian Janes, MBA CCADC - Program Manager

At De Novo, we continue to grow and improve our program con-

tent. Over the winter, the management and clinical team have worked

together to review our program and have made several adjustments to

it. These adjustments were made based on Best Practices within the

field. Our ongoing goal is to further strengthen the services we provide

to our clients.

As for myself, after a very long winter, I am heading to Africa for a few

weeks. Myself, along with 17 others from Simcoe County will be taking

this trip through the organization “Me To We”. During this trip, we will

be contributing to a building project taking place in Kenya. I am confi-

dent that I will receive much more from the people there than I could

ever give.

Have a great summer and hope to see you at our Alumni BBQ.

TEAM MEMBERS Cont’d

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As you can see in our Events section of the News-

letter, we are currently planning for our Annual De

Novo Alumni Barbeque. We are proud to be able

to hold this event here at De Novo to celebrate

recovery strength, and hope in addiction recovery.

We have passed our one year anniversary of the

new Aftercare programs offered by De Novo. De

Novo had implemented a new version of the After-

care meeting which is now being offered from a

distance and our attendance has remained very

positive. In early 2014, we facilitated a few Recov-

ery Enhancement program pilots. We are now run-

ning Recovery Enhancement like it has always been

offered here at De Novo and it too has proven to

be a great addition to the services offered here at

De Novo Treatment Centre. Clients and staff have

all shared positive feedback regarding the program

and we look forward to future successful weeks of

Recovery Enhancement with our clients.

“The Recovery Enhancement program proved inval-

uable to me. The flexibility afforded by the counsel-

lors involved was appreciated. I got perspective on

my growth to this point in recovery as well as the

honour of carrying the message to others.” - Anon-

ymous Client

For more information on De Novo Aftercare, please contact the Centre at 1-800-933-6686 or review our website: www.denovo.ca

Aftercare Report By: Aaron Sinclair, ICADC - Aftercare Manager

Its springtime once again as we see the beauty of

nature in its early stages of life and re-birth all

around; many are in the recovery period of our life,

as well!

One of the instruments that have been passed on

over thousands of years is the

Medicine Wheel and all its

teachings…over two hundred.

With the freedom of being at De

Novo, I enjoy the privilege of

being able to use the Wheel in

working with others and have

turned to it in various forms in order to get a point

across to clients. However, the Medicine Wheel is

able to be implemented in all our lives whether in

recovery or not, in order to address and maintain

the Four Realms of our existence. What purpose

does this serve me? It helps me to keep balance in

my life and protects me from what may be harmful.

The Medicine Wheel also helps in deciding that

which is good and healthy for me; impacting what

may be allowed into my recovery, my life. In recov-

ery, an example would be as follows: Just as there

are four directions: East, South, West and North, so

too do we exist from Four Realms: Physical, Emo-

tional, Mental and Spiritual. We also (or at least

most of us) have our family (east) extended family

and friends (south), co-workers (west) and our com-

munity, town and society (north); I am at the centre

of the Wheel. I also have a choice of who and what I

allow into my circle. Is this person healthy or un-

healthy for me to be around?

But what about those that do not have an addiction

issue? We have the opportunity to design our own

wheel for our own recovery, whether we are the

person in recovery or the person that has been

affected by someone else’s addiction.

The Medicine Wheel Teachings

By: Mark De Roche, Addiction Counsellor

If you wish to subscribe to our semi annual News-

letters, please contact the Centre, click “sign up” on

our website or email: asinclair.denovo@bellnet.ca