Addiction prevention starts long before treatment. In addition to our residential treatment community, outpatient support and medically supervised detox at Elah for women and Alon for men, Retorno runs community-wide prevention and empowerment programs. Every year, more than 30,000 people take part in them.
Who the programs are for
Retorno’s prevention programs are designed for students and teachers, parents, army soldiers and officers, professionals and corporate teams, rabbis, community leaders and activists. Workshops and seminars range from half a day to a full week, and each program can be tailored to the group.
What participants gain
- Recognizing the early signs of addiction in yourself and in others
- Understanding what lies behind extreme behaviors, and why people turn to them as a “solution”
- Practical tools for prevention, open conversation and asking for help
- Experiencing, in a warm and trusting setting, what powerlessness, loss of control and recovery really mean
Program formats
Workshops
What really happens when you hide from pain? Is there another way? Interactive workshops let participants experience the power of sharing with others and asking for help. Learn about our half-day workshop for students and educators.
Campus tours
There is nothing like seeing things up close. A tour of the Retorno campus near Beit Shemesh shows how honesty, openness and willingness work in daily life in a recovery community.
Horseback riding and animal-assisted therapy
Retorno uses horseback riding to experience the 12 steps, and its therapeutic ranch and petting zoo offer a different way to learn about yourself: identifying with animals, using nonverbal communication and noticing how you project your feelings. Read more about our horseback riding workshops, or read It’s Your Move, Rabbi Eitan Eckstein’s book on the method.
For parents of young adults
Many of the questions parents ask us come before a crisis. If your son or daughter is spending a year in Israel, read our guide on drugs and alcohol during a gap year. If you are worried about a young adult who is struggling to move forward, read about failure to launch and addiction.
Bring a prevention program to your group
Interested in a prevention program for your school, community, organization or team? Contact Retorno and tell us about your group. Call us in the US at (646) 248-7297, or fill out the form on this page.
