First of Its Kind in Israel, New CHOICE Center to Treat Trauma and Addiction in Young People
The Israel Police thwarted a drug distribution operation in the Kiryat Gat area during a drive / Israel Police spokesperson
The Public Health Association, which has led addiction treatment in Israel for more than three decades, is launching a new and first-of-its-kind center this month for teenagers and young adults. The goal is to provide holistic, stigma-free care just before the snowball gets out of control.
While addiction treatment in Israel has come a long way, one critical arena has remained without a precise and tailored response for years, teenagers and young adults. This month, that complicated reality changes completely. The Public Health Association is launching CHOICE, an innovative, integrated therapeutic space designed to provide targeted treatment for post-trauma and addiction among the younger generation.
For more than three decades, the Public Health Association has operated a system of addiction treatment services in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the health funds, and government ministries. Its well-known services include detoxification and painkiller use reduction clinics operating in hospitals and health funds, the "Dror" network, the national addiction treatment system, and the "Yizhar" program for reducing the harms of drug use. Now, the association is bringing this long-standing professional experience into the world of young people.
"Over the years we encountered many young people who sought help through the association's services, but most of the services are for more extreme populations, older people, more addicted people, less for young people. The treatment protocol did not allow us to accept them into our frameworks," says Yasmine Nahum, CEO of the Public Health Association. "The tragedy was that we met those same young people again and again a few years later, when they were older and more addicted, more hurt and in much greater pain."
The location chosen to start again
The center has received, and continues to receive, many inquiries from families of soldiers, reservists, and teenagers. Many of them found themselves turning to mind-altering substances as a survival strategy to cope with the sights, the sounds, the fear of war, and the symptoms of post-trauma in the complex reality of life in Israel.
"The professional and human commitment of all employees of the Public Health Association is to continue developing innovative responses in tune with the times and the needs arising from the field, alongside continuing to operate the existing system of services in both routine and emergency periods," Nahum emphasizes.
CHOICE is located in the heart of a business complex in central Israel, near Ayalon Mall. The choice of a prestigious location and a modern office building is no accident, it stems from a conscious approach intended to break down and remove the social stigma that often accompanies the world of addiction treatment.
Inside the center, patients meet a young, dynamic, and professional team that provides holistic and innovative support. CHOICE is not just a "treatment institution," but an open and welcoming space that allows young people and their families to stop, breathe, and reconsider their path.
The center's services include individual therapy alongside extensive family support. This reflects the worldview that guides the Public Health Association across all its services, the family circle, parents, siblings, and spouses, plays a decisive, critical, and inseparable role in building the path to recovery and success.
"Sometimes, all a teenager or young adult needs is a guiding hand that speaks at eye level and in their language. A place that does not judge them, but listens, understands, guides, and accompanies," explains Ligal Mezzo Abutbul, the center's director.
At CHOICE, the center addresses parents, young people, and family members directly and asks them not to remain alone with the question marks and concerns. If you feel control is slipping from your hands, if the mental reality has become unbearable and the search for relief has led to unwanted places, know that there is somewhere to turn.
The first step begins with a choice. CHOICE invites you to make contact today for a discreet, confidential, and professional consultation. Because the road to real change always begins with one right choice.
* CHOICE Center, 050-3637918, Choice@aguda.co.il * The Public Health Association hotline, 6271
