{"id":12419,"date":"2020-11-30T17:02:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-30T17:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=12419"},"modified":"2020-12-08T16:26:43","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T16:26:43","slug":"12419","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/?p=12419","title":{"rendered":"‘I have today’: How a drug addict turned his life around and became a sober coach"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=B66NUuJ7pwI&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=NoahGrossman” align=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”]\n

“I’m going on 15 years but when people ask me seriously about it, I tell them I have today.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]W<\/span>hen I asked David where he was with his addiction, he said \u201cI have today.\u201d 15 years of sobriety and he still lives day to day battling his demons, although with a new lease on life. Since 2014, David has worked as an independent sober coach, helping those who suffer from addiction, just as he had all those years ago. David\u2019s four-year addiction to crack cocaine left him separated from his family, isolated from his friends and on the verge of death more than once. Today, David is pleading with those who are in the position that he was once in to \u201cpick up the phone and get some help.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text]

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1967<\/h3>
David is born in Toronto, Ontario.\"David<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>
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1987<\/h3>
David begins working for his family business.\"David's<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]David was born on June 26, 1967 to an \u201caffluent\u201d Jewish household in Toronto. When he was 20 years old, he began working for his family business, Heritage Fine Clothing where he would be running operations as the company\u2019s president. In an unfortunate twist, the extremely successful Heritage Fine Clothing would go bankrupt in 2004, leaving David scared about the future of his life, as well as the lives of his wife and children.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
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2004<\/h3>
David’s family business goes bankrupt.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>
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2005<\/h3>
David uses crack cocaine for the first time.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[vc_column_text]This fear, he says, is what led him to use crack cocaine for the first time. \u201cMy displacement, my anxiety and my feelings of not belonging went away instantly,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI thought that I had found the ultimate solution to all the pain that I had felt my whole life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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David\u2019s drug use progressively got worse, beginning with once a week trips to the dealer, then two times a week, then eventually everyday for nearly three years of crack cocaine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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His first big scare came in the form of a hospital visit where he was told by his doctor that he could have died at any moment. David had toxified one of his lungs due to continuous drug abuse, and was hospitalized for two months as doctors and surgeons drained his infected organs.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]

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2006<\/h3>
David is hospitalized and attends rehab. He relapses within six months of returning.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]\n
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Over the course of his addiction, David spent approximately half a million dollars on crack cocaine.<\/h3>\n\t
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According to www.drugfreeworld.com, long term effects of smoking crack cocaine include:
\nPermanent damage to blood vessels
\nLiver, kidney and lung damage
\nRespiratory failure
\nMalnutrition
\nSevere tooth decay
\nDelirium and\/or psychosis
\nSevere depression<\/p>\n

Photo taken from Find Rehab Centers using the Creative Commons license<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]After his bout at the hospital, David went to rehab. He completed a 30-day program at Homewood Health<\/a> in Guelph, Ontario, only to return to separation papers from his wife. Once again, David felt \u201cdisplaced and scared.\u201d Within six months of leaving rehab, David went back to crack cocaine.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cI had to hit a bottom\u2026 A feeling of losing everything and everyone,\u201d he said. After eight months, David finally made the choice to get better. In 2007, David began his path to recovery.

… a feeling of losing everything and everyone…<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/span><\/p>\n

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He participated in 12-step meetings, got a sponsor through Narcotics Anonymous<\/a> and started talking to a drug counselor. Where David\u2019s story differs from the average recovery story is that he made it his life\u2019s goal to make a difference and help others who were in the position that he once was.\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]Just as he was on the path to recovery, he began working at JACS<\/a> (Jewish Addiction Community Services) in Toronto. For eight years, he was a director of that charity \u201chelping people and educating people.\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]In the midst of working at JACS, David opened up his own halfway house, an institution for people with addictions to learn the skills necessary for integrating back into society after becoming sober. While working at the halfway house, David decided to go back to school on a continuing education basis.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″]

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2007<\/h3>
David “surrenders” crack cocaine.\"David<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][infogram id=”untitled-chart-1hmr6g7dv9z0z6n?live”]<\/a> The most commonly abused substance by teenagers in Canada.<\/p>\n

Statistics taken from www.teenchallenge.ca<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”12452″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text]In 2013, David received his drug counselling and Master\u2019s of Social Work degrees from McMaster University. Since then, David has opened up rehabilitation centers across Canada and currently works as a private practice drug counselor where he is helping people “get sober… and improve their self esteem.”<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_single_image image=”12451″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][infogram id=”untitled-infographic-1h1749vl985vl6z?live”]<\/a><\/p>\n

21% of the population in Canada will experience addiction at some point in their life.<\/p>\n

Statistics taken from www.camh.ca<\/a>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

An intimate conversation with David Rosenberg<\/h2>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=91j6ccXufgw&ab_channel=NoahGrossman” align=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_cta h2=”If you or anyone you know is suffering from addiction, please consider the following contacts.” color=”juicy-pink”]David Rosenberg<\/a>: (416) 836-1084<\/p>\n

CAMH<\/a>: (416) 535-8501<\/span><\/p>\n

Addiction Canada<\/a>: 1 844-663-2017<\/span><\/p>\n

Kids Help Phone<\/a>: 1-800-668-6868<\/span>[\/vc_cta][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”12464″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=B66NUuJ7pwI&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=NoahGrossman” align=”center”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css_animation=”zoomIn”] [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When I asked David where he was with his addiction, he said \u201cI have today.\u201d 15 years of sobriety and he still lives day to day battling his demons, although with a new lease on life. Since 2014, David has worked as an independent sober coach, helping those who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":12480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[141,637,263],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gh360.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}