Resources

Adventure Recovery provides individual and group guided outdoor activities, trainings, and expertise for those seeking guidance and support in recovery, mentorship, and adventure experiences. You choose the activity, we provide the gear, the team know-how, the instruction, the coaching, and the experience of a lifetime.

How Can Al-Anon Help Me?
Our personal situations may be different, but we share as equals because of what we have in common: our lives have been affected by another person’s drinking. Al-Anon is a mutual support group.

We can find understanding and support when we share our common experience with each other. Some of us are here because a spouse or partner has struggled with alcoholism. For others, the problem drinker is a parent, child, or grandchild. Sometimes a brother, a sister, or some other friend or relative brings us to Al-Anon. Many of us have had more than one alcoholic family member or friend.

Alcoholism has similar effects on us all, even though our relationships to the alcoholic may be different. Many newcomers are most interested in hearing about situations and relationships that are similar to their own. Over time, however, we come to understand that we can benefit from hearing how the Al-Anon principles worked in many different circumstances.

There are many 12-Step meetings in New Canaan and the surrounding towns.  Feel free to call 203-855-0075 to get the AA answering service, or go here to find a meeting.

AA meetings vary in format and size. There are discussion meetings, speaker meetings, meetings which center around reading AA literature, and some meetings are combinations of these formats.

At any AA meeting, alcoholics share from their own experience about what their lives were like when they were drinking, what actions they have taken to recover from active alcoholism, and what their lives are like today.

AA does not keep any membership records. You do not have to reveal anything about yourself when you attend a meeting. Attending an AA meeting does not obligate you to anything; you are welcome to make your own decision about whether to come back.

Cover My Mental Health supports individuals to overcome insurer obstacles to care, notably denials for “not medically necessary,” “no in-network provider” available, and other inexplicable barriers to care. Joe Feldman is Founder & President.

There is also online access to local treatment services here.  The DMHAS website has a significant amount of data an information on it.

Ensuring the well-being of children through vital 24-hour services.

While our primary catchment area is Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Weston, Westport, Wilton and the Greater Bridgeport area, Kids In Crisis services are available to anyone in Connecticut.

We have the only emergency shelter for kids in the state that:

• Serves newborns to 18-year-olds
• Accepts children referred by concerned community members
• Accepts children of any gender or gender identity
• Has an onsite Health Clinic

Liberation Programs is one of Fairfield County’s leading behavioral health organizations specializing in treatment for all types of substance abuse including alcohol, opiates, depressants and stimulants. Our mission is to help individuals and families overcome addiction in order to restore their lives and ultimately strengthen our communities. Liberation provides services for youth, adults and families that include two inpatient treatment programs, outpatient and intensive outpatient services, health education for older adults and people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses, treatment and resources for adolescents and their families, education and prevention efforts in the community, and permanent supportive housing for families. In operation since 1971, the agency has sites in Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport and served more than 2,000 individuals in our last fiscal year.

OUR MISSION
Liberation Programs’ mission is to empower people and their families to be free of the disease of addiction by providing targeted solutions that restore lives and strengthen our community.

Mountainside is a nationally acclaimed alcohol and drug rehabilitation center, celebrating over 20 years of providing innovative and comprehensive addiction treatment. What draws people to Mountainside is the wide variety of treatment options available and the fact that treatment plans are tailored to the individual based on what fits best for them. A combination of evidence-based treatments, both therapeutic and holistic, combine to form each resident’s customized treatment plan. Mountainside is located at the base of its own private mountain on more than 60 acres at the foothills of the Berkshires mountain range in Canaan, CT.

At the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), we believe that increased understanding of the basics of addiction will empower people to make informed choices in their own lives, adopt science-based policies and programs that reduce drug use and addiction in their communities, and support scientific research that improves the Nation’s well-being.

Nora D. Volkow, M.D.
Director
National Institute on Drug Abuse

Alateen is a fellowship of young people (mostly teenagers) whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking or drugging. By attending Alateen, teenagers meet others with similar family situations. Join us for shared experience, strength and hope, every Sunday evening, 7-8pm at St. Mark’s Church, 111 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan, in the Youth Room.
Enter the Youth Room from the terrace on the back side of the church building.
For more information, email newcanaanalateen@gmail.com.

The mission of Youth Services is to help New Canaan youth and families to function optimally by developing programs and activities that address developmental needs, as well as helping youth and families obtain appropriate social services and resources. Directory of Activities and Services.

Contact Jackie D’Louhy at 203-594-3081 or jacqueline.dlouhy@newcanaanct.gov.

Parents Helping Parents provides peer support for those who have suffered the loss of a child. Group members offer encouragement and comfort; talk openly about personal experiences;discuss resources relevant to grief and loss; and explore ways to grow in our personal journeys.
The support group meets on the first and third Wednesday of each month from 9:30am-11:00am, at the Voices Center for Resilience office at 80 Main Street in New Canaan.
If you are interested in attending, want more information, or to contact one of our founding members, call the VOICES Center at 203-966-3911, or use this contact form.

At the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, we are committed to helping families struggling with their son’s or daughter’s substance use. We empower families with information, support and guidance to get the help their loved one needs and deserves. And we advocate for greater understanding and more effective programs to treat the disease of addiction.

How We Do It
We connect families with each other and with experts, working with them to get the help their loved one needs and deserves – a good place to start is with our Helpline.
We listen to families and provide a platform for them to share their stories of struggle and success – such as our Stories of Hope and Parent Blog.
We educate families about substance use and strategies they can use to help their loved one.
We empower parents to take early and effective action to address their son or daughter’s substance use, providing expert guidance and compassionate support.
We advocate for systemic change in the way our country addresses addiction, including universal evidence-based treatment options for families and their loved ones – like through those actions available via our Advocacy Center.

Paymer Associates, LLC, is a full service drug and alcohol testing company. Whether one needs to test a loved one at home, or implement a random drug testing program for a business, this company provides a solution. Steve Paymer, Founder, has been offering his drug testing services for two decades. He has lived and Social Work experience, and welcomes calls for advice from parents and family members. We hosted Steve in 2025 for a Pathway Session, and you can read the summary here.

At the Recovery Research Institute (RRI), we present evidence about addiction treatment and recovery.
We hope you will get involved, sign up for our free monthly Recovery Bulletin, & contribute to our understanding of addiction recovery through research.

Addiction is one of the greatest public health crises of our time, with staggeringly high rates of mortality, disease, and disability.

We need scientific research to improve the effectiveness of addiction treatment and recovery efforts, to find out what is and what is not working, and why certain pathways to recovery work for some individuals and not others.

At the Recovery Research Institute, we know that stable and long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug use disorders is possible. Rates of recovery can continue to be improved through focused scientific investigation and a commitment to public education.