Spiritual Services
Spirituality is a vital component of all of Caron’s treatment programs. Integrated spiritual care allows the recovering person to regain their dignity and form creative, life-giving, intimate relationships with self, others, the universe and a Higher Power.
Caron Renaissance encourages patients of all spiritual and religious backgrounds to explore their spirituality through the development of positive, adult relationships within the program and the larger community. Caron Renaissance utilizes local and other sanctioned religious leaders to conduct discussion groups, hold seminars, and assist patients with their spiritual needs. Patients also have access to local churches, synagogues, and other places of worship according to their faith preferences.
Spiritual Consultation and Pastoral Counseling
Spiritual Fridays
Accommodations for Jewish Patients
Study
Additional Spiritual Activities
Spiritual Care Staff
If you are have questions about the Spiritual Services at Caron Renaissance, please contact:
John Baudhuin, MA, CAP
Director of Spiritual and Auxiliary Services
561.241.7977
jbaudhuin@renaissanceinstitute.net
Spiritual Consultation and Pastoral Counseling
The patient-generated psychosocial assessment includes direct questions about spiritual issues which are evaluated by and included in the primary therapist’s clinical formulation. Family therapists also review these issues from the family-generated psycho-social assessments. All patients complete a Spirituality Assessment which explores not only their spiritual roots and activities, but also looks at the larger questions such as finding meaning and purpose in life. These assessments are reviewed by the Director of Spiritual Services and the patient’s primary therapist; follow up may include an additional individual spiritual assessments and pastoral counseling.
Spiritual Fridays
Caron Renaissance “Spiritual Fridays” program offers spirituality-related discussion groups led by area religious leaders trained by Caron Renaissance. Patients gather on Friday afternoons with designated spiritual leaders, who identify a general message or theme to serves as a focal point for discussion. Patients then break into small groups led by local religious leaders and discuss the topic presented and other spiritual topics.
Group leaders currently include two rabbis, one Orthodox and one Reform, two Evangelical pastors, a Unity Church pastor, two Celebrate Recovery leaders, and a former Roman Catholic nun with a doctorate in spiritual formation. All of these leaders are encouraged to be congruent to their backgrounds under the strict guideline that no form of doctrinal disputes or proselytizing takes place in the groups. The leaders meet with the Director of Spiritual Services after each group for discussion and supervision.
Accommodations for Jewish Patients
Caron Renaissance provides a setting and program structure that allows Orthodox Jews to receive all treatment services while remaining fully observant. This is accomplished by the following:
- Provisions to maintain a glatt kosher diet and living through Rabbi Meir Kessler
- Availability of Shabbat services and ability to keep Shabbos and Yom Tov with the leadership of Rabbi Meir Kessler
- Observance of all major feasts and holidays
- Torah classes and instruction
- Spiritual counseling for the patient and family
- Seminars and conferences with outside speakers and facilitators
- Ongoing consultation with Caron Renaissance clinical staff
Study
Caron Renaissance maintains a small collection of recommended books and other literature to patients to support their spiritual growth and development. Patients also have access to attend local Torah study and other scriptural study groups.
Additional Spiritual Activities
Patients attend Shabbat services or the Jewish Recovery center and may elect to attend worship at other synagogues. Patients may also attend Celebrate Recovery services at a nearby independent Christian church, and others also attend Mass at local Roman Catholic Churches. Caron Renaissance maintains s a relationship with local Roman Catholic churches to assure the availability of a priest as desired. Caron Renaissance also has relationship with other local churches and availability of pastoral services there.
Spiritual Care Staff
John Baudhuin, MA, CAP is the Director of Spiritual and Auxiliary Services at Caron Renaissance. In this capacity, he directs spiritual services previously mentioned and serves as a clinical staff member as well, conducting groups, individual sessions, and assisting with caseloads as needed. John was ordained in the Episcopal Church, where he served as an assisting minister in four dioceses. John was also ordained as pastor in an independent Christian church and served as Director of Counseling and Pastoral Care for over 15 years. In this position at Caron Renaissance, he combines his many years as a therapist and manager in the addiction field with his interest in spirituality and recovery. Also a writer, he has also published four books and many shorter works. He has an MA degree in counseling and is Certified Addictions Professional in the State of Florida.
Rabbi Meir Kessler serves as Chaplain at Caron Renaissance. He was ordained in 2001 in Israel by the head rabbi of Jerusalem. He is the director of the Jewish Recovery Center in Boca Raton., and he has been serving Caron Renaissance as Chaplain and consultant for a number of years. Rabbi Kessler began his career in South Florida as a Chabad Rabbi in nearby Delray Beach, Florida, where he saw the need to make the spiritual principles of Orthodox Judaism accessible to people in recovery. He offers weekly Shabbat services with a recovery focus, a halfway house for people who need additional recovery support, regular Torah study classes, and he brings his lively Orthodox viewpoint to Jewish and non-Jewish patients alike. Serving as one of the Spiritual Friday leaders, he has helped many patients make the link between their personal faith base and recovery. Rabbi Kessler has also presented seminars and workshops to the general public through his relationship with Chabad of Boca Raton.
Spiritual Services Consultants - A group of local sanctioned religious leaders provide leadership for the Spiritual Friday discussion groups as well as working locally in their churches and synagogues with faith-based recovery programs. These leaders come from widely varying faith-backgrounds, including Reform Judaism, Unity Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and Evangelical churches. They offered their places of worship for occasional Spiritual Friday events, workshops, and faith-based recovery events.
