Pavillon

04/20/2026

Pavillon's CEO Barbara Bennett met with CEOs of other treatment centers this week at Ashley Addiction Treatment in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Like Pavillon, each treatment center in this group is private and non-profit. We meet regularly to discuss the ever-evolving field of SUD Treatment.

Barbara shares, "Ashley hosted us and included a tour of their facility and speakers on current pertinent topics to all of us as part of our site visit."

Alex Dentsman and Greg Hobelmann - Co-CEOs of
Cathy Palm - Executive Director of Treatment & Recovery
Kelly Scaggs, MHA, LCSW, LCAS, CCS, MAC, ICAADC – CEO of
Jay Crosson, MBA – CEO of
Rachel Docekal – CEO of

04/19/2026

Gratitude Moon...

There are nights when life feels like a closed door.
And there are nights like this one.

I'm sitting in my car looking up at this huge moon, and my heart feels so full.

Tonight I'm driving home from Pavilion, the place where I first started to hope again. It will always feel like home to me.

It was the first time I've been back since I resigned last summer to try something new. Tonight I sat in that chair again, looked out at the clients, and told my story. The real one. The one that reminds people that life can still change, even when it feels like it's already over.

Something about it stayed with me on the drive home.
Four years ago I didn't think I would live this long.

But I'm here.
Alive.
Still growing.
Still learning.

I have people I love. I have people who love me. I have daughters who give my life meaning in ways I never understood before. I wake up today without needing something just to get through the day. That alone still feels like a gift.

Somewhere on this drive home, under this bright moon, the gratitude just hit me and my eyes welled up.

Grateful that I'm alive.
Grateful for the chance to live this life.
Grateful that addiction humbled me and changed the direction of my path.
Grateful that the same story that once nearly broke me can now reach someone sitting in a chair who doesn't believe in themselves yet.

Some of the most incredible people I know walk this path. People who take their pain and turn it into something that gives the next person hope.

Tonight reminded me that I get to be part of that. I never thought I would have this life. But here I am, under this big beautiful moon, driving home with a heart full of gratitude.

~Vee K.

04/17/2026

Pavillon is blessed with 160 acres of natural land in the Appalachian Mountains. This resource provides privacy, tranquility, and inspiration to both patients and staff.

Our Facilities Team has just completed a project, clearing out undergrowth along a section of Bright's Creek and creating a mulch walking path. Along the new path, patients and staff will find locations specially designed for meditation, reflection, and spiritual renewal.

During the project, the Facilities Team noticed Pavillon's Spiritual Director Jim Wolf Yoxall walking the trails daily. They consulted him on a few details of the project; specifically to learn where the best meditation spots were along the creek. The new path was designed to incorporate and highlight those locations.

Upon the projects completion, the team surprised Wolf by dedicating the new path in his honor. This dedication was even more meaningful as it coincided with his first visit back to campus during his own courageous journey toward renewed health.

We're looking forward to seeing this space elevate the patient experience at Pavillon. To learn more, visit the LinkTree in our Bio or click: https://www.pavillon.org/

04/16/2026

Pavillon's Hunter Ragland was happy to host Charmaine Crowley Sofis from Recovery Care Partner in Maryland.

Charmaine made the trip from Maryland to Mill Spring, NC to tour our campus, meet our team, and learn more about the work we do in supporting individuals and families in recovery.

Recovery Care Partner provides valuable services that extend beyond residential treatment, including intervention support, recovery coaching, case management, sober transport, monitoring, and relapse prevention planning. Their focus on accountability, continuity, and long-term support can make a meaningful difference as individuals transition back into everyday life.

We appreciated the opportunity to share insights with Charmaine and learn more about the important work her team is doing to support lasting recovery.

04/15/2026

04/13/2026

04/13/2026

Your recovery journey didn’t end when you left Pavillon—it continues every day, and you are part of a community that is still helping others find the same hope you did. By setting up a small monthly automatic donation, you can make a steady, meaningful impact on someone who is just beginning their path to recovery.

Even a modest gift, given consistently, helps ensure that more individuals have access to life-changing treatment and support. Your experience matters, and your continued support can help someone else believe that lasting recovery is possible.

Consider an Automatic Donation – It’s Easy and makes a BIG Difference!

https://host.nxt.blackbaud.com/adaptive-donor-form/?formId=085b1e69-873f-475f-bd0a-0ab22a9dbb7d&envid=p-KC8cr_negE6LvFx-NKsC5w&zone=usa

Photo Credit: Johannes Plenio on unsplash

04/12/2026

Statistics...

Let's look at some numbers:
1. 65%- 70% people relapse within 90 days after treatment.
2. 85% relapse within first year.
3. 40%-60% relapse over a lifetime. (These numbers take in consideration all drugs.)
Alcohol Specific:
1. Only 33% are sober after a year.
2. If they make it into a second year their numbers increase to 50%.
3. After 5 years the numbers say that the chance of a relapse is less than 15%.

Positive Factors Affecting Recovery
One is the length of involvement in a structured recovery environment. That would involve inpatient, outpatient (IOP) and participation in community peer support groups which are AA/NA, Celebrate Recovery. Effective self-care habits are essential- healthy nutrition, exercise and proper sleep hygiene. But the most vital element and one all research says is the most critical one for your recovery is a personal, strong commitment to recovery. In other words...you are the deciding factor.

Numbers, especially statistics are just what they are- nameless, faceless, heartless, cold figures on a spreadsheet some computer nerd put together so he would look smart or defend some useless point he is trying to prove. They are lifeless, they have no spirit. They cannot gauge your heart, your will to survive, your commitment to freedom or your love for yourself and others. They cannot calculate your spirit. You are the driving dynamic. Look again at the statistics above. The magic number and the one not up there is 100%. If you want it bad enough, "..if you are painstaking", if you look within yourself in order to find the needed changes and are willing to make them, if integrity, honor, pride, discipline, service, courage and willingness to succeed mean more to you than the next drink, then the number with your name on it can very easily be 100%. You can defy all the statistics, crush all the odds and screw up a whole bunch of research. I hated all those odds they threw at me in my early recovery and I took it personal. I have been rubbing their faces in those databases for over 33 years. It makes me smile every time I think about it.

"Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul... I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul." -Invictus: William Henley

~Oren W.

04/08/2026

Did You Know? The ability to find feelings of grace for or to extend forgiveness to others and ourselves may be very beneficial for our wellbeing. Practicing grace, forgiveness, and letting go of past hurts, anger, and pain may reduce risks for stress, depression, heart disease, and diabetes. Choices around forgiveness, grace, and letting go have been correlated with improved sleep, enhanced immunity, lowered blood pressure, improved mood, increased longevity, and improved overall wellbeing.

microPOP™ with Lesli J. is a new resource that will be offered once a month in the Lifeline and on the Pavillon app.

This week’s microPOP™ is GRACE.

Pavillon microPOPs are designed to help experience more pleasure, purpose, productivity, and MORE anytime and almost anywhere. “POP” is short for “Pleasure Or Pain.”

microPOP™: Think about something you have done that you regret or someone who has recently caused pain or disruption in your life. See if you can create the desire to feel grace or for yourself and/or the other person. You might prefer to think of “letting go” instead of grace or forgiveness.

TIP #1: Imagine any freedom or feelings of empowerment that grace and forgiveness might provide. You might even write down how your life could improve through increased grace and forgiveness.

TIP #2: Identify those you have hurt and who have hurt you. With whom do you wish to make amends or have an honest conversation about the hurt you feel they have caused? One way to think about GRACE for others is that we were all once small, sweet children, and we all came into this world with our DNA and innocence wrapped together.

TIP #3: When you have hurt yourself or been hurt by others, allow yourself to be honest by simply naming the feelings that are there. Studies show that by “naming” the hurt in your life, you can decrease the negative emotional response and subsequent impact in your brain. Once the hurt has been “named,” you might continue trying any or all of the above.

Imagine growing in GRACE with yourself, others, and our shared world.

04/06/2026

Our "Spring Peeps Contest " at Pavillon did not disappoint this year.

HR kicked things off by distributing hundreds of marshmallow bunnies and Peeps to 10 teams across campus—and what followed was nothing short of incredible. The creativity was off the charts, blending sweetness, hilarity, and (unexpectedly) a bit of destruction.

🥉 Third Place: “The Peep Show” by our Kitchen team, featuring an impressive LEGO fair—complete with a moving Ferris wheel.

🥈 Second Place: “The Chimney-Peeps” by Housekeeping, a clever and detailed tribute to Chimney Rock.

🥇 First Place: “Peep-Zilla: Sweet Destruction” by our Marketing team, Kim Nelson, Amber Brown—a full sensory experience with a Godzilla-style Peep towering over a city, complete with flashing lights, smoke effects, and an original soundtrack of roars, peeps, and first responders rushing in.

The competition was fierce this year, with participants already promising to “go big or go home” in 2027.

Events like this do more than spark creativity they strengthen connection. It’s the shared laughter, the hallway conversations (“Did you see…?” “Don’t forget to vote!”), and the camaraderie that make our campus culture so special.
Grateful to be part of a team that knows how to work hard—and have fun doing it.

04/05/2026

Step 4

I lit a lamp
and walked inside.
Not into a house, but into myself.
The walls were made of old beliefs, the floors, layered with dust
from every memory I buried.
I opened drawers labeled:
Anger.
Fear.
Shame.
Control.
And in each one, I found not monsters,
but younger versions of me
- still waiting to be seen.
This was not destruction.
It was excavation.
I did not flinch.
I named what lived there.
And in that naming, I reclaimed myself.
Courage was not fire.
It was the quiet act of telling the truth all the way through.

~ Amy G.