PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Life has come full circle for Chris Therien, a former Philadelphia Flyer and advocate for recovery and mental health support, who has been battling alcoholism for many years.
Therien is one of the co-founders of Pennsylvania Recovery Center’s new outpatient facility in Center City, located on Winter Street, near Vine Street. He is an open book when it comes to his alcohol addiction, and he wants to help others facing similar issues.
“I had a story of addiction and got myself out of it,” he said. “As I was working my way through my issues, I found myself in 2020 in a different career path and I said, what do I want to do? I wanted to be able to give the same help that I had, to give it back to other people, to resolve their issues, whether it was with drinking, drugs, mental health.”
Therien partnered with the Pennsylvania Recovery Center a few years ago when it opened its Fishtown location.
“When somebody comes to me and says, ‘I can’t do this, it’s too hard,’ you can’t look at me and tell me that because I don’t believe that — because I was able to do it,” he said.
The new facility offers counseling services, AA and 12-step programs, and meditation and Reiki sessions.