Pioneering Nathan Brody program has new home at Horizons Counseling

GILFORD — A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Thursday afternoon at the Horizons Counseling Center at Village West to celebrate the relocation of the Nathan Brody Program to the center.

For years located at Lakes Region General Hospital, the Nathan Brody Program, named for a local doctor who pioneered programs for treatment of alcoholics in the 1950s, has offered programs for treatment of drug and alcohol abuse.

It will now be linked with the Horizons Counseling Center, which offers similar kinds of programs for drug and alcohol abuse but also deals with mental health issues of clients with those problems.

The move was made in August and is popular with those served by Brody Program according to Jacqui Abikoff, director of Horizons Counseling Center, who says that they find the new setting ''more homey, more comfortable.''

''It makes sense to have all of these programs under one roof so that there is an integrated approach to treatment,'' says Abikoff, who says that the programs will now be offered in the evening as well as during the day, which will allow patients to participate without having to leave work.

''It puts everything together and is really good for the clients,'' said Tom Clairmont, president and CEO of LRGHealthcare.

Belknap County Jail Superintendent Daniel Ward said that he is pleased with the link between Horizons and the Brody Program, which he said will provide a continuity of care for those dealing with substance abuse problems.

He said that 80 percent of the inmates at the county jail are there due to substance abuse problems and drug dependency and that the new arrangement provides a way to treat people who are still in the community but need programs to cope with their problems.

''Not everyone has to be sent to a treatment center. We can treat them while they're here at the jail, but they need something in the community when they get out which will help give them the support they need to break the cycle,'' said Ward.

During his remarks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Tom Clairmont was able to trace a personal connection to Dr. Nathan Brody, whom he said was present at his birth.

''He built a national reputation for his ideas on treating alcoholism and I can remember people coming here from all over the country for treatment,'' said Clairmont.

Brody was the founder of the Belknap County Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, which was formed in 1954 and was oldest such committee in a small setting in the United States.

A general practitioner for 43 years, Brody was the first physician to admit alcoholics to the Lakes Region General Hospital with the diagnosis of alcoholism and eventually was treating more than 500 new cases a year and admitting over 300 new cases a year to the hospital.

In 1975, two years before his death, Brody received the Granite State award by the University System of the State of New Hampshire for his work on alcoholism. He was also honored by The National Conference of Christians and Jews and was constantly being called upon to speak before state and out-of-state organizations.

Abikoff said that it was important to keep Brody's name as part of the new location in order to honor to his legacy.

CAPTION:

Jacqui Abikoff, director of Horizons Counseling Center, and Tom Clairmont, president and CEO of LRGHealthcare, cut a ribbon at a ceremony held at Horizons Counseling Center at Village West in Gilford to celebrate the relocation of the Nathan Brody Program to the center. (Roger Amsden/for The Laconia Daily Sun)