Serenity Renewal for Families

Serenity Renewal for Families Supporting individuals & families affected directly or indirectly by addictions.

Serenity Renewal for Families offers ongoing education and counselling services to individuals and families directly or indirectly affected by addictions. Our programs assist a wide spectrum of clients as young as 5 to 85 and over, benefiting over 2,500 individuals each year in Ottawa and surrounding areas. Our work is made possible thanks to our dedicated professional staff and facilitators, plus

more than 125 volunteers who participate in virtually all functions of our operations. In addition, over 250 partners (individuals, health and social service agencies, social workers, medical professionals) refer individuals and work with us to provide the necessary support to our clients. Serenity Renewal for Families is a registered charitable organization founded in 1983. We rely on the support of generous individuals and organizations to create happier, healthier lives in our community.

When you care deeply about someone, stepping back can feel surprisingly difficult.Maybe you recognize yourself in one of...
08/21/2026

When you care deeply about someone, stepping back can feel surprisingly difficult.

Maybe you recognize yourself in one of these:

1. Fixing it for them
2. Checking repeatedly
3. Managing their mood
4. Covering the consequences

None of these automatically means you are doing something wrong. They can begin with care, worry, fear, or the hope that things will get better.

The question is whether helping has started asking you to carry what belongs to someone else.

Which one is hardest for you to step back from — 1, 2, 3 or 4?

Worry and care can look very similar at first.Checking in can be loving.But repeated checking, tracking, and managing ca...
08/19/2026

Worry and care can look very similar at first.

Checking in can be loving.
But repeated checking, tracking, and managing can also become a sign that your own nervous system is carrying too much.

Sometimes the question is not only:
How are they doing?
It is also:
What is all this watching doing to me?

Support can be steady without becoming constant monitoring.

Sometimes the impulse to help immediately is not only about care.Sometimes it is also about fear.When someone we love is...
08/17/2026

Sometimes the impulse to help immediately is not only about care.
Sometimes it is also about fear.

When someone we love is struggling, stepping in fast can feel like the safest thing to do. But not every hard moment needs to be solved for them.

A pause can help us ask:
Am I supporting — or am I carrying what is not mine to carry?

Care can stay present without taking over.

Caring for someone should not require losing sight of yourself.Our Codependency workshop explores over-responsibility, b...
08/13/2026

Caring for someone should not require losing sight of yourself.

Our Codependency workshop explores over-responsibility, boundaries, and practical ways to build more balanced relationships—without blame or shame.

Saturday, August 22
9:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
In person
Facilitator: Suzie St. Denis

Sliding-scale pricing is available.

Visit our website or contact [email protected] to reserve your spot.

Young people may grow up in different homes, communities, cultures, and circumstances—but many share the same aspiration...
08/12/2026

Young people may grow up in different homes, communities, cultures, and circumstances—but many share the same aspirations: to be heard, included, respected, and able to shape what comes next.

This International Youth Day, under the 2026 theme “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” we recognize that young people are already bringing ideas, questions, creativity, leadership, hope, and action into their families and communities.

Listening to young people does not mean asking them to carry adult responsibilities.

It means making room for their voices in decisions and changes that affect their lives.

Hear them. Include them. Build with them.

Sometimes the guilt after saying no can feel heavy.But that feeling does not always mean the boundary was harmful.Someti...
08/10/2026

Sometimes the guilt after saying no can feel heavy.

But that feeling does not always mean the boundary was harmful.
Sometimes it means you are stepping out of an old role — one where support started to mean carrying more than was yours.

Care can stay.
The whole load does not have to.

If this resonates, take a moment to pause before undoing a healthy limit.

Two virtual programs begin next week at Serenity Renewal for Families.Shame & Guilt begins Tuesday, August 11. This four...
08/07/2026

Two virtual programs begin next week at Serenity Renewal for Families.

Shame & Guilt begins Tuesday, August 11. This four-week workshop explores how shame and guilt can affect self-worth, relationships, and the way we respond to difficult experiences.

What About Me? I Matter Too! begins Wednesday, August 12. This four-week program supports parents, partners, co-parents, and other concerned family members with practical resources, self-care tools, and space to consider their own well-being.

Both programs run virtually from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Sliding-scale pricing and subsidies are available.

To learn more or reserve your spot, email [email protected] or call 613-523-5143.

Healthy boundaries can protect connection—not end it.They can help us notice our limits, communicate our needs, and care...
08/05/2026

Healthy boundaries can protect connection—not end it.

They can help us notice our limits, communicate our needs, and care for others without carrying everything alone.

Join Serenity Renewal for Families for an in-person Healthy Boundaries workshop.

Saturday, August 15
9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Catherine Pepper

Sliding-scale pricing is available.

Visit our website to learn more or reserve your spot.

Caring about someone and carrying everything for them are not the same thing.Sometimes support looks like staying close ...
08/04/2026

Caring about someone and carrying everything for them are not the same thing.

Sometimes support looks like staying close while the other person still takes their own next step.

That might mean listening without rushing in.
Sitting beside someone without taking over.
Offering care without trying to carry every consequence, decision, or emotion for them.

This August, Serenity Renewal for Families is exploring a simple but difficult truth:

Care can stay. The whole load doesn’t have to.

When substance use, addiction, or recovery affects someone, friendships can change too.A friend may worry about saying t...
07/30/2026

When substance use, addiction, or recovery affects someone, friendships can change too.

A friend may worry about saying the wrong thing. Conversations may become centred entirely on the difficult situation—or people may quietly pull away because they do not know how to help.

But friendship does not require perfect words or the ability to fix what is happening.

It can look like:

Inviting someone for a walk.
Sharing a meal.
Remembering what makes them laugh.
Listening when they want to talk.
Making room for conversations that are not only about the crisis.
Staying connected while respecting boundaries.

Ordinary moments can remind someone that they are more than what they are going through.

On International Day of Friendship, share this with a friend who has made room for more than the hard parts.

Address

404 McArthur Avenue
Ottawa, ON
K1K1G8

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+16135235143

Website

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