Co-Founder & Former Heroin Addict Celebrates First Anniversary of Purpose Healing Center

Arizona has been one of the states hardest hit by the ongoing heroin epidemic. Gabriel Tomaeno, a co-founder of Purpose Healing Center in Scottsdale, Arizona, knows the situation intimately, both as a former addict and as a successful operator of a drug treatment center.

"As a former heroin addict, the saddest thing about these numbers is that they are growing across all ages and backgrounds", says Gabriel. "Heroin truly doesn't discriminate."

Gabriel, who goes by Gabe, started using heroin daily at the age of thirteen and is now twenty-two. By the time he was fifteen, his life was crashing down around him, leaving him feeling hopeless. He had been to the Children's Psychiatric unit for detox nine times within a one year period.

Ironically, Gabe's mother, Robin Byrne LCSW, had spent over thirty years counseling those who suffered from drug and alcohol abuse. When Gabe's parents discovered his addiction, sadly it was not a completely new issue to them, as they had been dealing with his older brother's heroin addiction for several years.

Between 2011 and 2012, both Gabe and his brother entered into successful recovery and have been sober ever since.

Inspired by his experiences, Gabe wanted to help others in Arizona with addiction. At eighteen, he started working at a treatment center in Scottsdale as a behavioral health technician, and later by helping adolescents in the classroom with emotional disorders for the Maricopa County School District.

In March of 2018, after several years working in the industry, Gabe opened Purpose Healing Center in Scottsdale, along with Robin Byrne and John Grako, as a partial hospitalization program for persons with addiction. Purpose Healing Center celebrated its first anniversary at a new, larger facility in North Scottsdale.

With diverse backgrounds, the trio has created a completely new kind of treatment center, serving the Phoenix Valley in Arizona. Holistic, yet practical, the Partial Hospitalization Program is for men and women seeking to become abstinent from drugs and alcohol. Points of distinction include:

- Goal Oriented Outcomes: We helping our clients accomplish the goals that were left behind when drugs and alcohol took center stage.

- Family Treatment Programs: We believe that when a person is affected by addiction, not only does the person with addiction suffer, but the whole family is impacted. We provide therapy and support groups for family members of our clients.

- Real World Experience: Nearly all of our staff have been affected by addiction in their families.

- A Commitment To Help: We are committed to bringing addiction treatment to as many people as possible.

Purpose Healing Center specializes in:

- Intensive Outpatient Treatment
- Relapse Prevention
- Spirituality and Meditation
- Disease Model
- Codependency and Family Support
- Life Coping Skills
- Introduction to 12 Steps
- Holistic Health
- Dual Diagnosis
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Community Education
- Family Treatment

Contact Details

Purpose Healing Center
9332 N 95th Way Suite B-203
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
(480) 579-3319
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