02-26-2023 Harford Magazine - Flipbook - Page 12
H E A LT H Y L I V I N G
BY MIKE KLINGAMAN Harford Magazine
Alex Denstman is co-CEO and president of Ashley Addiction Treatment in Havre de Grace.
PHOTO BY BARBARA HADDOCK TAYLOR
Alex Denstman
Ashley Addiction Treatment
When Alex Denstman speaks with schoolage kids about substance abuse, the co-CEO
and president of Ashley Addiction Treatment
in Havre de Grace shares the tale of a onetime
teenage drug addict who struggled to turn his life
around.
That was Denstman, 20 years ago.
At the time, he was homeless and hooked on
heroin. Now, he presides over a noted nonprofit treatment center that received a $420,000
federal grant in December to forge an interactive program with the Harford County Board of
Education to educate middle and high school
students about substance misuse.
His is a journey he feels compelled to share,
said Denstman, 40, a former patient at Ashley
who eventually returned there to work his way
up to the top.
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| Spring 2023 | harfordmagazine.com
“It’s harder now to be a kid than it was for me,”
he said. “There are so many ways today to not
feel good about yourself, between social media
and the pressures kids feel to look and act a
certain way.”
Plans for the program call for a multifaceted
approach involving parents, teachers and guidance counselors, Denstman said. “We’re not so
naive to think we can go in there individually and
make a difference [in children’s lives]. And we’re
not there to lecture or condemn bad behavior,
but to connect with them and create a healthy
dialogue.”
Denstman’s struggle with substance abuse
resonates with teens. Raised in an affluent neighborhood in Greenville, Delaware — a few minutes
from the home of President Joe Biden — Denstman first tried drugs and alcohol at age 13.