The Founders

Executive Director

Albert De Goias

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I am a physician. I have retired my medical practice (cum emeritus) in order to concentrate on what is an educational, not a therapeutic process. This only no longer allows me to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for medical conditions. I have, however, been trained, first as a medical doctor, then through post graduate residencies, I have acquired knowledge, though not certificates, in psychiatry and neuropathology. I have also trained in causes and management of addictions. I have worked for forty years in this field of mental health and addictions. In that time, I have published numerous opinion articles, research papers, and a book on looking at the underlying cause of mental health insufficiency and unhealthy behaviours. The book is not about diagnosis and treatment of an end condition, but about searching for the underlying states and examining the exercises needed to fix them. I have been invited to present talks to professional associations, educators, corporate management teams, and lay community including people with addictions. This allows me to use my knowledge, if not to treat, then to teach what I know. In these pages, I wish to share this knowledge.

I am driven by a deep passion. This is the belief that all human beings are created with the same rudimentary or fetal mind but with bodies that are sophisticated instruments of ambulation, perception, and expression. The body is a physical composite and can have flaws in a variety of areas. The mind, however, is metaphysical and develops as it is given the nutrition of information, the discipline to get it, and the encouragement to use it for personal development. This can be determined by both the opportunities available and the ability of the body to bring those opportunities to mental awareness.
In short, I believe that all people can develop the insight to manage purposefully and realize the power and contentment of self. They just have to be shown how. Those of us with deeper understanding are not in power over others to partially digest the information and feed it to them as finished products, but are simply ahead with the opportunity to show them how to do the same. We must teach, not just treat or save others.

In this website, therefore, I will try to educate the viewer in areas that are not commonly examined or even considered. As intelligent beings, we have a penchant for trying to solve a problem when the problem appears. We have developed sophisticated equipment to help us to identify and even treat a condition when it appears. We have not spent a lot of energy looking into the preventive aspect. In fact, the common quip, “If it ain’t broke’, don’t fix it”, is more a reality than the humor it was meant to convey. Yet, when we are determined to look for the preventive causes and manage them, we can much more effectively treat even the precipitating problem.

Program Director

Andrea De Goias

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Andrea de Goias is a qualified addictions counselor. She did her training at George Brown College in Toronto and her initial practical experience at CAMH. She has worked in the rehabilitation and recovery field since 1992. Her initial training in Hungary was in Philosophy and Liberal Arts. Her training in Toronto allowed her the international addictions certificate, ICADC. Andrea brings a deep understanding of philosophy and a highly spiritual impact to her work. Andrea uses her knowledge of The Arts extensively, being able to lead clients to look at themselves objectively using cinematographic art as her canvas. She can place anyone within a movie and get them to feel the emotions while also interpreting it within their own lifestyle.

Currently, Andrea is the primary counselor at Prometheum Institute. She is involved in the personal guidance and management of clients. Her technique takes on two forms. She has developed a way of engaging each client in a way that makes them feel empowered from the get-go. She uses both her skill as an addictions counselor and a well-balanced understanding of psycho/socio/spiritual interplay to encourage each client to see life from a purposeful, analytical perspective. She has an extensive collection of movies she uses with a unique ability to define that client’s feelings and behavior within that movie and so get the client to see self with objectivity and insight. She does this while following the script that has been designed for that client.

Secondly, she engages each client in the exploration of activities that will expand and stimulate. She sees an addict as one who may be quite experienced in one field but lacks the variety of options that can excite and stimulate mentally, socially, spiritually. She will arrange to take that client to an experience that will expand – from analyzing an art display at the AGO to exploring something at the ROM to attending a classical or operatic presentation, all the while explaining and introducing the person to that genre.

Andrea is also engaged in teaching these techniques to other counselors and encouraging them to use them in their own practice.