4 Reasons Why You Can Benefit From Recovery Coaching

No matter how you look at it, recovery from drugs and alcohol is challenging. Evidence shows, the longer someone is engaged in a form of treatment, counseling, or coaching, the higher the chances they have at achieving long-term sobriety. Oftentimes, transitioning back to the real world from a detox or residential treatment program can be difficult to navigate if there is no aftercare or structured support system involved. Relapse can follow closely behind if one is not watchful. In most cases, recovery coaches can help bridge the gap during a smooth transition back into the real world, and help in times of important life life decisions that may have led to relapse before. Different than a sponsor, a recovery coach is an advocate and a guide who's responsibility is not only to help their client stay sober and navigate challenges, but create a meaningful life full of purpose.

Recovery Coaches can teach important life skills without the use of substances and help hold space by listening and giving important feedback to help achieve goals. No matter if you have thirty days or thirty years sober, other important benefits of recovery coaching can include the following:

You Work To Face Challenges Head-On

Recovery Coaches help individuals cope with and face challenges head-on that can oftentimes be triggering. Acting as a guide to smooth the transition from a life of addiction to a change in a lifestyle of sobriety, a Recovery Coach helps focus on values and guide you to make principle based decisions. In comparison to therapists and counselors who often find the root cause and work on past factors of addiction, a recovery coach focuses more on goals, and how to achieve those goals. In some cases, a recovery coach can often be more accessible day in and out.

You're Held Accountable

Recovery and even goal-setting requires accountability. Recovery Coaching work one-on-one with clients or in a structured group on a weekly basis in a to help set and celebrate attainable, recover from setbacks, all while holding themselves accountable to getting to those goals each week.

You Work To Uncover New Coping Skills and Strategies

Most Recovery Coaches use a technique known as Motivational Interviewing which includes effective listening, supporting self-efficacy, optimism, and more. Recovery is enhanced by uncovering tools to help cope with challenging issues. With Recovery Coaching, the client and the coach work together to develop personalized strategies and coping skills to help get through situations while they're happening in real-time.

You Can Do It Anywhere

Many Recovery Coaches conduct business in person. However, in today's changing world, there are other recovery coaches that offer online or virtual recovery coaching to fit the needs of busy lives and schedules. These can often take place in virtual group settings or in a one-on-one basis. Recovery coaches can often provide the type of relationship and guidance needed for success. In fact, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) noted that, "An important factor in the recovery process is the presence and involvement of people who believe in the person’s ability to recover."

If you're looking for a recovery coach, Sobriety Engine offers online recovery coaching, guided meditations, and an online platform to connect with others looking to maintain their sobriety. For more information visit, Sobriety Engine.

What a Recovery Coach Is, and How Coaching Differs From Therapy, Sponsorship, and Peer Support

A recovery coach is someone, very often a person in long-term recovery, who works with you one on one on the practical side of staying sober: goals for the week, housing and work problems, a plan for the wedding where everyone will be drinking. Coaches do not diagnose, do not provide therapy, and do not prescribe. That is the line between coaching and the work of a counselor or therapist, who is licensed to treat the condition and the depression, trauma, or anxiety that often sits under it. Many people use both.

A 12-step sponsor is different again: a volunteer inside a fellowship who guides you through the steps, unpaid and without formal training. A coach is paid, may or may not use 12-step language, and works from a written plan.

Peer support is the umbrella term. SAMHSA describes peer support workers as people who have been successful in recovery and help others in similar situations, and it credits them with helping people stay engaged in treatment and recovery. Certified peer recovery specialists are the formal version: many states certify them through boards that use IC&RC's Peer Recovery credential, which requires 500 hours of supervised experience, 46 hours of training across advocacy, mentoring, recovery support, and ethics, and 25 hours of supervision. Peer specialists work in treatment programs, hospitals, and recovery community organizations, sometimes free of charge to you. Recovery coaches in private practice may hold that credential, a training certificate from a program such as a recovery coach academy, or nothing at all, because coaching itself is unregulated in most states.

Before you hire one

• Ask what training and certification they hold, who issued it, and whether it is current.
• Ask how they handle a crisis or a relapse, and whether they will refer you to a clinician when something is beyond coaching.
• Ask about their own recovery only if they bring it up; a good coach volunteers their approach without making the sessions about themselves.
• Get the fee, the schedule, and the cancellation policy in writing, and check whether your treatment program or insurer already provides peer support at no cost.
• Do a first session and pay attention to whether you leave with something concrete to do.