Recovery Coaching begins with Empathy, Compassion, and Knowledge

What is a Recovery Coach?

As a certified recovery coach, I am trained to support clients and their families through the process of recovery from addiction.

Who needs a recovery coach?

Individuals in early recovery, who have recently entered outpatient or discharged from inpatient treatment are most likely to benefit from my services.  What clients and their families seek most often is a safety and accountability plan that helps to create a framework of communication and begins the process of re-establishing trust.  The basis of this type of care planning, care coordination and communication are at the center of the services I provide to clients and families in early recovery.

Historically, most treatment programs make “one size fits all” recommendations for Mutual Support Groups like AA or NA and rely on the client to follow-through with this one modality. For a variety of reasons, a person in early recovery may want or need additional support that is separate from the mutual support community.

Through our work together we will develop a care and accountability plan that sets realistic goals and provides consistent support and communication.

Individual Recovery Coaching

As a Certified Recovery Coach, I develop a supportive relationship with each client.   This process occurs over a period of months. We meet regularly in person or by Skype typically 2-3 times weekly in early recovery and then tapering to less frequent coaching sessions.

I provide positive support to help the recovering person achieve sustainable change. Important elements of the coaching process include; serving as a personal advocate, coaching to enhance self-motivation and helping the recovering person set incremental goals.

My clients learn that a life without drugs and/or alcohol is fun and rewarding. Through our work together the client will develop emotional self-sufficiency and new emotional tools to support a deeper recovery and a more rich and abundant life experience.

As a recovery coach, I may serve an individual recovering person as a primary client or the family as a primary client. Serving both in a parallel process best suits my skill-set.

Change begins one day at a time. 

Family Recovery Support

Sometimes a family must get healthy before a person in active addiction is capable of change. Sometimes a family has much to heal from when a member enters recovery.

It is common for family members to receive Recovery Coaching services in support of the challenges they face with a loved-one in active addiction. My services strongly support family integration and healing when a family member enters early recovery. Often after ‘rehab’, a need exists to establish new boundaries and heal old wounds. My general goal is to help re-establish trust through communication and honest reflection and negotiate healthy boundaries that support the recovering person and family within a space of love and respect.

Through this process, we will create an environment where family members can safely process the strong feelings of fear, sadness, and anger that are nearly universal surrounding a loved one actively struggling with addiction or in early recovery. After a formal intake assessment, this work may include individual process sessions and/or group process sessions. As appropriate, intervention services may be coordinated with a certified interventionist.

The importance of family recovery and re-integration is often overlooked in the context of holistic care for the recovering person. I am honored to support your family in this healing and restorative process.

Care Coordination

Often, family members are exhausted by their experience of their loved one’s addiction. It is common to hold resentments for having to police and protect a loved one in early recovery.  In my role as a Recovery Coach, I serve to empower new roles and healthier boundaries.  As a Recovery Coach my role is to support the recovering person, their family and facilitate communication among various treatment services. Care Coordination involves facilitation of care planning among clients, family, and other elements of the treatment team. I help hold a client accountable to their treatment plan. This involves confirming compliance with appointments, navigating health insurance authorizations, and time and financial resource management accountability. I help establish a safety net to support clients who relapse, to help get them back on track as quickly as possible. I truly love this work and see this as a frequently missing recovery support dimension for many clients who have had unsuccessful past addiction treatment experiences.

Sober Travel Companion

Getting to and from medical detox, residential treatment centers, sober living facilities, medical appointments and business meetings can be challenging for people entering recovery or making a transition in early recovery. As a sober travel companion I can help assist you and/or your loved one get across town, across a state, or across the country safely. My sober companion services are often provided after a successful intervention. I do not provide intervention services but do coordinate and work alongside other certified interventionists and treatment providers.

How we work together:

I work with my clients and/or family members of a recovering person for 90 days or longer. Some of my clients and their families work with me for multiple years. Our time working together is individualized and holistic. We work together to re-establish integrity and trust between loved ones and to support a new lifestyle of recovery. A treatment plan and, as appropriate, a care contract with family is developed during our first two weeks of time working together.

Recovery Coaching helps:

  • Individuals in early recovery or who have recently discharged from clinical treatment

  • Individuals who are struggling with total abstinence from one or more substances

  • Individuals and/or families who seek a process for re-establishing trust through the process of a comprehensive care and accountability plan

  • Families struggling with grief, loss and active addiction within their family unit

  • Family members seeking to define boundaries with a loved one in active addiction or early recovery

Personalized care and accountability plan elements include:

  • Establishment of recovery goals

  • Recruitment of additional recovery support

  • Relapse prevention planning

  • Mindfulness Training

  • Exploring triggers and improving distress tolerance

  • Processing loss

  • Healthy decision making training

  • Monthly Recovery summary to be sent to individual or their family

Do you want to know how Recovery Coaching

can help you and/or your family?

Let’s talk!

My role as a Certified Recovery Coach is to provide coaching support to clients and families. In addition, I provide communication with and coordination of care among licensed clinical providers. I do not provide licensed addiction treatment and do not diagnose medical or mental health conditions. Recovery Coaching is not a substitute for psychotherapy, mental health care, or substance abuse treatment. Recovery coaching is an effective support to individuals in early recovery and those who seek a deeper understanding of the elements contributing to their history of addiction.