Keith Bray

SOME THOUGHTS ON RECOVERY COACHING

I would fully like to credit Crossroads coaching and Alida Schulyer for authoring a great article that expresses as well as I ever could thoughts on Recovery Coaching. Crossroads also offers training for Recovery Coaches.

As with many of you, I have set some goals for myself for 2010. One of them is to be far more actively engaged in my life mission, and that is to be of service to others and to do my part in helping increase the rate of success in recovery.

I coach, plain and simple, and the results achieved by those I have worked with indicate a high success rate. I am not a therapist or addiction counsellor, I am a recovered addict professionally trained and experienced in coaching success. Folks, I can tell you from first hand knowledge, coaching is not well understood and I hope you find some enlightenment in this blog!

Each time I write anything relating to coaching I get blow back about self-promotion, money making, veering away from what is tried and true and the like. I accept that some feel this way. That being said, anyone who has taken the time to look through my site (www.hopeserenity.ca) will see the statement that no one is turned down for financial reasons. This has been, and will continue to be, a part of my practise. I ask no more, and often far less, than what was being spent on active addiction and operate as a not for profit.

I am an active member of a 12 step fellowship and have been for years. I work the steps as best I can on a daily basis and incorporate the steps into my coaching practise. Is there a healthier way for people to live? I work with people, who for whatever there reason, chose not to go to groups or need more. Their reasons for engaging a coach (as were mine) are their reasons. The ultimate goal is individual success. Whatever works is the RIGHT WAY for the individual that succeeds, and there is no ONE RIGHT WAY!!

A few things I do want to share because I think they might be important to some who read this. If not for them, then for someone they know.

-Addiction is a chronic relapsing disease. But does it have to be? When problems with alcohol and other drugs are characterized as chronic relapsing it is then considered normal to drink and drug again. It’s considered normal to go through detox and treatment again at great cost. Addiction may be a disease, but is it necessary to chronically relapse?

Recovery Coaches don’t think so. We believe that with the support of a coach people don’t have to relapse. That means they don’t have to experience loss of health, problems at work, disappointment of family, or problems with the law that often accompany relapse. They don’t have to bear the cost of repeated treatment. Recovery Coaching helps protect your investment in treatment by preventing relapse, and helps those who have relapsed prevent harm and get turned around.

Are you saying that there is a shift away from primary treatment? Not exactly. Many people who are experiencing addiction will need detox and treatment, but they will also need support when they get out. Crisis stabilization is not enough. There must be support after treatment—otherwise three out of four people typically relapse. That’s why the emphasis is shifting to recovery support. We all know that staying in recovery isn’t easy and that people with addictions often have complicated lives. That’s why having a Recovery Coach makes such a difference.  Whether you need help managing money or meds, Recovery Coaches help you stay in recovery and make recovery worth it.

What is Recovery Coaching like? It’s like having someone smart in your life that cares about you and believes in you and wants to help you with whatever is important to you. That could be getting a job, quitting smoking, doing something about food, sex, internet habits etc. Or finally exercising more, managing your money better, or getting out a relationship that no longer works, or doing something to have more fun. Recovery Coaches help you enjoy life and take care of things before they become stressful. So you aren’t in danger of relapse because you feel good about your life. It is a co-creative holistic approach to life.

Can you work with someone who is still using? Yes, if they can show up for the calls and take positive action between the calls. Recovery Coaches only take clients who we believe can benefit from coaching. We don’t diagnose nor offer treatment, but we do help clients get ready for treatment, or create a harm reduction plan, or face their life challenges when they come home from treatment.

“I thought Recovery Coaching would be quite clinical. I would be the patient and the coach would work on “how to fix Jen.” It wasn’t like that. My coach helped me know that I have all the answers, and we are working together to come up with the best solutions for me. I like that my Recovery Coach understands my twisted scary brain and world and helps me with my beliefs and family. Having a coach is having someone who sees the best in you and roots for you but doesn’t buy your bullshit. Your coach knows what you are capable of and helps you become it. I’m surprised how useful coaching is. It applies to my family, my business, and my own self-esteem. It saves me grief because with my coach I troubleshoot and go over things before they come up. I avoid the pitfalls that way. I think everyone leaving treatment should have a Recovery Coach because we all need someone to walk with us down the dark scary road of recovery.” —Jenifer B.

Clients like Recovery Coaching because it is strengths-based and very practical. We focus on what the client wants.

“When I came out of rehab I knew I should be sober but I wasn’t completely accepting of it. I was worried that I wouldn’t have a social life, wouldn't have any fun and would lose all my friends. I relapsed for a while and then I got a Recovery Coach.

At first I was very hesitant about having a coach because I didn’t want to be controlled; besides I already had a therapist and a psychiatrist. I was afraid that my coach would say, “You must do this.” Or “You must do that.” But it wasn’t like that—instead my coach helped me realize that I always have choice.

My coach let me decide what I wanted to do and then helped me figure out how to do it. For me that was get a job and learn to manage money so I could live on my own. Coaching was actually helpful. Getting sober was easier the second time because I had focus (massage school). I would recommend coaching for someone in early recovery who wants to figure out ‘What now?’” —Sacha M.

- I’m an addiction professional already and I don’t see how Recovery Coaching is going to fit in with what I already know. Most addiction professionals are trained to work with acute episodes of addiction in a treatment setting. But public funding and private money for treatment is drying up. Now all the talk is about recovery support. We now know that support must go beyond stabilization and we now know that abstinence is not enough. People want rewarding lives in recovery. That is what Recovery Coaches help with. We help make recovery worth it.

“At first I wasn’t sure I interested in Recovery Coaching training because I wasn’t sure what Recovery Coaching was. I thought I might be hanging out with celebrities or taking people to treatment. But Recovery Coaching isn’t like that. It turns out that it fits right down the middle with addiction counselling and what treatment centers do.

In Recovery Coaching my relationship with the client is very clear. It’s a simple one to one relationship. There are no outsiders that have their own expectations. It’s me helping my clients get support with what is important to them. I like that the client takes the lead in their own work. I don’t need to be an expert on every addiction topic or issue but instead I’m the expert in helping my clients get clarity about what’s important to them, in supporting them to take action, and in holding them accountable for what they say they want.

I find myself using the Recovery Coaching skills with my clients. Instead of telling my clients what we are going to cover I ask them what they want to talk about. Now they are coming with topics to coach about. I can see that coaching adds a new dimension to my counselling practice. My busy clients like the flexibility of Recovery Coaching. They can have their session over the phone or come see me face to face. I recommend the Crossroads Recovery Coaching training for other chemical dependency counsellors or addiction professionals. I’ve just finished the first module and I’m already excited about calling myself a Recovery Coach. ”  – Paul Lubben, LICDCD

-There are a lot of Recovery Coaches out there these days. Why chose Hope & Serenity? Unfortunately, most programs that call themselves recovery coaching programs aren’t really teaching you to co-create to live. They are addressing symptoms and not causes and take a cookie cutter approach. . Coaching at Hope & Serenity is 1 on 1, YOU focused, and done by a recovering addict who has a strong business and life background and who is a fully trained, experienced and accredited coaching professional.

-Why does it matter if a coach is credentialed? It matters because anyone can call himself or herself a Recovery Coach but that doesn’t mean they have been trained in coaching skills. For instance, some peer recovery support specialists call themselves Recovery Coaches because they have learned Motivational Interviewing. So it gets confusing. My training took eighty-six hours (it includes Motivational Interviewing and lots more) and I am credentialed by the International Coach Federation.

For those who have taken the time to read this, a sincere thank you. Recovery Coaching is a specialty and from experience, I can assure you, not a way to a huge material (monetary) windfall. It is a calling, and one must be dedicated to listening, learning and serving others. The reward is in the success of others.

If you think coaching may be for you, or you know others you think may benefit, please get in touch for a no obligation conversation. Confidentiality is always of upmost importance!