Becoming a Recovery and/or Partner's Coach

There are two things that make Recovery Nation such a valuable resource: its health-based approach to recovery/healing and a community geared towards actively supporting that approach. Our coaches are the leaders of this community. They are the glue that workshop participants use to help put the pieces of what they are learning together. We need more glue. If you have found the workshops to be insightful; if you have gained experience in applying health-based principles into your own life; if you have the desire to help others who are now where you once were: consider becoming a volunteer coach for Recovery Nation.

What are we looking for in a coach?

Sincerity. Compassion. An understanding of the basic tenets of your respective workshop (or personal recovery/healing path if achieved through other means). That's it. Obviously, the more you understand and the more experience you have, the more you will have to offer others; but the minimum requirements for being a coach is simply that you have effectively applied health-based principles to your own life.

As a partner, this does not mean that you must present yourself as the model of health--that is neither realistic nor beneficial to those who are learning from you. You want to present your real self. You want to role model the ongoing confusion and doubt you may still have, the vulnerability you have achieved and the risks you have taken. But, you want to show this within the context of your emerging values and boundaries. Within the context of a life moving forward. You want to share your sense of general control and stability in what may continue to be an unstable situation. Or for those who have ended their relationship, you want to share your true self. The doubts you had. The doubts you may still have. The struggles and the successes of moving on. This is what will make you both a wonderful coach and a valuable resource for others. Projecting the illusion of perfection does little for those looking for someone to role model the reality of what they are likely going to face: confusion, value conflict, insecurity, personal evolution, a spiraling progression of insight and mastery.

As someone in recovery, it is not necessary that you have completed your transition to health to be a valuable coach to others; it is only necessary that you have come to understand the principles involved with a health-based recovery and have had success in applying those principles to your life. The value of a recovery coach comes not from their ability to regurgitate what they have learned; it comes from their willingness to share how they have applied what they have learned. The struggles and the successes. Those in recovery will derive so much more from a coach who actively role models how they are using health-based principles to manage their life (even relapse) than they will from someone who has no experience with relapse and/or transitioning from addiction to health.

It takes all kinds of experience through all stages of healing/recovery to build an effective coaching team. As a coach, we want you to project the reality of recovery and healing, not the ideal.

How much time will I need to invest?

This will depend completely on you. Coaching MUST be something that you derive meaning from. It must be consistent with the values you have established for yourself. And so, the time you offer must be in balance with those values. Ideally, an hour or two each week would be perfect. With a team of twenty such coaches, everyone who comes to the site would then have the opportunity to receive feedback throughout their workshop participation--without any one coach being overburdened. But this is an ideal, not a requirement. Whether you offer an hour one week, three hours the next and none the following...it is all good. Only as a team will we meet the collective needs of the community and so, every post you make is a direct investment into that community.

Will there be training involved?

Yes, training begins with a coaching orientation that will provide you with descriptions of the values, boundaries, guidelines and goals of coaching. You will also have access to a library of common situations and responses to use as a reference. The goal though is not to parrot this reference, but to incorporate your own experiences/insights into your coaching response. Additionally, as a part of the orientation process, your previous posts will be examined to see if there are any specific training needs to address. If so, these will be discussed with you and a more formal training curriculum will be offered. What we will be looking for is a general sense of your compassion, communication style, theoretical background, overall insight into health-based principles and your ability to humanize the people that you are working with. That sounds like a lot, but it is all done through a friendly eye. We want you to succeed in coaching and will do all that we can to ensure this happens.

What if I'm not sure I would make a good coach?

No worries. With successful completion of the orientation and a general coaching competency assessment (based on the information in the orientation), there will be a three month 'training and monitoring' phase where existing coaches will work with you to polish your presentation style and help you to overcome any obstacles you may face. This monitoring period will give you plenty of time to safely determine whether or not you are comfortable in your coaching role.

I'm interested, what is the next step?

Use the contact form to let us know you are interested (or to ask further questions). We will then review your posts and contact you for general orientation. Thank you for your interest!