Recovery Nation is an active, community-managed site. Without the effort of its volunteers, it simply can't exist. The site is run by a community of volunteers who compassionately share their insights,
experiences and energy to help others who are now where they once were.
If
you believe in the mission of Recovery Nation and are interested in volunteering, we would love to have you. And
don't for a minute think that you have nothing to contribute. Each of us have our own unique perspectives and experiences that collectively, provide a comprehensive body of work for others to filter through their own lives. Your experience, be it successful or not, has value. Sharing that experience can literally help a person to change their life. So, if you have an extra
hour or two per week to help others who are struggling with the consequences
of sex/love addiction--please consider doing so.
Volunteers
Needed
Recovery Nation
needs volunteers to help expand the resources/services offered. Applications are being accepted for the volunteer positions listed below. There is no set
time commitment required, no pressure to fulfill any responsibilities,
and you can quit at any time--all we ask is that, should you find yourself
with several hours and nothing to do, you consider putting your unique
skills, life experiences and desire to work in helping others.
Volunteer
Positions Needed:
Forum Moderators
Responsibilities:
Welcome new workshop participants; Monitor forums 1x/week to remove inappropriate posts; Notify Jon when participants may be getting off track.
Skills
Required: Common sense; Ability to read through diverse opinions objectively;
Ability to facilitate productive discussion, as opposed to controlling
it.
Recovery/Partner
Coaches
Responsibilities:
Provide coaching support to others in the areas of the workshops that you have already
mastered. Please note, you do not need to have completely mastered the workshop to be an effective coach. You simply need to have achieved competence in at least one area that you would feel comfortable guiding others in. Coaching can take place via live chatting, personal
messaging or the forums (your choice).
For those who choose to be volunteer coaches, there is a short, self-guided coaching orientation process to complete. For those who choose to go on to professional coaching, there is a three-month certification process to complete.
Skills
Required: First and foremost, coaches need to have achieved relative health (or are progressively working towards it) for themselves, before reaching out to help others. In recovery, this does not mean that you have necessarily ended all urges, but it does require that you have learned how to manage those urges efficiently. Competence in the topic(s) you are willing to help others with is obviously important.
That does not mean you must be an expert on the topic, but at a minimum--you
should have demonstrated the ability to understand/integrate the particular
topic within the context of your own life/recovery.
Additionally, you
should have the ability to understand that your role is as a support coach,
not as a counselor or instructor. Personalities who do not take themselves too seriously are ideal. A sense of humor and patience are
also great attributes for this position; as is the ability to objectively
see diverse and potentially offensive situations in the context of those seeking help--without passing personal judgment.
Site
Developer:
Responsibilities:
Recovery Nation has many undeveloped and/or underdeveloped resources that could use the touch of a good programmer and/or web developer. If you are competent in these areas and would like to volunteer a few hours a week to assist in resource development...your services would be greatly appreciated.
Resource Development
Responsibilities: Assist in seeking out and reviewing additional healthy resources that Recovery Nation can recommend to our community. Assist in developing tools/programs that are either currently under construction and/or need to be built (e.g. parenting education; skill development worksheets).
Skills
Required: Enjoy Internet surfing. Solid judgment in reviewing sites
for content value. Ability to write a basic review for sites that
you believe would be a good resource for others.
Community
Awareness Specialist:
Responsibilities:
To surf appropriate, relevant Internet sites to provide an overview
and link to Recovery Nation. This is more complex than it
sounds, as the goal is not to market to this site, but to increase community
awareness by offering quality information to those who seek it. To this
end, you would be free to link to whatever workshop material that you
have found valuable, copy it and post it on other sites, or do whatever
you think is appropriate in terms of sharing the information from Recovery Nation.
It is our hope then, that those who relate to such information, will
then seek out the workshops and make true changes to their lives.
Skills
Needed: Good judgment. Ethical, considerate behavior while engaging
in other online communities. Must enjoy surfing the Internet and exploring
a wide variety of sites (e.g. relationship sites, women's health sites,
recovery sites, etc.)
Lesson
Content Developer:
Responsibilities:
As the workshop lessons are posted, they contain the basic information
needed to understand the topic at hand. The value of many lessons can
be greatly enhanced by adding graphics, personalized examples of the
issues being discussed and expanded information related to the lesson
topic. This is your opportunity to share your overall knowledge, writing
skills, graphical skills, programming skills or whatever other skills
you possess to help improve the tools available for those who follow
in your recovery/healing footsteps.
Skills
Required: This will depend on the area you would most enjoy contributing
to. For static graphics, a knowledge of converting to GIF and JPEG image
formatting is needed. For content development, excellent writing skills
are appreciated, but not critical. Having the ability to clearly and
anonymously share your knowledge/experiences in the context/flow of
the lesson is preferred.
New
Topic Authors:
Responsibilities:
To create from scratch or develop an existing topic of interest into
a lesson for others to learn from. Material must be free from copyright
infringement. You will retain absolute copyright over all lessons that
you create--and are free to co-publish them anywhere and in any way
that you see fit. UnderstandingAddiction.org asks only for the right
to provide free access to them within the scope of the workshops, and
to maintain editorial control over the content that is published within
these workshops.
Skills
Needed: Excellent writing skills. A passion for the topics being written
about, along with a thorough mastery of these topics. Previous lesson
development/teaching experience a plus, but not essential.
Love
Addiction (or any other compulsive behavior) Author:
Responsibilities:
The Recovery Workshop was developed with sexual addiction as the primary
focus--with love addiction taking a secondary role. This was not the
original intent--but time management required certain restrictions to
be made. We are looking for several motivated people to take
the existing workshop lessons and convert them
to a focus on love addiction.
The recovery patterns
involved in sexual addiction and love addiction are similar--and so
it is the behavioral content that needs updating. With your help, we
can expand the workshop to the point where those seeking help with a
love addiction can see the recovery process in the context of the behavioral
patterns associated with such an affliction--rather than being forced
to expand the sexual addiction recovery model to fit their own.
Skills
Needed: Excellent writing skills. The ability to recognize and objectively
communicate examples of love addiction patterns to others. The ability
to work with Jon in identifying the areas most in need of expansion.
Must have a thorough desire to share this information within the mission
of the site. In other words, you must really believe that the information
you are sharing is needed. Why? Because it is...desperately. And also
because, while most positions require no more than a few hours per month,
this one can be rather demanding--requiring several hours per week or
more--depending on the issues at hand. That means, in order to enjoy
it, you have to really believe in what you are doing.
12-Step
Meeting Facilitator:
Responsibilities:
Co-facilitate weekly online 12-Step meeting that focuses on learning
and implementing each of the steps in a healthy and productive way.
Skills
Needed: Intellectual mastery of the 12-Steps as they apply to sex/love
addiction recovery. Personal belief of the 12-Steps as a healthy tool
for recovery. Ability to be objective, relaxed and goal-oriented. Previous
group facilitation experience helpful.
Bible
Study Facilitator:
Responsibilities:
Co-facilitate weekly online meeting that integrates Christianity into
the addiction recovery/trauma healing process.
Skills
Needed: Mastery of Biblical topics related to addiction, sexuality,
trauma, etc. a must. Ability to objectively accept diverse opinion as
equal opinion (in terms of a learning environment). Ability to develop
semi-structured topical lesson plans.
Note: The Workshops are based on a principle of variable values. Meaning, we teach people how to use their value system, not what that value system should be. However, because there are so many Christians that come to this site seeking assistance, integrating Christian values (or any other religion, for that matter) into the recovery process makes sense. If you feel that this is something that you would like to pursue, the opportunity is there. But be forewarned, three others have tried and failed. They burned out and were never heard from again. And I am only partly kidding. It will take a unique individual who is committed to the mission of what they are doing--integrating God's word into one's transition to health--to succeed. And, it will likely take six months or longer to complete.
If you are interested in any of these positions, contact us. Let me know what position you are interested in, your user name on the site, and what you have to offer in terms of experience and motivation. Be brief.
Note: Volunteer positions exist as opportunities to derive value and meaning in what you are doing. If you are doing it just to help out or out of obligation...don't. The time and energy that will go into training you will not be worth it. Volunteer because you want to. Because the work is important to you. That is what makes it a win-win situation for all.
