Sponsor or Recovery Coach: Choosing the Right Recovery Partner

Trying to decide what would be best—a sponsor or a recovery coach? Choosing the right one at the right time can be crucial in an individual’s recovery. Learning more about each of these key people, however, can help make the right decision.

Addiction is complex and multifaceted. And so is recovery. As one writer put it, there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to recovery. In fact, it’s downright challenging—no matter the substance being used.

So, it’s not surprising when addicts ask for additional support. But, where can they turn for this extra support? Do they need to work with a sponsor? Or, do they need to work with a recovery coach? And what’s the difference?

Sponsor: Mentor and Guide

Sponsors aren’t recovery coaches. In fact, they’re very different. Sponsors are in a service relationship with the recovering individual, not a professional one.

Sponsors support individuals working through a 12-step program—which provides guidelines for the best way to recover.

They help newcomers learn about the program, how it works, what they can expect, and what the expectations are.

Below are some services a sponsor provides:

Offer a willing ear to listen when the newcomer needs to talkGive encouragement and advice on resisting temptationAssists the addict in accomplishing the 12 stepsOffers suggestions, encouragement, and help in monitoring progressShares life experiences with the addict, being more experienced with the programShows up to meetings with his or her sponseeDoes not impose personal views or opinions on a sponsee

Put simply, sponsors are mentors and guides in recovery for more than a year and have worked through the steps themselves. They also don’t charge fees. Sometimes, they become close friends with the sponsee.

Recovery Coach: Helps with Goals for Recovery

Recovery coaching role is a relatively new concept in the professional recovery community. Coaches don’t represent any 12-step programs like sponsors. Actually, recovery coaches don’t promote or endorse any programs or methods of attaining or maintaining sobriety.

Instead, recovery coaches help addicts with achieving goals specific to recovery and sobriety. They work with recovering individuals to help them develop and follow structured recovery plans. They also can provide a link between sponsors and professional counselors.

Below are some services recovery coaches provide:

Act as liaisons for clients to help them access a variety of community servicesMonitor a client’s goals from pre-recovery to active recoveryEncourage recovery individuals to come up with self-powered solutionsHelp individuals focus on the present so he or she can move forwardProvides accountability on an agreed upon actionAccelerates the client’s progress in recovery by providing greater focus and awareness of choices, activities, and responsibilities.

Recovery coaches often charge fees. During meetings, they let the individuals choose the focus of conversation, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions for action.

Counselor: Treats Underlying Causes of Addiction

Professional counselors or therapists are a third support option for recovering individuals. Paid clinical resource people, counselors treat mental illness and emotional disorders.

Sometimes, it’s necessary for long-term sobriety for recovering individuals to take on the underlying issues that triggered the person’s addiction.

Issues like depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder can be overwhelming. Counselors help clients resolve a recovering individual’s underlying causes and address his or her addiction issues.

Defeating substance abuse is a challenge. Often, recovering individuals realize they need more support to achieve success. Working with a sponsor and recovery coach can help.

Knowing which one is right for the recovering individual is the key.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/10/06/Sponsor-or-Recovery-Coach-Choosing-the-Right-Recovery-Partner

25 Motivational Quotes To Inspire Recovery

Recovery is a lifelong journey. It involves self-discovery, growth, and transformation. It requires you to make changes in yourself, your perspective, and your environment.

Change isn’t easy. Put another way, recovery is a challenge—one of the toughest you’ll ever face. If you’re in recovery or you know someone that’s recovering, you know just how hard this journey is.

At times, it might seem like more than you can take. Often, an encouraging word or two at the right time reminds a person that he or she is not alone in the struggle and that change is indeed possible.

The quotes below have helped recovering addicts recover. We’ve associated them with five common stages of recovery—stages many recovering addicts experience:

Pre-Contemplation

This stage is among the most critical in recovery—and the hardest. Going from awareness of a problem to the realization that action needs to be taken is often daunting. The quotes below can help motivate someone at this critical time:

Recovery is an acceptance that your life is in shambles and you have to change it. – Jamie Lee CurtisI’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it. – Art WilliamsI am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. —Stephen CoveyThe most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. —Amelia EarhartIt’s not heroin or cocaine that makes an addict, it is the need to escape from harsh reality. – Shirley Anita Chisholm

Contemplation

In this stage the addict shifts from recovery to action. He or she starts looking beyond himself and herself to see the impact addiction has made on others. Though not pursuing recovery, they’re thinking about it:

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.” – Zen proverbAddiction is a family disease. One person may use, but the family suffers. – Shelly LewisWhen the past calls, let it go to voicemail. Believe me, it has nothing new to say. – UnknownI have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. —Leonardo da VinciDo or do not. There is no try. —Yoda

Preparation

I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion. – Muhammad AliThe first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are. – J.P. MorganWhen one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. —Helen KellerThe only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. —Ralph Waldo EmersonWhat we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. —Plutarch

Action

Early recovery is a time of great learning and great vulnerability. Addicts are letting go of people, activities, and behaviors that have been key parts of their lives. In their place they’re developing new coping skills, ingraining healthy habits, and rebuilding damaged relationships:

You don’t get over addiction by stopping using. You recover by creating a new life where it is easier to not use. – UnknownYou wake up every morning to fight the same demons that left you so tired the night before and that, my love, is bravery. – UnknownTo go through the torture of withdrawal, pain sweat, and tears and then to stay clean, you should be proud. Never forget the day you decided to get your life back. – UnknownYou were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed, or unworthy, you were created to be victorious. – Joel OlsteenIt does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop —Confucius

Active Recovery and Maintenance

By the time addicts reach this stage, they’ve learned a great deal and put in a lot of hard work. But they also realize they will have to continue to do that for ever to keep going:

It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary. – Mandy HaleOur greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. – Ralph Waldo EmersonMy recovery must come first so that everything I love in life does not have to come last. – UnknownThe hope was out there from the opportunities that I began creating myself. – UnknownRelax. Take a breath. It takes time, but there is great joy in the every day. Just remember, you’re learning new steps, a new dance. – Lisa Frederiksen

The quotes above can help you or someone you know beat the recovery challenge. You can use them as inspiration and motivation when the going gets tough. They can inspire recovery.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/09/15/25-Motivational-Quotes-To-Inspire-Recovery

How to Eliminate the Stigma of Addiction and Mental Illnesses

Substance abuse and mental illness aren’t choices. Nor are they the result of a weak character or a lack of willpower. They’re diseases that can happen to anyone—sisters, friends, lawyers, doctors, even elected officials.

Look at the impact the Opioid epidemic is having in the United States.

The epidemic knows no bounds.

No class or ethnic group has gone unaffected.

Unfortunately, the stigma attached to these issues remains. Those struggling with these diseases, however, feel stigma’s effects most strongly.

Often, it prevents them from getting the help they need.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

We can can take action to help remove the stigma attached to these diseases and lessen their impact on everyone involved. These critical steps can change how people think about these diseases and help eliminate the sense of shame associated with them.

Impact of Stigma on an Individual

The stigma that clings to substance abuse and mental illness is an enormous barrier to treatment.

The word "stigma" comes from a Greek word meaning "a physical mark made by a pointed instrument."

While the English word “stigma” lacks that precise meaning of the Greek, many addicts and people with mental illness feel like they’re “marked” for all to see.

Eventually, that feeling creates a painful sense of shame in the individual.

Shame is a heavy burden for anyone. But for addicts and the mentally ill, this sense of shame can feel unbearable. It makes them feel as if they’re “defective” in one way or another.

These feelings often bar individuals from seeking treatment.

Practical Effects of Stigma

The stigma associated with substance abuse and mental illness has other effects.

In addition to discouraging them from seeking treatment, the stigma can prevent addicts and the mentally ill from participating in normal everyday activities like finding work or even socializing. This reclusive behavior can be devastating to their recovery.

What’s more, some private doctors won’t work with addicts and the mentally ill thanks to the perceived low rate of treatment success.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical companies relegate treatment to lower priority, preferring instead to develop treatments for more chronic illness.

Fortunately, more and more people are coming to understand these illnesses and even taking the steps to learn how they can be part of the solution.

Stopping the Stigma of Addiction

Have you ever walked away from a challenge? A real life altering challenge?

I have. Several times.

Why?

Fear of failing. Uncertainty. Stubborn pride.

It felt easier to hide, rather than to confront my addiction.

For people living with addiction or mental illness, these obstacles are real and bigger than anything they’ve encountered before.

So, how do we help them overcome these roadblocks to meet the challenge?

Knowledge.

Educating ourselves can help prevent and reduce the stigma of these diseases by providing accurate, detailed data on preventing and treating them.

Fortunately, many grassroots organization are working hard at educating the public. But this effort needs to continue.

Speaking out is another key to removing the negatives associated with addiction and mental illness. When individuals join together to combat the stigma of these diseases, good things happen. Friends, families, treatment providers, medical organizations—all need to speak up.

People in recovery also need to speak up. In fact, addicts and the mentally ill are often the strongest—and most successful—advocates for beating the stigma of these diseases. When these people share their experiences, hopes, failures and successes, they combat the stigma.

More Ways to Eliminate Stigma

Educating the public and speaking out are two powerful ways to eliminate the stigma of addiction and mental illness. There are others. Nine are below:

Encourage equality between physical diseases and these diseasesRemind people of the power of negative languageShow empathy and compassion for those with these diseasesChoose empowerment over shame Be upfront and honest about your treatmentLet the media know when it is stigmatizing addiction and mentally illDon’t harbor self-stigmatizing by becoming a productive citizenListen while withholding judgmentTreat addicts and the mentally ill with respect and dignity

No one likes to feel stigmatized or devalued. By following the tips above you can help combat and eliminate the stigma of addiction.

Fighting the Stigma of Addiction and the Mentally Ill

The stigma attached to these disease isn’t just an individual issue. It’s also a public health concern. Findings by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for example, shows that 21.5 million adults (aged 12 and older) battled substance abuse disorder in 2014.

Sadly, only 2.5 million of these individuals got the specialized treatmentthey needed. One reason for not getting treatment is the stigma associated with their condition.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

We can all be part of the solution by sharing information and engaging with those that need our support.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/09/01/How-to-Eliminate-the-Stigma-of-Addiction-and-Mental-Illnesses

How to Make Money During Recovery

If you are in recovery from substance abuse, you likely don’t have a steady way to make money. While you are recovering and searching for that first big job opportunity, you can still bring in some income with a side gig. This will let you work while giving you the time to stay focused on your recovery. Here are a few ideas for side gigs that might just be right for you.

Pet Sitter

This one will work for just about anyone. When people who have pets go out of town, they need an easy, reliable way to keep their pets cared for while they’re gone. A pet sitter can come to the house each day to feed and water the pet, let it use the bathroom and spend some time with it, or they can just move into the house while the owners are gone. This gives them more time with the pets and lets them help with the house too. Be ready to sign an agreement with the owners about exactly what services you will provide. You can find out more about how to do this – and you can get certified as a pet sitter – right here.

Sell Items on Etsy

If you are a crafty kind of person, head to Etsy to sell some of your creations. This marketplace for creative people is full of handmade items that are beautiful, fun and quirky. The process to set up your own selling page on Etsy is simple, and you have a built-in audience of people who are already looking for things to buy. Spend some time creating your product, get some quality photos that show them off well, and launch your Etsy store!

Teaching Music Lessons

If you have musical ability and can play an instrument, consider marketing your services as an instructor of that instrument. Plenty of people out there want their children to learn how to play, so take advantage of that natural market. You can make decent money teaching lessons, and the work is rewarding when you see your students begin to put everything together as they play a song.

Other Online Gigs

Plenty of other jobs exist online that you can take advantage of as well. Make money with online surveys, rent out your house or a room as an AirBnB, or even drive for Uber. You can also sell just about anything online. You could even put together an informational series of videos on how to beat addictions to certain substances. The possibilities are endless if you are willing to put in the work.

Stay Focused

As you work these side gigs to provide some income until you land your first post-recovery job, don’t forget to take care of yourself. Your top priority is to maintain your commitment to sobriety, so don’t let anything interfere with that. You can keep your resolve and behavior strong by eating in a healthy manner and exercising regularly. You should drum up support from your friends and family as well. The more people who know what you’re doing, the more accountability you will have. Taking care of your mental health is also important – you must be strong to continue resisting the pull of substance abuse.

As you work your way through recovery, don’t sit on the sidelines and say you can’t get a job. Get out there and create a job for yourself. Small side gigs can grow, and a year from now, you may be running a full-time business. Even if you land a full-time job, your side hustle can still provide extra money, so don’t wait – start today!

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Special thanks to Rufus Carter for contributing this blog post. Please check out his website RecoveringWorks.com.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/08/15/How-to-Make-Money-During-Recovery

Saving Your Child: 6 Steps to Confronting Addiction to Drugs and Alcohol

There’s no denying it. The signs are all there. Your child is addicted to drugs or alcohol. As a parent, it’s scary discovering your child is addicted. In fact, there’s probably nothing scarier as a parent.

Now, it’s time to act to help your child—and your family. Addiction impacts the whole family—not just the child.

The question is what are you going to do about it? How are you going to get your child and family back on track?

Follow these steps to confronting addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Stop and Take A Deep Breath

The first thing you need to do is stop and take a deep breath. You need to prepare yourself before intervening in your child’s life.

You also need to take time to prepare yourself for the critical conversations ahead and for laying the foundations for more positive outcomes.

Next, if you have a spouse, talk with them. You need to come together on a common stance on drugs and alcohol before talking with your child.

Even if you disagree, you need to come to together on the stance you’ll take. What is important is that you are on the same team, working towards the same goal.

Communication will be key for you child’s recovery.

Tips on Helping Your Child

Talking about addiction with your child won’t be easy. Neither will helping him or her through recovery. Below are some tips to help both your child and you through this difficult period:

Educate yourself — Educating yourself on the recovery process is critical. Many misconceptions surround this disease. Educating yourself helps you understand how and why your child got addicted. Doing this will prepare you for what’s to come.

Stop enabling your child — There’s a fine line between helping your child and enabling him or her. Enabling makes it easy for your child to continue using drugs or alcohol. Check out these signs to determine if you’re enabling your child’s addiction.

Focus on treatment — You child’s poor decision-making is what got him or her in trouble. Don’t dwell on those troubles. Instead, encourage your child to recognize his or her potential and take positive actions. Also, encourage them to enter rehab, and listen to their needs and goals.

Create a bond of trust — You might be experiencing many challenging emotions once you find out your child is addicted. Negative emotions can create an atmosphere of distrust and dishonesty. Instead, prepare yourself for positive interactions and productive conversations.

Expect anger but remain calm — Your conversation with your child will not be comfortable. Prepare yourself to hear things that will shock you. He or she might even accuse you of distrust or worse. You might even discover things about yourself that will be hard to accept. Stay calm. If the conversation gets heated, end it and start again.

Set reasonable goals — Have a desired outcome in mind when first talking with your child, but keep expectations low. Don’t expect them to admit use and pledge to stop doing what they’re doing. Instead, take a one step at a time approach by setting a small, but realistic goal.

Discovering your child is addicted to drugs or alcohol is scary. In fact, it’s probably the scariest thing you’ll face as a parent.

Now, it’s time to act. The tips discussed above can help you sort things out and decide on the next steps. More importantly, they’ll help you put your child and your family back on track.

If you are still unsure of how to approach your child or need additional guidance, contact me today and I’ll be more than glad to help you on this difficult journey.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/07/27/Saving-Your-Child-6-Steps-to-Confronting-Addiction-to-Drugs-and-Alcohol

How to Choose the Right Recovery Coach to Conquer Addiction

Choosing a recovery coach is a critical decision. In fact, it’s among the most critical decisions you’ll make on your journey to clean and meaningful life.

What does a Recovery Coach do?

Recovery coaches help make the process easier and boost your chances of staying in recovery beyond one year. For many, it’s the difference between recovering and not recovering.

They understand what addiction is and how it affects people. Coaches have the skill and experience to help you navigate the addiction treatment world and engage in recovery in a motivated way.

Plus, recovery coaches can walk you through hard-hitting cravings, reduce relapses by spotting the signs before a relapse occurs and accompany you to treatment- and recovery-related activities.

The Role of a Recovery Coach

Let’s be clear. Recovery coaches aren’t therapists. Nor are they sponsors or peers. They’re trained professionals with the tools and know how to help transition from addiction to recovery.

Often, coaches use a model similar to harm reduction and motivational therapy. This approach encourages positive actions designed to help you achieve a successful recovery.

But choosing a recovery coach is a challenge. There’s no “one size fits all” approach. Instead, you want a recovery coach that fits your specific needs.

7 Questions to Find the Right Recovery Coach for You

Below are seven questions you can use to help choose the right recovery coach for you. Asking them when interviewing potential recovery coaches can help you choose the right one:

Why aren’t treatment providers enough?What do you consider recovery?What skills do you bring to the job?What experience do you have with a person in recovery?What experience do you have working with addicts in crisis?How would you handle a situation that didn’t go as planned?How would you deal with a client breaking the rules?

Shifting Your Thinking to Break Barriers

One of the keys to a successful coaching experience is helping you to remove the personal, social, and environmental barriers to success.

That’s imperative for recovery.

Coaches also help you shift your thinking away from limited either-or choices to other options and opportunities. Some personal skills and traits to look for in a personal recovery coach include:

Accepts your situationIs aware there are several pathways to recoverAllows you to choose your most appropriate pathNudges you toward self-empowermentHelps you stay in the present and focus on the futureIs highly action- and solutions-orientedIs collaborative, not authoritativeHelps you build responsibility and accountability for your recoveryHelps you become your own rescuerTeaches you to question faulty thinking and patterns of relapse

These are just some of the essential qualities recovery coaches should have. Above all, recovery coaches need to view you as a whole person with viable options for recovery.

Finding a recovery coach that fits your needs and has the skills and qualities mentioned above is easier said than done.

You need to do your homework to find the right coach.

But the effort Is worth it.

He or she can help make your recovery easier and boost your chances of extending it well beyond your first year.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/07/13/How-to-Choose-the-Right-Recovery-Coach-to-Conquer-Addiction

Opiod Addiction and the Role You Can Play

When you naturally have a healing aura, you attract a lot of damaged and broken people, and having them in your life could drain your energy.

It’s important to be reminded that it’s not your job to heal or fix everyone you encounter.

You cannot ride around with an empty tank and you must take care of yourself as well.

With this being said, we still have a responsibility individually and collectively to the alcoholic and addict that still suffer to make sure they get the best possible help they can to recover from this seemingly hopeless state of mind, body, and spirit.

Many have been left to the wayside and at this point we had but two alternatives, one was to go on to the bitter end blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could and the other to accept spiritual help. (Alcoholics Anonymous pg. 25)

According to David Courtwright, a history professor at the University of North Florida, there were 313,000 people addicted to morphine and smoked opium in the United States in the late 19th century. In the United States today about 3 million people are afflicted with opioid use disorder. Although some experts say that data which is based on government surveys underestimate the number of pain patients who are addicted to their prescription pills and that number could be as high as 5 million.

If the medical community is largely responsible for this pernicious epidemic, is it because they didn’t fully understand the risks of what they were truly dealing with?

When did they realize the drugs they were prescribing were getting people hooked and eventually killing them?

If they knew about this and did nothing shouldn’t someone be held responsible?

As I see the problem today, the monies that are coming into the states are being fought over by law enforcement (Narcan), medical researchers, politicians, treatment centers, and Doctors. Yes, it certainly is necessary for Law Enforcement to carry Narcan and save people once they’re overdosing and to study the field of addiction and how the drugs affect the brain but let not forget about the alcoholic and addict that is suffering and dying as well.

I recently spoke with a Law enforcement officer in Minneapolis who told me he’s getting grief for bringing overdosed people back to life. Some said this was their decision to get high and they should be responsible for their actions and consequences attached.

I told him its very similar to a lifeguard not going into the water to save a drowning person!!!

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/06/20/Opiod-Addiction-and-the-Role-You-Can-Play

The Opioid Epidemic and what’s about to change!

If you were to ask any fifth or sixth grader the effects of smoking cigarettes they would all raise their hands and tell you smoking kills. Because tobacco companies have been made to add the surgeon generals warning to all packaging, the awareness of the dangers of smoking is undeniable. If you ask a fifth or sixth grader the effects of Opioids, they are unaware because no one is making the pharmaceutical companies put warnings on the packaging. There has been no awareness or prevention model to educate and bring the truth to the public that these pharmaceuticals cause addiction and death.

Why not?

These pernicious drugs are crippling our neighborhoods like a category 5 hurricane and ravaging our youth. We’re losing 175 people a day from overdoses; the time has come for reformation and change.

What can we do?

We need to create a prevention and awareness model as well as a solution for the addicted. Many cannot afford treatment and do not know what prevention model will be effective. For early prevention it is extremely important to create role-playing as well as continually educating our youth. Role-playing allows them to play out situations in a safe environment that may occur in real life situations in the future. This prepares kids with the cognitive recall to make the right choices in circumstances, which would otherwise catch them off-guard. This role-playing model resonates with kids, focuses them and empowers them with the skills and tools needed to make better decisions. Every decision and choice leads to a consequence, good or bad, and our goal is to create healthy choices and the ability to make them through healthy living and education.

March For Recovery will be coming to a city near you soon. Our goal is to raise awareness about the Opioid Epidemic, the destruction it’s causing and the start of holding big pharmaceutical companies accountable. It’s the responsible thing to do. It is also our intention to raise money in an effort to help those unable to afford treatment.

from theliferecoverycoach https://www.theliferecoverycoach.com/single-post/2018/04/08/Changing-Coming-soon