Category: Recovery Coaching

Where do I get Recovery Coaching Training?

This blog information has been updated. A new list of 250 recovery coaching training organizations has been posted at: https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/recovery-coach-training-organizations/

If you have questions about the process of getting recovery coach certification, please go to: https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/blog/ and read the blog from September 2015, “What certification do I need to be a recovery coach?” It is part of a series of blogs on recovery coaches, peer to peer recovery support specialists and professional life recovery coaches, what certificates and training are necessary for these careers and where to obtain the training and certificates.

-Melissa Killeen

The following blog from 2013, is the fourth in an ongoing series of excerpts taken from Melissa Killeen’s book, RECOVERY COACHING — A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions. (Recovery Coaching Guide – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions). This text is from Chapter 7, Recovery Coaching Training, Certification and Credentialing.

Where do I get Recovery Coaching Training ?

Many people ask me where they can get recovery coaching training. There are many for-profit training organizations that offer virtual or face to face recovery coaching training in many states. There are also many not for profit organizations that have recovery coaching training as well, however they may not be in your state as yet. As follows is a list of as many coaching training organizations that I have come across in researching my book. If there is not a course listed for your state, feel free to contact me by clicking “leave a comment” at the end of this blog, and I will find out more information for you.

For Profit Recovery Coaching Training Organizations

Sober.com offers virtual recovery coach training. Through a series of webinar courses, the Del Ray Beach, Florida company is committed to training recovery coaches nationwide. Sober.com offers recovery coaching consultations online and services to the recovery community by providing resources to find treatment centers, half way houses and therapists. More information is available at the web site: http://sober.com.

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December 3, 2013
Recovery Coaching Training, Credentialing or Certification

The information from this 2013 blog has been updated. Please go to : https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/2015/09/03/what-is-the-difference-between-a-recovery-coach-a-peer-recovery-support-specialist-and-a-professional-recovery-coach/ to read more up to date information.

Coach Credentialing or Certification Training

Coach credentialing or certification training is one of the fastest growing aspects of the coaching field. In 2000, Georgia became the first state to establish a certified peer recovery support specialist as a para-professional role in its mental health workforce. In 2002, Arizona quickly followed, adding certification for coaching individuals in recovery from substance use as well as certifying recovery coaches for individuals with mental health disorders. Since then a majority of states have established peer recovery support specialist roles, as well as systems for certification.

More recently, many states have merged their mental health and addiction services departments because of fiscal belt-tightening. As a result of these departmental merges, state officials have seen the advantages of mental health recovery coaching and the use of recovery coaching for individuals in treatment for recovery from addiction. Illinois, North Carolina, New Hampshire Connecticut, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas have recovery coaching credentialing in each state’s certification boards. In 2013, the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC) developed a peer mentoring credential. The application for the peer mentor certification are on the IC&RC web site. Many agencies and treatment centers accept the IC&RC credentials when they are hiring recovery coaches. As of May 2008, 30 state credentialing boards had developed criteria for the training and deployment of recovery coaches and peer specialists.

It is important to note that to be a “credentialed recovery coach” one must contact their state’s certification board, or licensing entity that certifies drug and alcohol counselors, apply for recovery coaching credentialing and follow the guidelines set forth by these state boards. Recovery coaching training is only Step One in the recovery coaching credentialing process. Step Two is contacting your state’s certification board, and applying for certificate (a fee will be involved) and then Step Three will be following the guidelines set forth by the state’s credentialing board. At no time does taking a recovery coaching course give you immediate recovery coaching certification. It gives you a diploma.

There are many training organizations that offer prospective recovery coaches the information necessary to pass the state’s certification guidelines. I have mentioned in my book, Recovery Coaching, A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addiction certification training organizations, and feature a complete list of all of these organizations. For this blog, I will mention a few.

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November 19, 2013
What Do I Need to Know to Be a Recovery Coach?
(The following is the second in an ongoing series of excerpts taken from Melissa Killeen’s new book, RECOVERY COACHING — A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions. This text is from Chapter 6, What Do I Need to Know to Be a Recovery Coach?)

To Be a Recovery Coach

It is not a requirement for a recovery coach to be in recovery from any addiction. However, it is good for the recovery coach to draw the five concepts of recovery to begin to work with their client. These key concepts of recovery are what every recovery coach needs to instill in their client:
1. To have hope
2. To embrace personal responsibility
3. To educate themselves about recovery and addiction
4. Embrace self advocacy
5. To give support and service
If a recovery coach is not knowledgeable in the addiction the client identifies with, it is advisable to refer the client to a recovery coach or mutual aid program that is knowledgeable in that particular issue. Speaking to another coach is a good move when you are faced with a client that may have an addiction you are not familiar with. However, if a coach has a question about a client’s addiction, or is making a client based decision, it is important to seek the advice of a coaching supervisor as the first step in attempting to come to a conclusion.

Process Addictions

Many times, the addictions that a recovery coach maybe unfamiliar with are non-substance related. These addictions are often called ‘process addictions’. Process addictions can be:
1. Gambling
2. Sex or Pornography
3. Love or Romance
4. Shopping or Over Spending
5. Eating Disorders
6. Self Harm, Mutilation or Cutting
7. Internet or Gaming Addictions
The term process addiction can be misleading, these addictions are sometimes called behavioral addictions, whereas the person is addicted to a compulsive behavior that involves a process, not a substance. This term is often used as a blanket definition for any compulsive behavior which does not involve an addictive substance. However, some mental health disorders also involve compulsive behaviors, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Impulse Control Disorders. Some process addictions involve a substance, as in overeating, and the addictive substance may be flour and/or sugar. Addictive process behaviors produce neurochemicals (e.g., serotonin, dopamine or the neuropeptide; oxytocin) in the brain that create a reaction in the person’s body. The neurochemical reactions create a euphoric feeling as well as the physical actions (the shopping or cutting) create a distraction for the client. It is the reaction to the neurochemicals and the distraction that provides the client the feeling the client is addicted to. An example of using a process or behavioral addiction is when someone engages in retail therapy; which is going shopping in order to make themselves feel less depressed.

RECOVERY COACHING — A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions gives readers something that “hasn’t been done before: a thorough explanation of recovery coaching” states Omar Manejwala, M.D. author and former Medical Director of the Hazelden Treatment Centers, “this [book] will be an indispensable resource for both the coach just starting out or the veteran.”

If you are interested in purchasing Melissa Killeen’s new book, click below.

Recovery Coaching
A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions
November 10, 2013