Creative Ways Recovery Coaching Can Complement Therapy

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "In 2019, 19.2% of adults had received any mental health treatment in the past 12 months, including 15.8% who had taken prescription medication for their mental health and 9.5% who received counseling or therapy from a mental health professional." 

Of course, this was pre-pandemic, and as those numbers come in, they are anticipated to be significantly higher. Also, with this level of the population utilizing therapy, therapists must find new ways to make their practice more unique, inviting, and effective. Recovery coaching can help in this department.

Recovery is a lifelong journey that requires patience, persistence, and keeping up the practice. Recovery coaching can help your client maintain motivation in recovery. 

At Next Level Recovery Associates, our "Recovery Companions" integrate creative ways and offer resources to help your clients get involved with local programs, events, and opportunities. This also ensures that they stay focused and connected with your therapeutic plan.

What Exactly Is a Recovery Companion?

Recovery coaching has been around in one form or another as long as people have struggled with alcohol and substances. They were often informal agreements between friends to keep an individual struggling away from their previous toxic behaviors. Dating back to General U.S. Grant, there was a signed agreement that one of his closest assistants would vow to help keep him away from alcohol.

This coaching became slightly more established when Alcoholics Anonymous was formed over 87 years ago in the form of sponsorship using the goal of helping another. This, of course, has expanded into other 12-Step programs focused on other substance abuse disorders where a sponsor can help a "newcomer" succeed in their program.

In recent years, recovery coaching has become more formalized, with various treatment facilities and recovery centers offering coaches to help keep their clients focused on their recovery and away from triggering situations, with the ultimate goal of avoiding relapse.

How Can a Recovery Companion Help Your Clients

Here at Next Level Recovery Associates, we take recovery coaching — which we refer to as recovery companionship — a step further with a more nuanced, individualized approach for our clientele. Our Recovery Companions can help your clients through the challenging transition between their time at our center and your therapeutic plan of action, and it doesn't have to stop there.

When someone is new to recovery or "just coming back," it can be a shock to the system as they shift back out of treatment into their everyday lives. Our Recovery Companions ensure that these clients remain accountable to their growth and sober prosperity goals.

As a therapist, you cannot control what happens once your clients leave your session. Our Recovery Companions can help guide them and keep them on track with your set plan for their recuperation.

Suppose you are working with cognitive-behavioral therapy, for example. In that case, our Recovery Companions can help your clients stay present and focused as they utilize your tools for their actions and reactions to potential "triggering" situations.

Another example is utilizing a Recovery Companion for medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Our Recovery Companions can be crucial in ensuring that your clients stay on track with their medications and on time and present for your therapy sessions.

Why Next Level Recovery Companions Are Superior

Our Recovery Companions are unique in that they have all gone through recovery themselves. All of us here at Next Level Recovery Associates have benefitted from recovery and the gift of sobriety. This is not something we take lightly, and we are incredibly grateful and proud of our entire staff here.

This brings a level of reliability to our Recovery Companions that many other treatment facilities do not have. Remember the creed, "only someone who has gone through recovery can understand another person that is now going through it." So when your client faces a stressful moment or event, chances are our Recovery Companions have been there before and can help them overcome their obstacles.

Our Recovery Companions also offer ways to get your clients more involved in the recovery community, which can be with local 12-Step programs. This may also be with various holistic offerings, such as local meditation, breathwork, or yoga classes.

There is no way of sugarcoating it: the road to recovery is not easy and takes a lot of hard work and dedication. It takes awareness, acceptance, and action. As therapists, you understand this. Our Recovery Companions can help solidify that message to your clients.

As members of the mental health and wellness community, we all know our primary purpose is to help our clients recover. Our Recovery Companions offer just one more way to ensure that happens. You are here to help your clients succeed; let us help you do the same.

Recovery Companions can be a critical part of your client's long-term success. A Recovery Companion becomes all the more potent when utilized in tandem with various therapies. At Next Level Recovery Associates, our Recovery Companions can ensure your clients maintain motivation, stay engaged, and avoid potential pitfalls. In recovery, every step must be taken to ensure that your client is successful in all walks of their journey. Recovery is not guaranteed, but it can be attained and maintained with the right people, tools, and resources. If you feel that your clients could benefit from a Recovery Companion, we are here to help. For more information, reach out to Next Level Recovery Associates today at (561) 735-2590.