Change Coaching for Family Addiction Recovery
I turn the way that we learn things upside down. For so long learning has been primarily hierarchical: teacher to student, a relationship that can be easily exploited. What I do is a non-hierarchical and highly respectful relationship where I ask questions rather than supplies answers. I'm there to bring forth your hidden brilliance.
In many respects addiction treatment is the easy part. The hard part is implementing and maintaining changes back in our lives, where all the pressures and struggles that were part of our use originally are still there.
There is no quick fix to maintaining any kind of behavior change; skills, practice, and supports are needed for the long haul.
How does change guidance work?
What is a meeting like?
Overall the role would be to:
You work with me because:
What happens when you work with me?
Why does it work?
Finally let me just say that what I do is similar to what an athletic coach does, only in a more complete and bigger way. I will challenge you and take the time to find out what winning in life means to you. I will be your partner in living the life you know you can accomplish, personally and professionally. I will hold you accountable for your life, to make sure you really live up to your potential.
No matter where you are in life, there's always a desire for more. More success, more money, closer relationships, a deeper feeling of meaning of life, etc. It is the nature of people to want and attain more, become more, be more, and we struggle with how to get what we're looking for.
Most people believe that "hard work and doing it on your own" are the keys to finding the life, success, money, or happiness that they seek. They believe that a price must be paid to attain what they want and often that price is poor health, not having enough time to enjoy life, strained family relationships or lessened productivity. The saddest part is that, even though this effort may result in more of something, it is often not the something you had in mind, and you are back where you started, or worse, further from your real intentions.
Athletes know about this trap. They know they need someone else, a trained someone else to help them set goals, discover real needs, and work effectively toward ultimate goals of excellence. So they are willing to hire a guide or a teacher. No serious athlete would expect to progress very far without one.
What Is the Evidence Base for Peer Guidance Services?
Scientific evidence is growing in support of the beneficial effects of peer support services and health outcomes that help people manage their change process from addiction and other health conditions.
Key studies include the following:
1 Emrick, C.D., Lassen, C.L, & Edwards, M.T. (1978). Nonprofessional peers as therapeutic agents. In A. Gurman & A. Razin (Eds), Effective psychotherapy: A handbook of research. New York: Pergamon.
2 Godley, M.D., & Godley, S.H. (in press). Continuing care following residential treatment: History, current practice, critical issues, and emerging approaches. In Jainchill, N. (ed.), Understanding and treating adolescent substance use disorders. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute.
3 Faces & Voices of Recovery (2010). Addiction recovery peer service roles: recovery management in health reform. Accessed October 25, 2012 from: http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/publications/enews/2010-09-23/9.11.10_PRSS_health_reform_final.pdf
4 Hill, T., McDaid, C. Taylor, P. (2012) Peer recovery support services: evolving community-based practices and infrastructure. Presented to the Betty Ford Institute Annual Conference on Recovery.
5 Jason, L.A., Davis, M.I., & Ferrari, J.R. (2007). The need for substance abuse after-care: Longitudinal analysis of Oxford House. Addiction Behaviors, 32, 803-818.
6 Gulf Coast ATTC (2007). Interim evaluation report: creating access to recovery through drug courts. Texas Department ofState Health Services Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Section.
7 McKay, J.R., Lynch, K., Shepard, D., Pettinati, H. (2005). The Effectiveness of Telephone Based Continuing Care for Alcoholand Cocaine Dependence: 24 Month Outcomes. Archives of General Psychiatry. 62 (199-207).
There is no quick fix to maintaining any kind of behavior change; skills, practice, and supports are needed for the long haul.
How does change guidance work?
- Any individual receiving, exiting or waiting for addiction treatment services can receive guidance services.
- Through the process of change, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life.
- In each meeting, the client chooses the focus of conversation, while the guide listens and contributes observations and questions. This interaction creates clarity and moves the client toward action.
- We accelerate the client's progress in recovery by providing greater focus and awareness of choices, actions, and responsibility. Guidance concentrates on where clients are now and what they are willing to do to enjoy a richer recovery.
- The process recognizes that results are a matter of the client's intentions, choices, and actions taken toward building a strong foundation and creating a life worth staying healthy for, supported by the guide's efforts and application of the change process.
What is a meeting like?
- We connect by phone, Skype, ZOOM or meet in person. Meetings are typically 30–45 minutes but could go up to 90. The client is expected to come to the meeting with a topic or issue.
- I will ask questions about why the topic is important and what the client wants to get from the meeting. Questions are asked to make the client think. Reflections are offered to affirm, clarify or challenge the client.
- In the later part of the call, I will ask what action they want to take in the coming week. The client may choose to take no action at all, or may commit to taking specific actions and letting the guide know when such actions were taken.
- The client benefits from clarity but most especially from the actions they take between sessions to strengthen their recovery and improve their life.
Overall the role would be to:
- help you set better goals and then reach those goals
- ask you to do more than you would have done on your own
- focus you better to more quickly produce results
- provide the tools, support and structure to accomplish more
- get you what you want faster and easier by helping you remove obstacles that get in your way
You work with me because:
- you want more
- you want to continue to grow
- you want it easier
- you want it faster
What happens when you work with me?
- you take yourself more seriously
- you take more effective and focused actions immediately
- you stop putting up with what's dragging you down
- you create momentum so it's easier to get results
- you set better goals that you might not have without me
Why does it work?
- synergy creates momentum
- better goals are set -- ones that naturally pull you toward the goal rather than goals that require you to push yourself to the goal
- you develop new skills, and these skills translate into more success
Finally let me just say that what I do is similar to what an athletic coach does, only in a more complete and bigger way. I will challenge you and take the time to find out what winning in life means to you. I will be your partner in living the life you know you can accomplish, personally and professionally. I will hold you accountable for your life, to make sure you really live up to your potential.
No matter where you are in life, there's always a desire for more. More success, more money, closer relationships, a deeper feeling of meaning of life, etc. It is the nature of people to want and attain more, become more, be more, and we struggle with how to get what we're looking for.
Most people believe that "hard work and doing it on your own" are the keys to finding the life, success, money, or happiness that they seek. They believe that a price must be paid to attain what they want and often that price is poor health, not having enough time to enjoy life, strained family relationships or lessened productivity. The saddest part is that, even though this effort may result in more of something, it is often not the something you had in mind, and you are back where you started, or worse, further from your real intentions.
Athletes know about this trap. They know they need someone else, a trained someone else to help them set goals, discover real needs, and work effectively toward ultimate goals of excellence. So they are willing to hire a guide or a teacher. No serious athlete would expect to progress very far without one.
What Is the Evidence Base for Peer Guidance Services?
Scientific evidence is growing in support of the beneficial effects of peer support services and health outcomes that help people manage their change process from addiction and other health conditions.
Key studies include the following:
- Individuals receiving recovery support services have enhanced long-term recovery outcomes, increased physical/emotional/social/spiritual functioning, and reduced health care and societal costs 1,2,3,4
- Individuals receiving a combination of clinical treatment and recovery supports have had improved recovery outcomes 5,6,7
1 Emrick, C.D., Lassen, C.L, & Edwards, M.T. (1978). Nonprofessional peers as therapeutic agents. In A. Gurman & A. Razin (Eds), Effective psychotherapy: A handbook of research. New York: Pergamon.
2 Godley, M.D., & Godley, S.H. (in press). Continuing care following residential treatment: History, current practice, critical issues, and emerging approaches. In Jainchill, N. (ed.), Understanding and treating adolescent substance use disorders. Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute.
3 Faces & Voices of Recovery (2010). Addiction recovery peer service roles: recovery management in health reform. Accessed October 25, 2012 from: http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/publications/enews/2010-09-23/9.11.10_PRSS_health_reform_final.pdf
4 Hill, T., McDaid, C. Taylor, P. (2012) Peer recovery support services: evolving community-based practices and infrastructure. Presented to the Betty Ford Institute Annual Conference on Recovery.
5 Jason, L.A., Davis, M.I., & Ferrari, J.R. (2007). The need for substance abuse after-care: Longitudinal analysis of Oxford House. Addiction Behaviors, 32, 803-818.
6 Gulf Coast ATTC (2007). Interim evaluation report: creating access to recovery through drug courts. Texas Department ofState Health Services Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Section.
7 McKay, J.R., Lynch, K., Shepard, D., Pettinati, H. (2005). The Effectiveness of Telephone Based Continuing Care for Alcoholand Cocaine Dependence: 24 Month Outcomes. Archives of General Psychiatry. 62 (199-207).
Fees
A Change Your Life package is 24 sessions for 4,800 paid in full or 200 per session.
Includes unlimited contact by text and email.
Includes unlimited contact by text and email.
Sustainable Recovery, Inc.
Timothy Harrington
Telephone: 323-804-5555
Timothy Harrington
Telephone: 323-804-5555