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A
simple revolution has been occurring in a number of places across
the world of recovery. The mainstream hasn’t caught onto it quite yet
– so far it’s been the domain of a range of people involved in trying to
foster, build and transform recovery. Part of this simple revolution is
called recovery coaching, which, while it seems as if it’s just
arriving, has actually been around since at least 2000. I describe it
as ‘simple’ because the set of concepts on which it is built are just that. I believe
that we will look back in a few years and realise that we have indeed had a revolution,
and that recovery coaching has played a significant part.
The term ‘recovery coach’ and the practice of recovery coaching have
emerged largely from two pathways, both of which are primarily outside of existing
treatment channels. The largest of these is the peer-to-peer support environment
and movement that has existed for some time in mutual aid organisations and
developing recovery communities, while the second has arisen from the coaching
environment. Here, people training as coaches and who are familiar with recovery
and its requirements have realised the benefit of coaching approaches to building
and maintaining recovery.
The attractiveness of recovery coaching lies in the concepts that underpin it.
These allow for an emerging practitioner landscape that embraces peer recovery
coaching – free at the point of contact within the recovery community – through
to professional recovery coaches offering paid-for services to individuals and
organisations.
*****
Recovery coaching is built on several key concepts and approaches
. The first is
that recovery comes from the person themselves – something that is generated by
the person looking for, or in, recovery. This deep respect for an individual’s
resourcefulness in finding their own path to recovery lies at the heart of the
coaching. The agenda for a recovery coaching session always comes from the
person being coached, and the relationship is actively designed between coach and
coachee, with priority given to the coachee’s needs and requirements.
This coaching is also applicable across all models and approaches to
recovery – recovery coaches have no agenda other than to assist and support
others to find and develop recovery, so they work with whatever recovery
pathway a coachee is on at any given time. It is also systemic; recovery coaches
REVO
20 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| September 2012
Recovery |
Coaching
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Recovery coaching is quietly
transforming the world of recovery,
says
Anthony Eldridge-Rogers
recognise that recovery develops and takes place within a series of relationships
within a system or network, such as a community. They work with coachees to
develop their understanding of this system, its assets and debits, and the risks it
poses to their recovery.
All recovery coaching sessions are grounded in agreed action for the coachee
to take, with associated feedback and accountability with the coach. Through this
mechanism coachees build their levels of commitment to their own actions and
have an opportunity to increase self-understanding and learning through evaluating
the consequences of actions taken – or not – on their own lives.
The coaches are an invaluable gateway to resources that may be practical – for
example, local meetings – or more general, conceptual, philosophical or educational.
The emphasis, however, is on coaching while interacting with these resources.
Recovery coaches are not experts in treatment, nor are they offering it –
coaching is an addition to the existing recovery environment. It should be seen as
a new combination of tools that perform a particular role and function outside of
medical or therapeutic treatments, although often in alliance with them.
*****
Why is it growing fast?
There are several factors, and the first is widening
engagement. Recovery coaches sit outside of particular pathways and services and
therefore can provide a continuum of relationship when a person disengages from
them. They also offer a particular pathway of engagement for people unable,
unready and/or unwilling to interact with other pathways to recovery at a given time.
Recovery coaching is ‘sticky’, with recovery coaching skills, techniques and
approaches to relationships rubbing off on the coachee. They will start to use
coaching approaches and skills spontaneously in their everyday lives, and these in
turn tend to rub off on the people close to them.
Importantly, there are also low barriers to entry. The ability to acquire and use
recovery coaching skills requires no particular educational or academic experience –
almost anyone can learn and practise them, and they are inexpensive to train. Plus,
there are immediate returns. As the skills and approaches that form foundational
recovery coaching principles are essentially already aligned to existing human
behavioural tendencies, they are easily understood from almost the very beginning of
training, so there is a near-immediate return on the investment made in learning them.
Recovery coaching focuses on the strengths, assets and abilities of people. It