Everyone needs a hand to hold at one point in their lives. When challenges, emotional turmoil, mental illness, or an addiction arises, a person needs to know that they can find support. Turning to a life coach in these times of need can offer massive rewards and change an individual’s life in many ways. Similar to a fitness trainer, a life coach can give you the right instructions and tools in order to heal, strengthen, and better your life. Having often faced the same difficulties themselves, these life coaches intimately know the steps necessary to initiate recovery.
What Is A Life Coach?
Life coaching, otherwise known as peer mentoring, is a hand in hand partnership between the person seeking to overcome their addiction and the life coach, which results in positive support and change. The coach offers sound advice to help a person better understand what’s needed to bring about the healing they want to acquire. The focal point for the coach becomes the individual’s specific recovery goals.
In order to do this, the coach will ask a series of questions and offer helpful suggestions and strategies to aid the person in recovery. The coach will honor the person’s values and needs, creating a stable plan of action by focusing on a person’s current strengths, and those in development, as a means to obtain positive future goals. Keeping the individual on track, the coach will help bring accountability, support, and encouragement, the entire way. Together, they will look for helpful systems that will bring about the best recovery possible.
The following are examples of the numerous ways a life coach can assist you or a family member during recovery. They:
- Assist you in developing and initiating a recovery plan of action.
- Aid in creating stability for an individual and their family in recovery from substance use or addiction.
- Encourage success by alleviating obstacles to gain treatment and recovery.
- Offer guidance and mentorship for people seeking, or already involved in a recovery program.
- Help a client find materials for harm reduction, detox, treatment, family support and education, and local or online support groups.
- Exist as a role model for tangible and obtainable recovery behaviors.
- Motivate through hope and vision, while also offering praise for positive behaviors.
- Function as a champion for the person who is in recovery, both within and outside of the program.
- Give advice and support on how to better accomplish day-to-day tasks.
- Assist a person towards finding basic necessities and necessary resources, including money.
- Help the person seek out professional services from lawyers, doctors, psychologists, financial advisers and other local resources.
- Provide peer support services.
One of the most unique dynamics of a life coach is that many coaches have often been in recovery themselves. Due to this, they have obtained a wealth of knowledge on how to obtain and maintain recovery, and can even share stories of their own personal journey with you. This shared language based on familiar experiences can help to uplift and center a person, as the life coach supports and understands the many paths to recovery. This connection helps a person to set personal goals to find their own path.
The Benefit Of Peer-Based Care
A life coach is a peer-based service. There has been a significant rise in the interest of peer-based services. A large amount of evidence reports that peer-based recovery support services offer as good results, and in some cases better, than services provided from non-peer professionals.
Peer specialists have had great outcomes working within recovery teams. When these peers have been a part of hospital-based treatment, the results were: shorter lengths of stays, decreased frequency of admissions, and an overall decline in treatment costs. These peer recovery coaches can strengthen social support and greatly increase recovery times. One main reason for this kind of approach is that peers will use their life experience and knowledge to help others move forward. Having a peer-to-peer relationship works wonders within the context of recovery, for this reason, it is now being more greatly recognized for its vast benefit.
A Hand To Guide You
When battling addiction, often times a helping hand is needed to encourage an individual’s positive decision making skills. Bogged down with the stress of trying to overcome their addiction, the individual in recovery who works with a life coach will learn positive coping skills to help them avoid relapse, especially when coming home from treatment.
A life coach will focus on helping to build community, support for recovery, life goals, and helping to improve and develop things such as relationships, work ethics, or education. It is important to note that a life coach is not the same as a therapist. They do not focus on the past or instances of trauma, and they do not dwell on feelings of the individual in a significant capacity. They are not equipped to diagnose or treat mental health concerns. If the individual needs mental health help, the life coach can direct them to further specialized treatment.
We Can Help You Connect
Understanding when you need help is vital to your overall health. Having the tools, support, and wisdom you need in order to overcome the obstacles of recovery are critical. If you or a loved one needs the special support of a life coach, contact us at DrugRehab.org for more information. Having the help you need will put you on a faster track to overcoming any obstacles, so that you can fully recover from your addiction.
Sources
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — EQUIPPING BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYSTEMS & AUTHORITIES TO PROMOTE PEER SPECIALIST/PEER RECOVERY COACHING SERVICES
New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services — Recovery Coach