Recovery Coaching Helps Open New Doors
The word ‘recovery’ is often defined as the act of getting back or regaining something lost or taken away. How perfect then that OneEighty’s ‘Recovery Coaches’ are the people who mentor people with addiction issues in reimagining their new beginnings.
For over forty years, Bobbi Douglas, Executive Director of OneEighty, has worked to build the agency’s brand trademark as “Early Adopters.” That equates to creating a staff who consistently looks towards new, innovative tools to put into their continuum of care to help people take back control of their lives. “Years ago, I was privileged to hear William White speak about Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC),” Douglas said. “Unlike the old traditional thinking of one path to recovery, this system supports the premise that there are many pathways to recovery. Knowing that people don’t always enter through the traditional treatment portal, having a full menu of options that meets people where they are is key to lasting recovery.”
Innovation Offers Fresh Approach
The idea of Recovery Coaches came out of another innovative endeavor instituted at OneEighty, the Oasis Club.
“Two men who were past clients of Pathway, our men’s treatment facility and had long term recovery, came up with the idea of creating a club where they could go and socialize,” Douglas explained. A volunteer advisory Board was formed, and the OASIS Club was opened. “The Club was staffed with people in recovery. The club offered a comfortable, fun environment where people in recovery could come, meet with their sponsors if they wanted to, or just get together with their friends who understood where they were in life.”
With a grant from Stanley Gault, The Noble Foundation, and the Mental Health and Recovery Board, volunteer Becky Foster helped turn the idea into a reality.
“One of the people that volunteered at the club, Angela Ratliff, came to me and said she had been at a recovery conference and had heard about the idea of ‘Recovery Coaches’,” Douglas said. “We trained her and helped her get her certification. It was Angela who helped set up the Recovery Coach program.”
Alongside the more traditional treatment options, peer recovery coaching offers a more flexible, relationship opportunity. Recovery coaches can work with people on things like treatment options, recovery tools, self-care education, goal setting, employment opportunities, as well as providing linkage information to additional community resources. Additionally, those conversations can take place at the person’s home, a restaurant, a park, or any other place that works for the pair.
In Recovery…Not In Recovery…No Matter
“People engage in recovery through a variety of community and faith-based groups, not just formal treatment programs,” Douglas explained. “Treatment is but one stage of recovery and our Recovery Coaches straddle the line between case managers and the sponsor option found in the 12-Step Program. It’s not just about staying clean. Recovery includes changing one’s life physically, spiritually, and mentally while moving forward towards newly set goals.”
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OneEighty is proud to be an Early Adopter of hiring individuals with lived substance use disorder or addiction experience who can share their journey to recovery, combined with training and continual education.