10 Facts You Should Know Before Choosing a Recovery Coach

1. What is the role of a Recovery Coach?

A Recovery Coach is a trained professional who supports a person in working toward their own recovery goals.

Recovery Coaching is generally client-directed. The coach works with the individual to explore goals, identify strengths and resources, develop strategies, address barriers, and build recovery supports.

A Recovery Coach does not own your recovery or make decisions for you.

The role is to support you as you make decisions about your own recovery and the life you want to build.

2. Is Recovery Coaching the same as addiction treatment, therapy, or counselling?

No.

Recovery Coaching and clinical services have different purposes and scopes of practice.

Depending on their professional credentials and scope of practice, physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counsellors and other regulated or clinical professionals may diagnose, assess, or treat substance use disorders and other health conditions.

A Recovery Coach provides recovery-oriented support and coaching within their defined scope of practice.

Recovery Coaching may complement treatment, counselling, medical care, peer support, mutual-aid programs, or other services. It should not be represented as a replacement for services that require a qualified medical or clinical professional.

A professional Recovery Coach should know the limits of their scope of practice and make appropriate referrals when a person's needs fall outside that scope.

3. Who can work with a Recovery Coach?

Recovery Coaching may be appropriate for people at different stages of their recovery journey.

For example, someone may seek coaching when they are:

• Exploring their relationship with alcohol or other substances
• Considering whether they want to make a change
• Preparing for treatment
• Transitioning from treatment back into everyday life
• Working toward or maintaining abstinence
• Developing a recovery plan
• Looking for additional accountability and support
• Working through challenges in recovery
• Rebuilding routines, relationships, purpose, or community
• Seeking support to maintain the changes they have made

You do not necessarily have to be in crisis to seek recovery support.

A person can seek a Recovery Coach because they recognize that they want something in their life to change.

4. What should I realistically expect from working with a Recovery Coach?

A Recovery Coach cannot responsibly guarantee sobriety, abstinence, relapse prevention, or any other specific recovery outcome.

Your recovery remains your responsibility.

A coach can provide support, encouragement, accountability, education, perspective, goal-setting, and practical strategies. The specific outcomes of coaching will depend on your circumstances, goals, participation, and the actions you choose to take.

Depending on your goals, Recovery Coaching may help you:

• Clarify what you want from recovery
• Identify personal strengths and resources
• Establish realistic goals
• Recognize barriers to those goals
• Develop strategies for challenging situations
• Strengthen recovery supports
• Build accountability
• Establish healthier routines
• Prepare for transitions and changes
• Develop greater confidence in managing everyday life in recovery

A professional Recovery Coach should be clear about what coaching can and cannot provide.

5. What training should a Recovery Coach have?

There is no single training program that applies to every Recovery Coach.

Different organizations offer Recovery Coach education and credentialing pathways, and their requirements can differ.

When considering a coach, ask:

• What Recovery Coach training have you completed?
• How many hours of training did you complete?
• Did your training include ethics?
• Was your coaching competency assessed?
• Do you hold a professional credential?
• Does the credential require ongoing education or renewal?
• Do you belong to a professional organization?
• Do you participate in supervision or other professional development?

A professional Recovery Coach should be able to clearly explain their training and credentials.

6. What is the difference between training, certification, accreditation, and professional membership?

These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they can describe different things.

Training generally means that an individual has completed an educational program.

Certification generally refers to a credential awarded by an organization after an applicant meets that organization's specified requirements.

Accreditation can refer to a formal recognition process in which an organization evaluates whether an individual or organization meets specified standards.

Professional membership means that an individual belongs to a professional organization according to that organization's membership requirements.

Because organizations establish their own terminology and requirements, it is important to ask exactly what a credential means and what was required to obtain it.

7. Do professional credentials matter when choosing a Recovery Coach?

Professional credentials are one factor a client can consider when evaluating a Recovery Coach.

A credential may provide information about the education, competency assessment, professional experience, supervision, ethical requirements, continuing education, or other requirements established by the organization issuing the credential.

However, a credential should not be interpreted as a guarantee of a particular recovery outcome.

When comparing coaches, consider the complete picture:

• Education and training
• Professional credentials
• Experience
• Ethical standards
• Scope of practice
• Supervision or professional development
• Approach to confidentiality
• Transparency about services and fees
• Ability to make appropriate referrals
• Your personal comfort and ability to establish a productive coaching relationship

8. What ethical standards should I expect from a Recovery Coach?

A professional Recovery Coach should operate within an established ethical framework and appropriate professional boundaries.

Depending on the credentialing organization and professional framework, this may include expectations relating to:

• Respect and dignity
• Client autonomy
• Confidentiality and privacy
• Professional boundaries
• Conflicts of interest
• Scope of practice
• Appropriate referrals
• Non-judgmental practice
• Professional conduct
• Continuing professional development

Ask a prospective coach what code of ethics or professional standards they follow.

You should also understand how confidentiality works and what its limitations are before beginning a coaching relationship.

9. How does Recovery Coaching work if the coach isn't supposed to tell me what to do?

Recovery Coaching is generally designed to be collaborative and client-directed.

Rather than simply giving instructions, a coach may use questions, reflective listening, goal-setting, exploration, and other coaching techniques to help you identify what matters to you and determine what steps you are prepared to take.

The coach brings knowledge, experience, coaching skills, and perspective to the relationship.

You bring your own experience, values, goals, and decisions.

The purpose of the relationship is to support you in making informed choices about your recovery.

10. What questions should I ask before choosing a Recovery Coach?

You have every right to ask questions before deciding whether a coach is right for you.

Consider asking:

• What training have you completed?
• What professional credentials do you hold?
• Who issued those credentials?
• What was required to obtain them?
• Do you follow a professional code of ethics?
• What is your scope of practice?
• How do you handle confidentiality?
• What happens if I experience a setback?
• When would you recommend that I seek medical, clinical, or other professional support?
• What can I realistically expect from Recovery Coaching?

A professional coach should be comfortable answering these questions.

You should never feel pressured to choose a coach before you are comfortable with the decision.