Category Archives: Coach Credentialing

What kind of training and certificate do I need to be a peer recovery support-specialist?

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Melissa Killeen
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Melissa Killeen

I published my book Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions in 2013. Since then, recovery coach or peer recovery support-specialist training has become one of the fastest growing aspects of the coaching field. So, what kind of training and certificate do you need to be a peer recovery support specialist ?

In 2013, the organizations that offered recovery coach or peer recovery specialist training numbered around 50. Today, the number has grown to 250. Many state certification boards have established recovery coach and peer recovery support-specialist certifications.

The definition of a recovery coach, and a peer recovery support-specialist has changed significantly, as well. Now, the term peer-to-peer recovery support-specialist defines a coach that works with people in mental health recovery and/or people that are in co-occurring recovery (co-occurring describes when a person has an addiction and a mental health diagnosis). Commonly the coach in this job is called a “peer.”

Even though most of the state certification boards issue a certificate with the same “title,” (such as certified peer recovery support-specialist) the agencies that are looking for coaches to work with addicts advertise for recovery coaches and the agencies that are looking for coaches to work with people with behavioral or mental health disorders advertise for peers.

In the treatment field it is common to have states use different terminology and acronyms for a certificate of the same job description. For example, the terminology for a certified recovery coach or peer in New Jersey is Certified Peer Support-Practitioner (CRSP).The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Certification Board of Georgia calls this credential a Certified Peer Recovery Coach (CPRC). The Minnesota Certification Board offers a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) credential. There are several different terms for certificates for the same job description throughout the United States.

As of March 2014, 38 states and the District of Columbia have established programs to train and certify peer-to-peer recovery support-specialist working with people in mental health recovery. Eight states are in the process of developing and/or implementing a peer program. For information on locating these agencies go to the International Association of Peer Specialists at: http://inaops.org/training-and-certification/.

The International Association of Peer Specialists web site features a PDF document that is downloadable, with a list of all of the peer training organizations. This document is entitled: Peer Specialist Training and Certification Programs: A National Overview, and was compiled by the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health, in the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. This PDF breaks down the peer certifications for every state, gives a web site and email contact for the training organizations as well as the required domains to master, in order to receive the certification. As an adjunct to this PDF, an additional list of recognized peer support training providers is available. The link is: http://inaops.org/training-providers/. If your area is not served by training organizations featured in these two documents, email: training@naops.org to find training in your area.

What are the peer recovery support-specialist guidelines for receiving certification?

The peer recovery support-specialist application for certification will vary from state to state but essentially the guidelines are similar. Individuals can qualify to become certified peer-to-peer recovery support-specialist by meeting the following guidelines:

  • Have a minimum of one year demonstrated recovery time from a significant mental health and/or substance use disorder at the date of application.
  • Be at least 18 years of age.
  • Must have a minimum of at least a high school diploma or GED.
  • Have attended and successfully completed a recognized training curriculum (face to face in a classroom setting or on-line) that totals 40 hours at a minimum and have a valid certificate of completion from that training.
  • Have completed an additional 20 hours of training and have valid certificates verifying attendance and participation in the following training categories: Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP), Person Centered Thinking, Personal Assistance in Community Existence (PACE), Crisis Prevention, Veteran supports and interventions. Applicants can also use other college coursework, if related to the work of a Certified Peer Support-Specialist, if it will enhance the ability to provide services to people with mental health and/or substance use disorders. The applicant must submit an official transcript for review with the application.
  • Acknowledge the peer will follow the ethical guidelines of a peer recovery support-specialist by signing a form stating they have read and comprehend the guidelines
  • Submit two (2) personal reference letters

What are the costs of Certified Peer Recovery Support-Specialist Training?

Costs for Certified Peer Specialist training range from $400-$1,000. There are several ways to pay for Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) training. There are a number of programs and organizations that sponsor free Peer Recovery Support-Specialists certification training, continuing education classes, and supervisor training classes. As follows, are some suggestions:

Offices of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) help people with disabilities prepare for and achieve an employment goal. OVR has many offices located throughout United States. If you qualify for OVR services, OVR may pay up to $900 for you to receive certification training.

County Mental Health and Developmental Services is another source of possible funding. Some county MH/DS offices contract with training vendors to provide a Certified Peer Specialist class in that county. When this happens, a county purchases an entire class (20 seats) from a training vendor. The county then accepts applications from people who want to attend the training. In these cases, the training is usually only open to people who reside in that county.

The Mental Health Associations of your state may provide low cost Certified Peer Specialist training.

Review the document, Peer Specialist Training and Certification Programs—A National Overview (http://www.dbsalliance.org/pdfs/training/Peer-Specialist-Training-and-Certification-Programs-A-National-Overview%20UT%202013.pdf ). There are many states, Alabama, Ohio, and North Carolina, to name a few that offer free training and are listed in this document.

Next week’s blog post will review what certification is required to be a professional recovery coach working as a coach that has a variety of coaching credentials.

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What kind of training do I need to be a recovery coach?

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Melissa Killeen
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Melissa Killeen

I published my book Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions in 2013. Since then, recovery coach or peer recovery specialist training has become one of the fastest growing aspects of the coaching field. So what kind of training do I need to be a recovery coach?

In 2013, the organizations that offer recovery coach or peer recovery-specialist training numbered around 50. Today, the number has grown to 250. Many state certification boards have established recovery coach and peer recovery support specialist certifications.

Many of the organizations that offer addictions recovery coach training or peer recovery-support specialist training are listed on my web site: https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/recovery-coach-training-organizations/. For many people interested in being a recovery coach, the training costs, deciding on the best training organization and the training necessary to fulfill the certification requirements can be confusing. So I would like to attempt to clear up this confusion and will answer these questions in this post:

  • What are the guidelines I must meet to apply for recovery coaching training?
  • What kind of training do I need to be a recovery coach?

What are the guidelines to apply for recovery coaching training?

Applicants must meet the following guidelines to apply for a training course in order to be a recovery coach or a peer recovery support-specialist. These guidelines are shared by many training organizations and certification boards across the nation as a standard for what a potential recovery coach must have before applying for recovery coaching training:

  • High school diploma, GED or higher
  • Minimum of one year of direct knowledge of sponsorship and 12-step programs
  • Minimum one year of sobriety from substance use or one year sobriety in co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (self-attestation)

What kind of training should I look for?

Certification boards require the coach to receive outside training that fulfills the requirements mandated by the state board. These requirements are often a certain amount of hours training in topics such as addiction recovery theory and models, coaching ethics, motivational interviewing, relapse prevention, nicotine cessation, suicide prevention and HIV-AIDS education. Each state and organization has different requirements. So first check with your state to ensure the course you take will be accepted by the state credentialing board.

There are trainings offered that can give a coach more information that may not be on the state certification board list, but are very helpful. The kinds of training I found helpful as a new recovery coach were: conflict management, anger management, intervention training, co-occurring disorders, behavioral addictions, the pharmacology of addiction, and psycho-pharmacology as well as knowledge about coaching families in relationships with addicted persons. There are also training organizations that offer three different levels of recovery coaching training: novice-, intermediate- and master-level coaching certificates.

The places in which you receive this training are quite diverse. In the links section of this web site, I list over 250 organizations offering recovery coach training. The courses can be online, or in a classroom. The costs for this training is diverse as well, from free (in Ohio) up to $4,000 per course. The length of the course could be three days or four months.

At no time does taking a recovery coaching course give you an immediate state certification board recovery-coaching credential. It gives you a document (called a certificate) that says you completed the training. There are many coaches who do not seek state board certification, and use this document or certificate from a training organization as adequate proof they are knowledgeable in performing the duties of a recovery coach.

There is one international credentialing organization, the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium, commonly known as the IC & RC (http://internationalcredentialing.org/) that runs many state credentialing boards and has developed an exam for a Peer Recovery (PR) Certification. The IC & RC suggests applicants check with their state credentialing board for specific test taking guidelines.

Are there any additional requirements for recovery coaching certification?

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, and the National Certification Commission for Addiction Professionals (NCC AP) http://www.naadac.org/NCPRSS offer the Peer Recovery Support-Specialist Certification. Similar to the requirements of the IC & RC, the NCC AP recommends, in order to receive certification, a coach read and sign a statement on the application affirming adherence to the Peer Recovery Support-Specialist Code of Ethics. Credentialing boards require supervisors of the coaches-in-training to sign a document verifying they have supervised the coach during the period of the coach’s training. Letters of recommendation are also items required by some credentialing boards. Other state boards require a recent photograph. As always, check with the state credentialing board for specific requirements for credentialing.

Next week’s post will review what certification is required to be a peer-to-peer support-specialist working with people in mental health recovery

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What kind of certification do I need to be a recovery coach?

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Melissa Killeen
melissa-new-post

Melissa Killeen

I published my book Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions in 2013. Since then, recovery coach or peer-recovery specialist certification training has become one of the fastest growing aspects of the coaching field. So what kind of certification do I need to be a recovery coach?

In 2013, the organizations that offer recovery coach or peer-recovery specialist training numbered around 50. Today, the number has grown to 250. Many state certification boards have established recovery coach and peer-recovery support specialist certifications. Yet, for many people that seek to be a recovery coach the qualifications, the training, the requirements for certification, or credentialing seem baffling. So I would like to attempt to clear up this confusion and will answer these questions in this post:

  • What is the process for certification as a recovery coach or peer recovery specialist?
  • What kind of certification should I be focusing on?

What is the process of being qualified, getting training and then credentialed as a recovery coach or peer-recovery support specialist?

If you are investigating becoming a recovery coach, I suggest you follow these steps:

  1. Research the training organizations that offer recovery coach training you can afford. Go to https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/recovery-coach-training-organizations/ for a list of addiction recovery coach training organizations
  2. Verify that you meet the qualifications to apply for the course (e.g. be 18-years-old, have a GED or high school diploma, one year sobriety from any addiction)
  3. Take and pass the course, retain the coaching certificate for future purposes
  4. Research places like Recovery Community Organizations or treatment centers to work or volunteer as a recovery-coach-in-training
  5. Apply to your state certification board for recovery coach certification (a fee may apply)
  6. Complete the recovery-coach-in-training supervised practice hours that are required by the state board
  7. Send in your application with paperwork verifying the completion of practice hours to the state credentialing board with a certification fee (fee varies for every state, from $100-$250)
  8. Receive your recovery coaching or peer-recovery support specialist certificate
  9. In the next 2 – 5 years take the required courses for renewing this certificate. Refer to your state board for more information on courses and renewal time frames. A renewal fee will be required.

What kind of certification do I need to be a recovery coach?

For an addiction recovery coach, the certification and training is prefaced with the terms: peer-support specialist, certified peer-recovery practitioner, recovery coach or peer-recovery specialist. Every state is different and every state uses different names for these certifications. Look for courses that offer the training needed for an addictions coach and a peer working with people in mental health recovery certification. It is the exact same training, in the same exact classroom, for two different jobs descriptions! It may be confusing now, and quite possibly the content and descriptions of  these courses may change going forward. But I would have to have a crystal ball to predict that for certain.

I suggest you first take a certification training course. You can make the decision after the training is completed to apply for state board certification. As a coach if you are interested in being your own business person, certification by a training organization should be adequate. If you want to work in a treatment center, with a recovery community organization, social services agency or hospital, certification issued by the state’s certification board or the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC) is required by the institution hiring you. If you want to carry professional liability insurance, or be reimbursed by Medicaid for your services, certification by a state certification board is mandatory.

What is a state certification board?

The process for receiving a certificate as a recovery coach is overseen by a state’s certification or licensing board. A state certification board tests and renews practitioner’s (coaches, therapists, nurses, etc.) certificates to ensure their knowledge is up to par. Also, that they have the ethical knowledge to practice in their profession. These processes for certification, such as training, educational requirements, exams and renewal guidelines, varies from state to state. These certification standards are recognized by health care companies, insurance companies, Medicaid, Medicare as well as companies that hire these practitioners.

These state certification boards are the same boards that issue licenses or certifications for drug and alcohol counselors, and therapists. Some states have combined licenses and certifications boards all in one office, so it could be the same office in which nurses or hairdressers receive their licenses. I suggest you search the Internet for drug and alcohol certification for your state. Then search for the state board website for recovery coach or peer-recovery support specialist certification. As of May 2008, thirty state credentialing boards had developed criteria for the training and deployment of recovery coaches and peer-recovery specialists, so you should have no trouble finding these boards on the Internet.

What is Reciprocity?

Reciprocity is a term you will see used often on these board sites. When you are certified through your home state’s certification board, you may have the ability to transfer that credential to another state. This is called reciprocity. State certification boards may offer reciprocity to certified coaches in other states. The state boards have the authority to set reciprocity requirements for coaches to practice in their state. Not all certifications are eligible for reciprocity. It is vitally important that you investigate reciprocity guidelines prior to relocating to another state, because it can be a very complicated process.

There are national and international recovery coach certifications available. In 2013, the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC) developed a peer recovery credential. The application for the peer-recovery certification appears on the IC & RC web site. An IC & RC credential is accepted by many agencies and treatment centers when they are hiring recovery coaches.

In next week’s post I will review what kind of training you need to have in order to apply for recovery coach certification.

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