Tag Archives: NAADAC

The Best Book on Recovery Coaching

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Melissa Killeen

The second edition of RECOVERY COACHING- A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions – has just been released

http://www.recoverycoachingguide.com/

The second edition of RECOVERY COACHING- A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions has 100 new pages of vital recovery coaching ideas aligned with the most up to date, state-of-the-art research on substance misuse treatment models, examples of new recovery support practitioner jobs, discussions about situations that a coach encounters with a patient revived from an opioid overdose and very important information on the medications employed in medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for the treatment of alcohol, opioid or methamphetamine misuse. This second edition demonstrates how using multiple treatment perspectives, including Motivational Interviewing, Harm Reduction, and the Recovery Management Model can be integrated to inform an effective recovery coaching practice. Readers receive sobriety tools that can be used as a guide for the coach to support the person in their recovery process. Poignant, personal stories from recovery coaches pinpoint their experiences and fill the book with bonus coaching material. This second edition includes the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) survey as well as a list of what a recovery coach should anticipate from a recovery coach’s supervisor. However, the resources do not stop there, the book gives practical business advice about how to set up a successful recovery coaching practice.

80% of people leaving a substance misuse treatment center will relapse within the first year of discharge. 9 out of 10 of this 80% relapse within the first ninety days after discharge. Working with a recovery coach or a peer recovery support specialist can significantly reduce the likelihood of relapse during this crucial period. Recovery coaching and peer recovery support is the missing link, bridging the gap between an individual leaving a treatment center and maintaining long term sobriety.

RECOVERY COACHING- A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions gives readers something that has not been done before: a thorough explanation of recovery coaching and peer recovery support. First published in 2013, it was the first book on Recovery Coaching, since the field’s inception in the 1990s. This book will be an indispensable resource for the recovery coach or peer support specialist just starting out, the coaching veteran, and any addiction treatment professional.

“My goal is to have clients experience a blend of recovery and life tools to create the skills needed to maintain long term sobriety” states Ms. Killeen. “This book embodies that philosophy, guiding the new coach to know as much as they can learn at the start of their coaching career. This book blends the knowledge of coaching, the models of recovery, life skills, and  several examples of clinical research used in the treatment of addictions.”

Melissa Killeen is an established Recovery Coach with a broad understanding of this new field in addiction treatment. Included in this Second Edition of Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions is the knowledge she has received from many years of recovery coaching, developing Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs), training recovery coaches for certification, and working with treatment centers on developing recovery coaching programs for their expanding aftercare program.

Ms. Killeen received her master’s degree in Executive Coaching and a Master of Philosophy in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania, which is where she developed her model of integrating executive coaching with recovery coaching. With many years of personal recovery, she realized when studying executive coaching at this Ivy League university, the impact coaching would have for those that want recovery but cannot seem to achieve a balance of work, relationships, and recovery. Ms. Killeen is the past president of Recovery Coaches International, an international association of recovery coaches. In 2015 she was presented with the Vernon Johnson Award from the Faces and Voices of Recovery, in Washington DC. She is a Nationally Certified Professional Recovery Support Specialist (NCPRSS) and a recovery coach trainer with CCAR. Melissa lives in Southern New Jersey.

Email Melissa at: KilleenMelissa@Gmail.com, call country code: 00-1 US area code: 856.745.4844 (Eastern Standard Time/United States) or SKYPE her at: mkrecoverycoaching.

You can visit her recovery coaching website at https://www.mkrecoverycoaching.com/.

You can purchase this book at: http://www.recoverycoachingguide.com/

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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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