Tag Archives: RCI

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

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/

Posted in Recovery Coaching | Tagged Faces and Voices of Recovery, NAADAC, peer recovery support specialist, RCI, recovery coach, sober companion | Comments Off

What kind of credential do I need to be a Professional Recovery Coach?

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Melissa Killeen

Melissa Killeen

When I published my book Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions in 2013, the term professional recovery coach or professional recovery life coach was not in frequent use.

A professional recovery coach is trained in professional coaching techniques, which means he or she has been educated in group dynamics (how people act in a group), how to develop high performing individuals (leadership) or how to facilitate change. Additionally, they have training in the addiction recovery models, motivational interviewing and Harm Reduction. They may use their experiential knowledge of their own recovery to augment their professional recovery coaching faculties. Professional coaches work in many fields: executive coaching, business coaching, finance coaching, wellness coaching or life coaching. Recovery coaching fits nicely into the life coaching model.

International Coaching Federation (ICF)

There is one worldwide organization that is recognized as issuing professional coaching credentials, the International Coaching Federation (ICF), http://coachfederation.org. There are three levels of ICF coaching credentials. The Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Credential is for the coach who is just beginning in the field, and is the first credential that can be completed with ICF. The Professional Certified Coach Credential (PCC) is for the more experienced coach and the Master Certified Coach (MCC) Credential is for the expert coach.

When seeking to be credentialed as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC), the coach has to have completed an entire ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP). On the ICF website is a list of all of the accepted training programs from which the ICF will accept training credentials. The ICF does not offer a unique recovery coaching credential, nor a peer recovery-support credential.

There is one organization, Family Recovery Resources, listed in the ICF Accredited Coach Training Program that offers a family-in-recovery coaching course for a family recovery coach certificate. There are no other recommended organizations that offer any recovery coach orientated courses. If a recovery coach has received training from any organization specializing in recovery coaching training, it is likely that the training would not be credited toward an ICF certificate. There is a very interesting selection of courses in the ICF Accredited Coach Training Program, such as executive coaching, end-of-life coaching, divorce coaching, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, wellness coaching, conflict coaching and several other excellent learning opportunities, on the ICF web site.

The ACC applicants must work while they learn, and complete 100 hours of client-to-coach experience during their coach-specific training program. In addition the applicants are required to receive 10 hours of Mentor Coaching, and 100 hours (75 hours to be paid) of coaching experience with at least 8 clients, post training. There is a performance evaluation (audio recording and written transcript of coaching session) and a Coaching Knowledge Assessment (CKA) to complete the ACC credentialing application. The ACC credentialing process costs are dependent on the types of training courses a coach must take to complete the requirements for the certificate. The ACC credentialing process can take from 18 months to two years complete.

It is my hope that the information transmitted in the past few posts will help a person interested in recovery coaching see the path to certification a bit more clearly. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have about the path you should take in seeking your recovery coaching training and credentialing.

Please send your questions in the contact form below:

Posted in Coach Credentialing, Recovery Coaching, Uncategorized | Tagged Associate Certified Coach, Family Recovery Resources, ICF, International Coach Federation, International Coaching Federation, International Coaching Federation ICF), Master Certified Coach, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Professional Certified Coach Credential, RCI, Recovery Coaches International | Comments Off

What is the difference between a recovery coach, a peer recovery support specialist and a professional recovery coach?

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Melissa Killeen

Melissa Killeen

I published my book Recovery Coaching – A Guide to Coaching People in Recovery from Addictions in 2013. A recovery coach, a peer recovery support specialist and a professional recovery coach’s duties and responsibilities have expanded significantly since then. The organizations that offer recovery coach training numbered around 50 in 2013. Today, the number has grown to 250. Recovery coach certification training is one of the fastest growing aspects of the coaching field, with many states establishing recovery coaching and peer recovery support-specialist certifications. Yet, for many people who seek to achieve basic recovery coaching information, the process of training, certification, credentialing or licensing are baffling. With all of this growth and change, anyone who is interested in being a recovery coach is very confused about the necessary training, what to call this training and even what to call themselves! I want to make an attempt to clear up this confusion and answer these questions:

What is the difference between a recovery coach, a peer recovery support-specialist and a professional recovery coach?
On what kind of certification should a future recovery coach focus?
What are the guidelines for certification of a recovery coach?

(Some of the answers to these questions will appear in upcoming posts.)

What is a Recovery Coach?

A recovery coach is a person that works with and supports individuals immersed in an addiction(s), and coaches people in recovery from the abuse of alcohol and drugs, gambling, eating disorders or other addictive behaviors. Sometimes recovery coaches who work with people with addictions have been referred to as a peer recovery support specialist, a recovery support specialist (RSS), a sober companion, recovery associate or quit coach. In all cases these terminologies describe the same job description; a person who meets with clients in order to aid in their recovery from addiction(s). Even though many certifications for recovery coaches are classified as peer recovery support practitioner certifications. I prefer to use the term recovery coach in describing a person coaching an individual in recovery from addiction, instead of using the term “peer,” mainly because there is no requirement that a recovery coach be a peer (meaning they are an addict in recovery). Although it may be believed having experiential knowledge is a best practice for a recovery coach, it could be a recovery coach has knowledge of addiction and recovery perhaps by knowing an addict, having a family member with an addiction or taking courses in the treatment field.

I have kept the term “non-clinical” out of this definition of a recovery coach because over the course of several years, I have seen drug and alcohol counselors, family and marriage therapists (MFTs), licensed clinical social workers, interventionists (LCSWs), psychotherapists and psychiatrists, train to be recovery coaches and then add coaching to their resume. I hear from these individuals that they embrace the coaching approach, and merge the knowledge they have as a clinician or interventionist with recovery coaching methods.

Some individuals seek recovery and sobriety from addictions by frequenting a recovery community organization (RCOs) or recovery support center. An RCO is an independent, non-profit organization led and governed by representatives of local communities of recovery. There are recovery coaches at these recovery community organizations. These coaches have very diverse backgrounds. I have met coaches that were addicts, homeless, offenders, teachers, lawyers and highly educated individuals, who choose to help another person in recovery. I have seen these coaches espouse 12-step ideologies as well as non-12-step recovery models such as Buddhist Recovery, Moderation Management, Kundalini Yoga or Harm Reduction. Sometimes, the recovery coaches at these centers receive a salary from the RCO, however, the client is not charged for the recovery coaching services. RCO recovery coaches can also be volunteers, opting to perform their coaching duties for no reimbursement at all.

Lastly, recovery coaches can be employed by treatment centers or sober living homes and receive compensation from them. In cases such as this, the client is billed for the coaching services from the centers or homes. I know many a recovery coach who has opened a transitional living home or a supportive sober living environment. They coach the people who reside at these locations and their presence adds to the quality of the recovery experience.

Is recovery coaching covered by insurance?

Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no. No independent health insurance company covers the services of a recovery coach working with an individual in recovery from an addiction. There is currently only one state, New York, that has an arrangement with the state’s Medicaid offices to reimburse for recovery coaching for individuals who are diagnosed as dependent on a substance. Other states, Tennessee, Maryland and Massachusetts, are formulating similar Medicaid payment plans, but these reimbursements are not yet in place.

What is a peer to peer recovery support specialist?

A nearly universal definition of a peer to peer recovery support specialist is an individual with lived experience who has initiated his/her own recovery journey and assists others who are in earlier stages of the healing process of recovery from psychic, traumatic and/or substance-use challenges and, as a result, can offer assistance and support to promote another peer’s own personal recovery journey. A peer to peer recovery support specialist is also called a peer, peer support-practitioner, peer mentor, or a certified peer. All of these terms basically describe the same job description. More and more, this job description is focused on the peer to peer recovery support specialist working with a person in mental health recovery.

The certified peer to peer recovery support specialist workforce is relatively new in the behavioral health field, with state-recognized certification programs first emerging in 2001. Within this short time frame, states have recognized the potential of peer specialists to improve consumer outcomes by promoting recovery. Many social service agencies pay the peer’s salary, and the client does not pay for the coaching. In the mental health/behavioral health field, when referred by a social services agency or mental health treatment organization, reimbursement for a peer to peer recovery support specialist is covered by a health plan or Medicaid.

Peer to peer recovery support specialists can also work independently from an agency and be reimbursed by the client or a family. Peer to peer recovery support specialists can also choose to provide these services as a volunteer and receive no financial reward.

What is a professional recovery coach?

A professional recovery coach, is sometimes referred to as a recovery life coach. A professional recovery coach has experience and training in the recovery models, and training as a professional coach. These professional and credentialed coaching programs are sometimes referred to as life coaching training. A professional recovery coach can receive training from any of the 250 organizations that train recovery coaches, and select not to receive the certificate from a state certification board or the IC & RC (see the certification information in next week’s post). A professional coach can receive training from the ICF – International Coach Federation’s accredited coach training programs, and apply for a credential issued by the ICF.

A professional recovery coach can assist a client with a variety of coaching interventions including, but not limited to recovery from addictions, dealing with mental health diagnoses, divorce, financial downturns, grieving, career change and even family relationship issues. The client is billed for the coaching services from the professional recovery coach. Again, healthcare plans do not reimburse for these coaching services.

Stay tuned for next week’s post on certification for recovery coaches.

Posted in Addiction, alcohol, Alcoholism, Coach Credentialing, Drug Abuse, Family Dynamics, Gambling, Recovery Coaching | Tagged Association of Recovery Community Organizations, Faces and Voices of Recovery, ICF, International Coach Federation, Melissa Killeen, peer to peer recovery support specialist, RCI, recovery coach, recovery coaching, Recovery Coaching International, William White | 2 Comments