Coaching & Educational Services

Less stigma, more support.

When addiction shows up in our families, there’s no playbook to reference — and often, we navigate through it in shame and silence. Let’s stop that. Let’s stop treating substance use as a silent, shameful family secret that gobbles us all up in its destruction and denial. Let’s start treating addiction like any other disease that naturally welcomes compassion and empathy. Think heart disease. Cancer. Diabetes. We don’t label people as their diseases, yet societally we still see this happening with addiction. You wouldn’t call your diabetic aunt a sugar “junkie” . . would you? 

However, I also won’t downplay the suffering that addiction brings. This is tough stuff to work through. To quote Anne Lamott on the topic of suffering, “Sometimes we feel that we are barely pulling ourselves forward through a tight tunnel on badly scraped-up elbows. But we do come out the other side, exhausted and changed.”

That change can start with our mindset. And making small changes to see bigger results. Using different language, that feels — different at first. When we can start being the change we want to see and be, we can be hopeful that change in ourselves and our loved ones may result. When we view and understand addiction as a family disease, we realize that we all need support, guidance, relief, laughter and light on this journey.

What is a Recovery Coach, anyways?

A recovery coach will help you nurture the relationship that you hold with yourself and the relationships that mean the most to you. Together, we’ll set goals, work through exercises, and establish check-ins (just no weigh-ins, unless that’s a part of the recovery plan)! You’ll begin to notice a shift in our work together when you rediscover what matters most to you, or you begin to feel sprinkles of hope or renewed health. When you start to rediscover what wellness looks like for you and how to live this out when facing addiction in your relationship, you’re on a path to recovery. WE have to be healthy so if and when our loved one is ready for their own recovery, we are in a better place to help them. All the while, you’ll have someone by your side, advocating for you.

I draw on principles and processes from evidence-based treatments and practices including CRAFT (Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training), Motivational Interviewing and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), as well as the ARISE Intervention process. If, through our work together, we discover that there are issues surrounding any sort of mental health illness, trauma or other issues that would need to be treated by a medical professional, I am happy to provide references on that front.

Services Offered