Recovery-Centric Services

When clients come to me, they are usually at a place where chaos has reigned supreme in their lives due to the impact of substance use in their relationships. The first step is to help you get regulated and balanced, so that you can define what is important for you to restore, regain, and repair. Together, we’ll set goals, work through exercises, conduct role-plays to finetune skills and establish consistent check-ins (just no weigh-ins, unless that’s a part of your recovery plan)! All of this is done with a deep understanding of how addiction has impacted you and your family.

You’ll begin to notice a shift in our work together when you rediscover what it means to live according to your values, when you begin to feel sprinkles of hope and renewed health, as well as when you feel confident navigating your most important relationships with new skills. When you start to rediscover what wellness looks like for you and how to live this out when facing addiction in the family, you’re on a path to recovery. You have to be healthy so if and when your loved one is ready for their own recovery, you are in a better place to help them. All the while, you’ll have someone by your side, advocating for you.

Recovery coaches and therapists, while both aiding in the recovery process, have distinct roles. Recovery coaches primarily focus on practical support and guidance, helping individuals maintain their recovery through goal-setting, resource navigation, and life skills development. Their approach is solution-focused and empowering, acting as a mentor or guide. Therapists, on the other hand, delve deeper into mental health and emotional issues, often addressing underlying causes through therapy and clinical interventions. They require formal education and licensure, providing a more therapeutic and diagnostic approach. The best choice for an individual depends on their specific needs, with recovery coaches being ideal for practical support and therapists being more suitable for addressing complex mental health issues.

In my work, I draw on principles and processes from evidence-based treatments and practices including CRAFT (Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training), Motivational Interviewing and the ARISE Invitational Intervention and Comprehensive Care 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.

It's important to note that recovery coaches and therapists often work together as part of a comprehensive treatment plan. The best approach for you will depend on your individual needs and goals.

Addiction carries with it a substantial amount of shame and misunderstanding — both for the individual with the disorder, as well as family members, friends and others in their lives. Therefore, we must use our voices as family members and friends to speak up, share our stories and break down stigma.

That change often starts with our mindset and the desire to know more about what we CAN do. Many of us need a better understanding of the disease of addiction, and how it is a progressive and fatal disease as well as a preventable and treatable one.

Taking on addiction through the lens of seeing it as a disease and not a moral failure is a great place to start. Using language that is person-centric honors our loved ones as who they intrinsically are, and not their disease, helping to create communities and support systems that support recovery. Understanding how there are multiple pathways to recovery for individuals and their families (no one size fits all) allows for a collaborative and compassionate journey.

Get connected with communities, support groups, professionals, and advocacy groups that are committed to creating resources, programs, and legislature that supports ethical treatment and long-term recovery. 

When we can start to activate the change we want to see in ourselves, we can be hopeful that this change will ripple throughout our families.