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Personal recovery coach

LucidSDreamr

LucidSDreamr

Bluelighter
Joined
May 23, 2013
Messages
7,288
I just hired one. It's alot of money but I have a good job right now.

He has lots of books I have to read and will be calling me several times a day and meeting after work a 1 to 3 times a week. He will also be working through my wife who has never done drugs.

Anyone have experience? What should I do to make sure this works.
 
LI saw a therapist who specialized in addiction. It wasn't as intense as you're describing but it was much better than just listening to unlicensed former addicts. He could deal with my mental health issues (bipolar) and how it related to my drinking. I preferred it to meetings or 12 step programs.
 
Is he a licensed therapist/counselor? That would be my main concern before shelling out a lot of money. The whole "life coach" title has gotten popular with people with no certification, when I saw a life coach she was an actual therapist who basically focused on helping me get my shit together while also being a mental health expert.
 
...he's not licenced. I have been to several licenced counselors over the years and they were all shit and couldn't really give me any solid tools that worked out. I am seeing a psychiatrist but we don't talk much, he prescribed SSRIs which I am holding off on for the moment.

He has been running (first NA) now SMART recovery meeting and doing this coaching for over ten years.

I've met with him several times free of cost and what sold me was his knowledge about the academic science out regarding experiential learning and mindfulness techniques for creating happiness which are a main part of of his curriculum. The fact that he has a curriculum of books (not by him, by academic psych professors) to read and work on techniques was something I had never seen in a counselor

He is also just a very smart guy with a good understanding of science for being a non scientist. A lot of it comes down to having a good feeling about it and trying something different.

The cost is about equal to what I would pay to see a therapist 1x per week but I get at least 1 hr per day of coaching and the freedom to call anytime day or night...so at least 7x more interaction. it seems like a good deal vs licenced addiction therapists which have never worked.
 
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Good luck man. The psychiatrists I saw in the past had no fucking clue about addiction it was so frustrating.
 
That's great. I'm currently seeing a psychologist 1-2x a week. I too have dealt with so many shitty therapists it is refreshing to be dealing with someone with a PhD who has actual clinical experience in a psychiatric hospital setting. I'm pretty lucky with my psychiatrist. He was the medical director in the detox unit of one of the big local hospitals so he knows how to deal with addiction. Just because someone is a board certified psychiatrist doesn't mean they know anything about addiction psychiatry.
 
It sounds pretty legitimate.
Finding the right therapist or psychiatrist or even just person to talk is a complicated process and everybody finds something different that works.
I see a psychiatrist and therapist but not an addiction therapist because keeping my mental health straight is the biggest factor in staying sober.
 
Wanted to update on this after two weeks.

So it turns out this coach has a number of certifications in addiction counseling and for teaching the mindfulness and anti-anxiety strategies he works with. so i was initially wrong when i said he wasn't.

One of the books he has me reading is called "hardwiring happiness" It basically has to do with reinforcing positive thoughts and reducing negative ones. I am doing journaling on a number of topics and some meditation.

So far so good. I've had some strong urges to use but been shown strategies to get through them without giving in. Life does feel very bland and boring without drugs, I'm really hoping that either decreases or I at least learn to accept that life is mostly boring.
 
Glad it's working out, it sounds interesting and I do want to hear updates and some of the books you use.
Both my regular therapists and the recovery specialist I saw made an effort to help me come up with new interests or hobbies I could get involved in sober. It took a long time to find them but I did.
 
I looked into taking the SMART training to lead meetings and I thought it looked excellent, so the fact that he is trained in that and also has years of experience should be a good indicator that he knows what he's doing. I think it sounds great because I always thought the concept of a sponsor in the 12-step model was a very good concept--it just is hit or miss because the potential sponsor is simply an untrained peer; this could work out fantastically or it could be a disaster depending on the person.
 
herbavore said:
I looked into taking the SMART training to lead meetings and I thought it looked excellent, so the fact that he is trained in that and also has years of experience should be a good indicator that he knows what he's doing. I think it sounds great because I always thought the concept of a sponsor in the 12-step model was a very good concept--it just is hit or miss because the potential sponsor is simply an untrained peer; this could work out fantastically or it could be a disaster depending on the person.
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I have an amazing sponsor now. We worked in the same field professionally and our circles have quite a bit of overlap. Our sessions feel extremely productive. That said, I had three horrible sponsors prior to this one. The first hounded me to quit all my psychiatric medications which earned me a stay in the local county run dump of a psych hospital. The second was an overbearing, micromanaging busybody and the third simply copped out and told me, "I can't help you; you need to go to rehab again." Yeah, real helpful advice. Thanks a lot.

I also looked into taking the training for SMART a few years ago. There is only one group in all of Greater Orlando and it only meets twice a month, which doesn't meet my needs. Also, it is in a far eastern suburb whereas I live on the western side of the city. It is a 45 minute drive at least, one way, and would require about $8 in tolls round trip. We really need some more non-12 step meetings in this area, though a little progress was made when one of my friends from the agnostic/atheist AA group started a Refuge Recovery meeting. But that only meets once a week because we only have access to our current space Monday nights.
 
^ hey aihfl I was readying your thread the other day but didn't comment. It sounds like you are going through some pretty serious shit with your DUI. I hope it works out for you.

Some people at smart last week were talking about refuge recovery. I'm thinking of checking into it.

The coach thing is going well, i got into a car accident that was my fault and I came home and was about to go use, the coach was able to talk to me for a while until I calmed down and avoided a relapse. I'm still pissed about it because its going to cost me money but not to the point of using.
 
Sorry to hear about the accident LSD, but it's great you called your coach and he talked you down. A lot of times in the past I wouldn't even call anyone like I was supposed to because I had already made up my mind to use and didn't want to be talked down. For me now though, nothing is worth using or drinking over. Because no matter how bad what I want to use or drink over is, what happens after will almost certainly be worse - that DUI case in point. Anyway, it's over and done with. I went to court, plead out to keep it a misdemeanor and did my mandatory minimum.

Sounds like this is progress for you. Will be interested in hearing more about how it's going in the future.
 
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