Mentoring with a drug-abuse treatment centre.

[stratofortress]

Has anybody here ever done this? My outreach worker from my own treatment centre keeps urging me to volunteer as a mentor to try to help others struggling with drug and alcohol problems. I'd have to be 3 months clean, which will undoubtedly be very hard, but if i was to take up his offer I think it would help me stay on the straight and narrow, or at least cut down, because I'd now be on the side dissuading people from making the mistakes I made.

If anybody has done something like this I'd love to hear about your experiences. What I'd really like is to work my way up to a paid position, but whether this is a possibility i really don't know.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

If you are really trying to stay sober then I think your outreach worker probably knows what he or she is talking about. I know someone in recovery and he came to the same conclusion on his own. It is probably no coincidence that most (if not all) AA sponsors are recovering addicts themselves. Even as a volunteer.....when you have to hold someone else accountable for their actions, you are kind of forced to hold yourself accountable as well. It almost becomes a team effort for you the mentor to stay sober and help the mentee stay sober too. I imagine the roles could even be reversed where you avoid relapse because you do not want to let down your mentee.

The most important thing you can bring to a mentoring relationship is empathy. You have been there and you know what the other person is going through. This will help you help them learn how to help themselves.

To answer the second part: YES...volunteering can lead to employment. The smart thing to do is to work hard as if it was a job. Show up to your shifts on time, help the person you are mentoring with the best of your ability, and stay clean. Believe it or not, even volunteers are being watched by the boss and if the agency is impressed it can lead to employment. Even if you don't get hired at the agency you work for, volunteer experience is exactly that....experience. If you have done good work there, ask your supervisor if you could use them as a job reference. Don't forget to list it on resumes and job applications.

IMHO you have a really great opportunity here. Obviously your outreach worker sees potential in you that you may not have known was there. I would approach the situation with enthusiasm.