Sober Coaches
Drug addiction and alcoholism are cunning, baffling, and powerful enemies. The strength of the cravings and desire to drink or use drugs cannot be underestimated. They continue to haunt a recovery addict, even after completion of a world-class treatment program. This is where a Sober Coach can come in and help keep the addict on the road of recovery and sobriety.
Our Sober Coaches will share their own experience, strength, and hope, developed through their own long-term sobriety. Personal experience with addiction is the single most important factor in developing trust with someone who is newly sober. They know what it’s like because they’ve been there. They know the unique struggles that newly recovering addicts face, because they faced them, too, and came out successful on the other side.
Sober Coaches Can Prevent Relapse
As family members, we finally feel relief when our loved one enters treatment. Likely, our instinct tells us that the hardest battle is over — we’ve done the intervention, we got their agreement to go, and everyone is happy. But what happens afterward? Do we sit and speak with them about our plans and ideas for after treatment?
Sometimes we don’t want to upset them further, or even undo the intervention itself. Or perhaps we feel like we are done and it is now their job to get sober and stay sober… our job is over.
We send them on their way to treatment with hugs, handshakes, and words of encouragement, perhaps a sigh of relief. The interventionist leaves with our loved one and we hope that the chaos is over. We want nothing more than to have our loved one return home safely from treatment, sober and full of renewed purpose in life. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. In the safe confines of treatment, it is much easier to remain sober.
Once a person leaves treatment they are in a precarious position. Although they may have the basic concepts of recovery in place, they have little actual experience in avoiding temptations. Remember, they are here because they were unable to avoid those temptations in the past.
- How will they handle the flight home?
- Will they want to call “an old drug-using friend” and have them meet them when they land?
- Will they stop off for a drink before leaving the airport?
These are often the hardest points to get through. There’s no supervision and loved one there to stop them. This is why even the most sincere clients sometimes relapse before even setting foot back in their own home. It is not always because they want to keep drinking or using but because that is how they have lived for so long.
Other times, the pressure of returning home to real or imagined extra responsibilities is too much to bear. Whispers of “I’m not good enough…I can’t do this” or worse “I’ve got this thing licked” can cause them to crumble. Over 50% of relapses happen within the first 7 days of leaving the treatment facility, when a Sober Coach is not involved.
Our Sober Coaches will help
Treatment must happen for most people to get sober. But in order for people to stay sober, they usually need other recovery services within a Continuum of Care. Intervention Services provides Sober Coaches for individuals who have completed an inpatient treatment program.
Navigating life without drugs and alcohol is the single most difficult task for someone who is newly sober. The emotional ups and downs of early sobriety can be a roller coaster which all too often derails.
A Sober Coach will be a guide for the addicted individual as they return home from treatment. Some of the roles that a Sober Coach plays for the newly recovering addict are:
- They will be a mentor
- a coach
- a resource
- a willing listener
- a tough advocate for sobriety
- and much more!
The Sober Coach spends 12 hours a day or more with your loved one helping them to:
- engage in recovery activities
- clean up the wreckage of their drug or alcohol use
- finding housing
- accompanying them to 12 Step meetings or other recovery groups
- finding an appropriate therapist
- learning how to pick up the phone and say “no” to a drug dealer or drinking buddy
- celebrating a morning without a hangover
The Sober Coach will be there to hold their hand through the most difficult part of early sobriety. Equally as important, they will be there for early behavior interventions and healthy behavior modifications.
A Sober Coach can also facilitate a Family Reintegration with your family. Please contact us for specific details.
Not sure what to do?
Wondering if an intervention is the right move?
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