Grant funds Recovery Coach training program

Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery (SCOSAR) recently announced it will be offering a Recovery Coach Training program sponsored by the Surry County Recovery Friendly Workplace Program and a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems grant.

“We are excited to offer a training series for professionals and community members based on the gold standard of Recovery Coach approved by the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery. Training is provided by SCOSAR staff as a partner,” the announcement read.

“Coaches promote recovery and remove barriers to recovery while serving as personal guide and mentor for people seeking recovery from addiction,” the group wrote.

Leading the class will be Jamie Edwards who took over last year as the director of the Substance Abuse Recovery agency and is qualified to lead the class as a Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery-certified facilitator, among a litany of other qualifications and titles from various certification programs.

He stated that due to funding provided by an Appalachian Regional Commission grant and Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery, tuition, program fees, and materials will be paid for all students. The training is limited to 20 individuals and requires a written commitment to complete the 60 hours training and attain the Recovery Coach Professional Credential.

While that may sound like a daunting task, he assured anyone considering participating, “We will help community members every step along the way.”

Part of the application asks for respondents to write about “their addiction recovery experience,” but not everyone who may be interested in becoming a recovery coach may have that firsthand experience.

“The program is designed to fill the need of both those who have addiction recovery experience and those who have little to none,” Edwards said.

He feels what matters more is that “A good candidate is one that has a sincere desire to learn more about the recovery process, help community members in needs and serve as a non-clinical resource. No prior knowledge or skills are required although it is preferred that participates have at least one year in recovery from mental health or substance use, as applicable.”

The goal of the county’s program, according to Edwards, is to increase the overall community knowledge about the recovery process and to increase the level of “social capital in our community — this will in turn increase and improve the quality of helping services that our entire community can benefit from.”

“The priority is mixed, to both build community capacity and increase marketable credentials for all members of the community,” he explained.

Coaching the coaches

The recovery coach program consists of three components the first being the Recovery Coach Academy (30 hours). It is an intensive course that provides an understanding of both “the art and science of Recovery Coaching” delivered in a conversational environment.

Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery said the class, “Prepares participants to guide and mentor others in recovery from an addiction to drugs or alcohol. By focusing on the goals of the individual in need, we can learn the key fundamentals of this rewarding work including active listening, asking really good questions, and treating people as their own best resource.”

Coaches play an important role in the recovery process by creating connections in meaningful ways. Through these conversations, which may include sharing or personal stories of their own recovery journey, coaches seek to relate to those they work with by blending their training with their own life experiences.

“With such responsibility comes the need for clear boundaries — both personally and professionally,” the program explains. Ethical Considerations for Recovery Coaches (16 hours) focuses on the challenges coaches face while providing a framework for creating boundaries that “allow for connection without causing harm.”

The final part of training is Recovery Coaching and Professionalism (12 hours) because “as the demand for coaches has grown, organizations search for candidates that demonstrate a high level of professionalism. The class provides an overview of the characteristics needed for success at such settings including hospitals, treatment programs, and court settings.”

After completing face-to-face training county staff will assist participants to complete two additional hours of training and navigate the requirements for certification. It is the county’s intent following the training that all participants apply for the Recovery Coach Professional Designation.

“The RCP designation is available for all. It is for people in recovery, families, friends, and allies. There is no prerequisite or lived experience required,” Edwards said.

For those who complete the program and get certified as a recovery coach, he said there are jobs in the field similar to those offered for peer support training.

Why coaches?

The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, March 2021, reported results from a study at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston of 1,171 patients who had interactions with a recovery coach. The study found, “Recovery coaches may be an impactful and potentially cost-effective addition to a substance use disorder care team, but future research is needed.”

Their study found that in the six months following recovery coach contact, there was a 44% decrease in patients hospitalized and a decrease in patients with an emergency department visit.

“After engaging with a recovery coach there was an increase in the percentage of patients with outpatient appointments. Across primary care, community health, mental health, and lab visits, there were significant increases in number of encounters. Notably, the percentage of patients with mental health visits increased 12 percent in the six months following.”

This study found that substance use disorder patients in their study had a lower hospitalization rate and greater rate of outpatient treatment utilization in the 6-month period after meeting with a recovery coach, compared to the same six-month period before contact suggesting a correlation between interaction with the coach and a desire to seek out treatment.