Dr. Alberto Sola is one of the world’s leading experts in medically-based ibogaine treatment; he has more clinical experience with safe and effective ibogaine administration than any other M.D. in the world today.
You’re probably already aware of many of the different and varied job opportunities available in the addiction recovery field. If you are someone who is in recovery yourself, then you have encountered many people in different roles during your journey. Counselors, doctors, therapists, detox specialists, and social workers often all play a part in helping an individual break free from his or her dependence on drugs and alcohol.
One addiction recovery-related job opportunity with which you may not be familiar is that of an addiction life coach. This is a relatively new role in the field but the need for people in this position is growing. Addiction life coaches work to help people struggling with addiction and recovery to make decisions about their lives and their options in recovery and offer support in navigating the often complicated and confusing world of getting help.
In the most simple terms, a person in this position is a life coach that concentrates on helping people working on their recovery in particular. Like life coaches in general, addiction life coaches help support people while they change their lives for the better.
What is a Life Coach?
If you haven’t heard the term life coach before, you may wonder what a life coach does. Life coaches help people identify and clarify their goals and assist them in developing a plan to reach those goals. Along the way, a life coach acts just like a sports coach might – by offering support, encouragement, and suggestions for additional advancement that the individual being coached may not see on his or her own.
Working with a life coach can be immensely helpful for people that are trying to change their lives. Coaches provide accountability for the individual being coached and also have experience helping others make changes in their lives. This experience helps coaches improve their coaching ability with each client, compounding the skills and help that they are able to offer and provide.
How is an Addiction Life Coach Different from a Life Coach?
Addiction life coaches are life coaches that specialize in helping people that are struggling with addiction. Thanks to this focus, they are able to offer help to people that are dependent on drugs and alcohol in a way that a regular life coach may not. Often, addiction life coaches are people who are in recovery themselves, although that is not always the case.
Because addiction life coaches specialize in addiction recovery coaching, they have experience helping people to begin their recovery journeys and in helping them stay on the healthy and clean and sober path. They have a good understanding on the tools needed to break free from drugs and alcohol and understand that this process is different for each individual. An addition life coach may have connections in the addiction recovery field that will aid them in getting their clients the help that they each personally need.
How Do Addiction Life Coaches Help Their Clients?
An addiction life coach does not offer treatment for addiction. They are not psychologists or therapists. Rather, they help guide their clients on the path and help them set recovery goals. They offer support and encouragement to their clients as they move through the recovery process.
With that said, though, there are many ways that addiction recovery coaches can help their clients, and each relationship will be a little different. Some people who seek help from an addiction recovery coach are still gripped by active addiction and don’t know where to start to get better. In these cases, the coach can inform the individual about his or her options for treatment and can explain the differences between them. The coach can help his or her client to make a plan to get help and also can help him or her to realize the reasons that he or she wants to make a change.
Some people seek help from an addiction life coach after they have already been through rehabilitation and have become clean and sober. As anyone in recovery knows, navigating life as a sober person can be challenging at first, and anyone new to sobriety may have questions about how to move forward. In these cases, an addiction life coach can help his or her client to formulate plans for rebuilding relationships with loved ones, setting health and fitness goals, developing new hobbies, making new friends, and finding support groups. In doing so, an addiction life coach can help a client to avoid relapse by overcoming triggers before they even appear.
Addiction life coaches are almost like a non-judgmental, always available friend that can help an individual in recovery figure out where to go next. They are open to helping their clients with any areas of life in which they themselves feel they need advice or support. This can be very valuable for many as their lives change completely.
How Does Someone Become an Addiction Life Coach?
If this sort of career interests you, there are a number of organizations that offer training in this realm. The Addictions Academy offers training for Nationally Certified Recovery Coaches at two different levels, and The International Coach Federation has a search tool on their site that can help connect interested parties in training programs as well. The Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) Training Progam also offers a wide variety of courses and programs to help train people in this field.
The certification process is not long and arduous; dedicated individuals can become addiction life coaches fairly quickly and can be helping others in a very short time. This is a very worthwhile field and the need for addiction life coaches is high. If you are looking for a career in addiction recovery, but are not drawn to a position as a therapist or counselor, this might be a great path for you.
At our iboga center, we are here to help you get started on your path to recovery. The ibogaine detox treatment is innovative and effective, and our staff is standing by to answer any questions you may have about our staff, our facility, or the process. Please give us a call today! We can’t wait to hear from you!