Do Drug Rehabs Have Recovery Coaches or Sober Companions?

Generally speaking, sober (recovery) coaching and companion services are independent companies, but can they be part of an addiction treatment staff?

Suppose you go online and start doing web searches for recovery coaches/sober coaches and sober companions. In that case, you will find that often they come up as services or topics presented on addiction treatment center websites. The same actually applies to other services, too, like interventionists and therapists. However, truth be told, it is pretty rare for drug rehab to offer its own proprietary, on-staff sober coaching or companion service.

By and large, treatment centers will contract or in some way partner with these types of services, as opposed to having them among their actual staff. There are several reasons as to why this is so.

There is the occasional exception, and it’s usually seen among the high-end facilities that cater to a more customized demographic. These are the types of treatment centers found in Malibu and Beverly Hills, California, Palm Beach, Florida, The Hamptons, and so forth.

When you think about it, from a general standpoint, that is, the types of scenarios commonly facing recovery coaches and sober companions rarely fall in the scope of what a client would need while they are in a residential treatment setting. 

Common scenarios would be:

SOBER-RECOVERY COACHING

• Coaching a client post-treatment as a means for providing a supervised transition back into society while gaining the knowledge and expertise needed to navigate early recovery from Addiction
• Higher-level coaching (and companion) pre-treatment as a means for potentially averting residential rehab altogether, or possibly a step-down IOP or PHP treatment alternative
• Working in conjunction with the treatment facility to provide the client with additional insight, oversight, education, and experience while the client is still in the rehab environment (this is not common)
• Providing a more expansive sober coaching experience that integrates matters that touch on life coaching, career coaching, family dynamics, etc.

SOBER COMPANION

• Providing experienced oversight from a proactively sober professional – coverage from a few hours daily to 24/7
• Up to worldwide travel accompaniment; from a typical morning court appearance to air travel from intervention to rehab/detox intake, to global travel companion on an executive level

HYBRID

• Any combination of our sober companion-travel accompaniment and recovery, life, career, legal, and health & wellness coaching

As you read through the array of service descriptions above it isn’t difficult to see that most of them don’t overlap with that short period of time a person is in a residential treatment environment. We mentioned previously, however, that the higher-end, custom facilities are more likely to have a recovery coach and sober companion on staff. The reason for this is because their clients are more often in need of deviation from the typical day-to-day treatment schedule. Whether that means international travel for a board meeting, or having to be at a film shoot for a few days, or any other number of scenarios, it would almost surely necessitate the accompaniment of a sober companion, recovery coach, or possibly both.

So, the obvious question becomes…if a treatment program contracts or partners with outside coaches and interventionists, how can the client (and loved ones, friends, or colleagues) be assured that they’re only dealing with the best of the best? It’s a great question and an essential one. So crucial in fact, that we address it front and center on this website in our Philosophy and Credentials pages.

In the final analysis, whether a recovery coach becomes a part of a treatment plan through a particular facility or independent firm becomes far less important than the unique qualities he or she has to offer. Working with drug addicts and alcoholics is fluid, non-linear, and requires a certain balance of experience and traits. Add in a co-occurring mental illness and moderate variables become complex.

Keep your eye on the ball and stay in the solution…

If you have any questions or comments about this article or any other portion of this website, or any questions regarding FoxWhole Services in general, please contact us seven days a week at (323) 546-2689. You can also reach us by submitting the form further down this page or at info@foxwholeservices.com.

This article was submitted anonymously by a non-employee of FoxWhole Recovery Services