Addiction is a chronic relapsing disease. But does it have to be? When problems with alcohol and other drugs are characterized by chronic relapsing it is then considered normal to drink and drug again. It’s considered normal to go through detox and treatment again at great cost. Addiction may be a disease but is it necessary to chronically relapse?

Recovery Coaches don’t think so. We believe that with the support of a coach people don’t have to relapse. That means they don’t have to experience loss of health, problems at work, disappointment of family, or problems with the law that accompany relapse. They don’t have to bear the cost of repeated treatment. Recovery Coaching helps protect your investment in treatment by preventing relapse, and helps those who have relapsed prevent harm and get turned around.

Are you saying that there is a shift away from primary treatment? Not exactly. Many people who are experiencing addiction will need detox and treatment, but there must be support for them beyond crisis stabilization. There must be support after treatment otherwise most people relapse. People need help after they leave treatment because they have complicated lives. Staying in recovery isn’t easy. That’s where having a coach makes such a difference. Recovery Coaches help you stay in recovery and create a really good life.

What is Recovery Coaching like? It’s like having someone smart in your life that cares about you and believes in you and wants to help you with the things you believe are important. That could be getting a job, quitting smoking, doing something about addictions related to food, sex, internet etc. Or exercising more, managing your money, getting out a relationship that no longer works or doing something about your health. Recovery Coaches help you take care of things before they become stressful. So you aren’t in danger of relapse because you feel good about your life.

Can you work with someone who is still using? Coaches accept people as being exactly where they are. We only take clients who can benefit from coaching. Recovery clients need to show up for the calls, have a goal they want to reach and take action in between the calls. Recovery Coaches don’t diagnose or offer treatment or do therapy. We will help you figure out what you want to do with your life. Sometimes we help clients get ready for treatment. Sometimes we help clients reduce harm or come back from a relapse. We also help people with stable recovery discover and achieve their dreams. By the way, at Crossroads I’ve trained coaches who specialize in different topics including family issues, codependency, and love addiction. I have trained coaches who coach with food issues, sex addiction, or problems with the law. I personally work with clients who have co-occurring disorders, and/or money issues such as debting or underearning. If you would like help finding a coach click here to me an email.

I thought Recovery Coaching would be quite clinical. I would be the patient and the coach would work on “how to fix Jen.” It wasn’t like that. My coach helped me know that I have all the answers, and we are working together to come up with the best solutions for me. I like that my Recovery Coach understands my twisted scary brain and world and helps me with my beliefs and family. Having a coach is having someone who sees the best in you and roots for you but doesn’t buy your bullshit. Your coach knows what you are capable of and helps you become it. I’m surprised how useful coaching is. It applies to my family, my business, and my own self-esteem. It saves me grief because with my coach I troubleshoot and go over things before they come up. I avoid the pitfalls that way. I think everyone leaving treatment should have a Recovery Coach because we all need someone to walk with us down the dark scary road of recovery.    —Jenifer B.

–When is the next Recovery Coaching training? We are currently enrolling for the February 2010 Recovery Coaching Certification Program.

What:   Six Module Curriculum (each module is 7 weeks long)

Where: On The Phone

When:   Tuesday February 9, 2010 6-8 pm Eastern, 3-5 pm Pacific

Cost:    $3600 USD for Certification program (Save $200 when you pay in full in advance)

More Information: Contact enrollment counselor Deborah Drake at 425.223.5335 or email: crossroadscoaching@gmail.com, or call Alida Schuyler 360.452.5005.

Non-Refundable Recovery Coaching Certification Training Deposit $100 USD
Please save my place in the next Recovery Coaching Certification Training. This is my non-refundable for $100 USD. I will now contact enrollment counselor, Deborah Drake: 425.223.5335 or email crossroadscoaching@gmail.com to complete my enrollment.

By the way, can you think of someone who may be interested? We pay you a $100 referral fee when someone you refer enrolls, so forward a link to this page to your friends and tell them to mention your name!

Facilitators:

Alida Schuyler MS PCC Director, Crossroads Recovery Coaching Inc; Cofounder, RCI
Jan Brown, BA Director, SpiritWorks Foundation
Mark Scannell ACC
Catherine Campaigne, Treetop Coaching
Doreen Cardwell, Bac Soc Sci SoulSong Recovery Coaching

Alida Schuyler MS, PCC ("AL-ih-duh SKY-luhr") is director of Crossroads Recovery Coaching Inc. She trains Recovery Coaches and provides private life coaching to persons with money issues or co-occurring disorders. She is co-founder of Recovery Coaches International and a current board member. Alida is a credentialed member (PCC) of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), chair of the ICF Great Life in Recovery Special Interest Group, and a participant in Recovery Coaching forums and e-communities. Alida earned a B.A. in Psychology from the Berea College and a M.S. in Library Science from the University of Kentucky. She was trained in clinical hypnotherapy by the Wellness Institute. To register, or for more information about finding a coach, contact Alida Schuyler via phone: 360.452.5005 or email: AlidaCoach@CrossroadsCoaching.net.

–I’m interested in coach training. You train people to become coaches and work with addiction recovery clients, right? Yes, I do. I started the first Recovery Coach Training school in the world and currently have the only school that trains professional Recovery Coaches. That’s why leading treatment programs send their counselors to Crossroads Recovery Coaching to be trained as professional Recovery Coaches. By professional I mean our program meet the requirements of the International Coach Federation (ICF). Our grads are eligible to take the ICF exam to be become professional coaches, and so far all have passed their ICF exam!

–I’m an addiction professional already and I don’t see how Recovery Coaching is going to fit in with what I already know. Most addiction professionals are trained to work with acute episodes of addiction in a treatment setting. But the tide is changing and public funding and private money for treatment is drying up. Now all the talk is about long-term recovery support. Its no longer enough to provide only acute care; support must go beyond stabilization. Abstinence is not enough. People want long-term support that helps them build rewarding lives in recovery. That is what Recovery Coaches do. We help make recovery worth it.

Non-Refundable Recovery Coaching Certification Training Deposit $100 USD
Please save my place in the next Recovery Coaching Certification Training. This is my non-refundable for $100 USD. I will now contact enrollment counselor, Deborah Drake: 425.223.5335 or email crossroadscoaching@gmail.com to complete my enrollment.

“At first I wasn’t sure I interested in Recovery Coaching training because I wasn’t sure what Recovery Coaching was. I thought I might be hanging out with celebrities or taking people to treatment. But Recovery Coaching isn’t like that. It turns out that it fits right down the middle with addiction counseling and what treatment centers do. In Recovery Coaching my relationship with the client is very clear. It’s a simple one to one relationship. There are no outsiders that have their own expectations. It’s me helping my clients get support with what is important to them. I like that the client takes the lead in their own work. I don’t need to be an expert on every addiction topic or issue but instead I’m the expert in helping my clients get clarity about what’s important to them, in supporting them to take action, and in holding them accountable for what they say they want. I find myself using the Recovery Coaching skills with my clients. Instead of telling my clients what we are going to cover I ask them what they want to talk about. Now they are coming with topics to coach about. I can see that coaching adds a new dimension to my counseling practice. My busy clients like the flexibility of Recovery Coaching. They can have their session over the phone or come see me face to face. I recommend the Crossroads Recovery Coaching training for other chemical dependency counselors or addiction professionals. I’ve just finished the first module and I’m already excited about calling myself a Recovery Coach.”   —Paul Lubben LICDCD.

–There are a lot of Recovery Coaching training programs out there these days. Why chose Crossroads? Unfortunately, most programs that call themselves recovery coaching training programs aren’t really teaching you to coach. Some are really trainings for peer recovery support services—a sponsor–like job with lower pay than coaches earn. Others teach you only Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change, but not the core competencies of coaching. At Crossroads we train you in all that and more so you can be a really good life coach with skills specific to coaching the challenges people face in addiction recovery. If you really want to be a first rate professional Recovery Coach come to Crossroads.

–Why does it matter if a coach is credentialed?It matters because anyone can call himself or herself a Recovery Coach but that doesn’t mean they have been trained in coaching skills. For instance, some peer recovery support specialists call themselves Recovery Coaches because they have learned Motivational Interviewing. So it gets confusing. Our training takes eighty-six hours (it includes Motivational Interviewing and lots more) and our grads can be credentialed by the International Coach Federation.

–Other trainings are much shorter. Yours takes longer. Why? Our training takes longer because we meet the ICF standards for professional coaching while focusing specifically on addiction recovery. In addition to basic coach training we teach you about sex addiction, food addition, harm reduction, co–occurring disorders and more. We also include addiction best practices such as Motivational Interviewing. Ours is an in–depth and comprehensive training program. We believe it is the best Recovery Coaching training program available any where in the world.

–What will I get when I graduate from your training program? A beautiful diploma that says you successfully completed all the requirements of the program. You can then apply become a Certified Recovery Coach (CRC) through Crossroads Recovery Coaching. And since you have been trained as a professional coach you are eligible for ICF credentialing at the ACC level. By the way, all our grads who have taken the ACC credentialing exam have passed. That’s a 100% success rate!

–I’m interested, but are you sure that I can make a living as a professional Recovery Coach? That’s a good question. I can tell you that there is a big shift happening across the country in favor of recovery support. That means there is an increasing demand for professional Recovery Coaches. As a grad you can work with persons leaving treatment, aftercare or step–down programs, or with family members. You can earn more money working in alliance with cutting edge treatment centers, court systems, aftercare programs.

You can also work privately with clients leaving treatment, with those in relapse, with family members, or with clients who prefer harm reduction; or work as a life or business coach with those who have some time in recovery and want move ahead in life. You can create a specialty niche for yourself within Recovery Coaching.

If you intend to work for yourself and are new to self-employment we can teach you how to get started as a coach and market your business. In partnership with Coach and Grow Rich, we will soon be offering a new course for those who want business support.

–What can I expect as a student? Well, it’s an intense program. You can expect a lot of personal and professional growth. You will have a written lesson sent to your each week and a book or two assigned for each module. You are required to work with a coach for three consecutive months and you are required to coach each week outside of class. You get lots of support and coaching practice in class. Each 2–hour class includes an hour for discussion of the written lesson plus one–hour coaching practice. We use a positive learning model and offer assessment and feedback specific to both coaching skills and ICF credentialing preparation.

–What if I don’t like the program? We think you will like the program, but if you don’t and want to drop out you may be covered by our “Savvy Student Guarantee.” Here are the details:

•If you are paying by the module and want to drop out any time in the first two weeks of any seven-week module we will return your tuition minus a $75.00 enrollment fee.

•If you are paying for the entire curriculum upfront (and saving $200) you have 30 days to decide if you like the program. If you choose to drop out within 30 days we will return your full tuition minus a $75.00 enrollment fee. No tuition will be returned after 30 days—however you can come back and finish at your earliest convenience for a $25.00 re-enrollment fee.

–I’m not coach or an addiction professional. Can I take the training? Absolutely. We would love to have you join us.

I was concerned about taking Recovery Coach training because I am not a professional counselor, therapist, or coach. My only credential is being the wife of a man with hard-core addiction. This class is one of the most positive experiences I have ever had. At Crossroads we are all equals—I am loved by the other students and I know I make an important contribution. I am so happy about my training and new career as a Recovery Coach.    —Patricia Donovan

Non-Refundable Recovery Coaching Certification Training Deposit $100 USD
Please save my place in the next Recovery Coaching Certification Training. This is my non-refundable for $100 USD. I will now contact enrollment counselor, Deborah Drake: 425.223.5335 or email crossroadscoaching@gmail.com to complete my enrollment.

–What if my life changes and I can’t finish? We know things happen and will always try to make it possible for you to continue. You may be covered by our “Savvy Student Guarantee.”. If not you may be able to join another class that meets at a more convenient time. Or leave for a few months and start back up with a different group.

I'm in Sydney; which section should I be in?
You will need to take a class that is listed as 6-8 pm Eastern, 3-5 Pacific. If one is not currently offered at the time you need, be sure to get on the waiting list for the next training.

I'm in London; which section should I be in?
You will need to take a class that is listed as noon-2 pm Eastern, 9-11 am Pacific. If one is not currently offered at the time you need, be sure to get on the waiting list for the next training.

I am new to coaching. Am I eligible to take these courses?
Yes, the new curriculum was designed to meet the needs of all those interested in becoming Recovery Coaches including chemical dependency counselors and other addiction professionals, sponsors, folks in recovery, and already trained coaches who want to make Recovery Coaching their niche.

What if I am already an ICF credentialed coach?
If you are already an ICF credentialed coach you can apply these hours toward your PCC or MCC credentialing or renewal as continuing coach education.

What will I learn in these courses?

• You will learn how to apply and integrate the eleven core competencies of the ICF as they relate to a specialty in Recovery Coaching.
  
  
• You will learn basic and advance coaching skills in alignment with the 11 core competencies of the International Coach Federation.
  
  
• You will learn the founding principles and skills of a Recovery Coach so you can effectively coach people with addiction issues.
  
  
• You will learn the unique qualities of Recovery Coaching so you can differentiate yourself as a Recovery Coach from other coaching specialties.
  
  
• You’ll learn the unique coaching needs of recovery clients and how to meet them so that you can enroll and serve clients with confidence.
  
  
• You will learn how to recognize and handle ambivalence as a natural part of change, so that you can coach client resistance with ease and grace.
  
  
• You’ll learn tools to help your client move through feeling stuck or relapse so that you hold confidence even when client does not.
  
  
• You’ll learn what stresses you as a coach, what your buttons are, and have a plan of how to handle triggers during a call so you can relax, knowing you have exceptional professional coaching skills.
  
  
• You will develop a sense of your special gifts and interests so you enjoy a unique style and signature presence as a Recovery Coach.
  
  
• You will learn skills to model or pass on to your clients to help them relax and avoid stress that can lead to relapse.
  
  
• You will learn to bring the professional coach’s skill set to your other work (i.e. as a sponsor, CDC etc.).

How long is each class?
Each class is two hours long. We meet by phone. The first hour is devoted to the materials for that week's subject, core competency and skill set. The second hour is coaching practice. Students will coach each other on scenarios related to coaching clients in addiction recovery as well as their own life challenges.

How long is a course?
Each module is seven weeks long, except the first which is eight weeks long to include the orientation.

How many modules are there?
There are six modules total.

How long is the whole program?
The total hours for the program come to 84 hours.

What if I want to take a single course?
We may be able to accommodate your request. Give us a call 360-452-5005.

Will I be an ICF credentialed coach at the end of the training?
You will meet the coach training requirements of the International Coach Federation at the 60-hour level and can apply for your Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the portfolio process. This is done directly with the ICF by going to www.coachfederation.org.

Is this training pre-approved by the ICF?
Each course has been specifically written to meet the criteria for the portfolio process. That means 60+ hours will be in the core competencies and are immediately applicable to credentialing offered by the ICF. Bottom line: yes you can get credit for this program through the ICF.

What about ICF continuing education credits?
The program or individual courses can be used for continuing education credits because the curriculum is based on the core competencies. However An earlier version of Recovery Coaching Training has been approved ICF for three consecutive years.

Will I be a Certified Recovery Coach (CRC) at the end to the training?
You will meet the coach training requirements and can apply for your CRC directly with Crossroads Coaching. See next.

How do I become certified as a Recovery Coach?
Not everyone chooses to get certified. If you wish to become a Certified Recovery Coach (CRC) the cost for certification is $500 [US]. (By comparison, one popular coaching school charges $5000 [US] for certification.) You become a CRC by successfully completing the six courses, logging 100 hours of coaching with a recovery client, passing a written exam, and demonstrating competency in coaching. Here are the steps in order:

      1. Live attendance in 75% class hours (missed classes can be listened to via recording).
      2. Document 100 hours of coaching time with recovery clients (any recovery client or issue).
      3. Pass a written exam on Recovery Coaching.
      4. Submit a 30 minute tape demonstrating your best coaching skills with a recovery client.
      5. Demonstrate competency during a live exam with an assessor coach
      6. Submit your materials and CRC application with a payment.

Your materials will be evaluated and scored by an assessor. If you have a passing score you will have earned the CRC.

Do you have a payment plan?
Yes, if you need a personalized payment plan, please contact enrollment counselor Deborah Drake at 425.223.5335 or email: crossroadscoaching@gmail.com, or call Alida Schuyler 360.452.5005, and we will work with you to find a suitable arrangement.

Hey, Alida, it sounds great. How do I sign up?

Non-Refundable Recovery Coaching Certification Training Deposit $100 USD
Please save my place in the next Recovery Coaching Certification Training. This is my non-refundable for $100 USD. I will now contact enrollment counselor, Deborah Drake: 425.223.5335 or email crossroadscoaching@gmail.com to complete my enrollment.

What the students say:

"I learned how people make lasting changes in their lives and how to effectively support clients in doing so. This course is a must for anyone who seriously wants to coach people to live great lives." Julie M Daley, CPCC, Leadership Development through Personal Creativity

"Recovery coach training added a new dimension to my coaching toolbox. Alida Schuyler teaches concepts that are practical and inspiring." Andrew Susskind, Life Transition Coaching

"I have benefited tremendously from taking this workshop. It has given me the opportunity to both coach and be coached, and a wealth of applicable tools. This hands-on experiential process has provided me with a solid foundation in Recovery Coaching." Andrea St. Clair BA, CCDC I, CSAC

"Alida Schuyler has a broad understanding of the challenges of coaching people in recovery. This workshop has given me tools to confidently work with people in early recovery, as well as with all my clients. I highly recommend her class." Linda Landon, Business and Life Coach

"I have 18 years in recovery, am a trained counselor and have been coaching for 5 years-and this class far surpassed my expectations. Alida is a very effective teleclass leader, and a real expert on the subject of recovery coaching. I highly recommend this course." Trudy McKnight, M.Ed., Ed.S, CPC, Life and Career Coach and Centerpoint Institute

"Alida has brilliantly created this ICF-sanctioned training by blending the best work out there with her own background and considerable experience." Pam Bredouw, CPC