In January ARCNH will be hosting our first ever Recovery Coach Academy (RCA). We are really excited 

to offer this training

to our community and thereby grow the recovery resources in our community!

First things First, What is a Recovery Coach?

Recovery Coaching is an essential program at ARCNH which enables us to help people navigate their paths to recovery through a one-on-one relationship with a trained recovery coach. Recently, we published a blog post discussing peer support and recovery coaching in detail. We discussed the history of recovery coaching and what recovery coaching looks like in practice. If you would like to learn more about the specifics of Recovery Coaching please read our blog post here >>>.  Once you are familiar with Recovery Coaching we encourage you to read on as we discuss the specifics of our upcoming Recovery Coach Academy!

Bringing Recovery Coach Academy to the Souhegan Valley

Because Recovery Coaching is essential to ARCNH we have to create opportunities for members of our community to become recovery coaches. As previously discussed, recovery coaches must go through some significant training before working with participants. Most time consuming of the required coursework is the 30 hour Recovery Coach Academy. Despite being time consuming, Recovery Coach Academy (RCA) is a fabulous experience for any and all. Starting January 8th this course will run for 5 Saturdays until February 5th. Each day will go from 9:00am to 4:30pm with a 1 hour lunch break and 2 fifteen minute breaks built into the schedule. Snacks, drinks and coffee will be provided.   

About RCA

The Recovery Coach Academy being hosted at ARCNH will provide training on all the topics we as a Community Recovery Center believe are most essential to becoming a highly effective recovery coach. The 5 days start with a deep dive into understanding addiction and recovery and by the end attendees are practicing skills important to providing an optimal coaching experience. Learning Objectives of this RCA include:

• Gain a foundational understanding of addiction and the brain
• Understand common behaviors of addiction
• Learn foundational skills of active listening and motivational interviewing
• Learn and clarify roles of a recovery coach and understand staying in lane
• Gain an understanding of what recovery is
• Gain an understanding of stages of change and stages of recovery 
• Gain an understanding or Harm Reduction
• Learn how to discuss reuse prevention plans
• Understand the importance of SMART Goals setting with recoverees
• Understand solution-focused engagement
• Learn about the importance of self-care, compassion fatigue & burnout

About The Facilitator

The facilitator of this training will be Brett Smith of Choices Addiction and Recovery Training. While hosting RCA is a first for ARCNH; Brett Smith is far from a newbie! As an experienced RCA facilitator and a fabulous person we are very excited to welcome him to ARCNH for this training. Our Program Manager Jonathan Egan attended a previous RCA training Brett facilitated and he said this about Brett:

 “He’s very interactive and engaging. He teaches the course with a smile on his face. He knows how to have fun but at the same time provide information in a serious manner that’s informative. He’s really good at detailing the message in an instructive way. I felt very welcome in the class and I went from having 1 understanding of recovery to having a broader understanding of recovery coaching and it helped me feel comfortable with the all pathways approach. “

At ARCNH we believe it’s important for our Recovery Coaches to be comfortable with all pathways to recovery because we recognize that each individual is unique and therefore their recovery will be unique. As Coaches we need to be able to support each and every person on their journey. As Jon mentioned Brett teaches this philosophy as does the Choices Curriculum. Jon also said that the way Brett teaches this philosophy made him feel comfortable enough to challenge his thoughts on the topic because while Brett may have been presenting new information he also respected Jon’s, and everyone’s, thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

About Choices Addiction Recovery and Education

As mentioned Brett is from Choices Addiction and Recovery Education. This organization was founded by Ginger Ross, a person in recovery, in 2018. Their tagline “A Passion for Purpose” communicates “that we are all on a unique journey: a journey of growth and change focused on the inner autonomy and strength that we all possess while finding our way…”. This message really falls in line with our mission at ARCNH which is why we are so proud to partner with them. 

So Why Take RCA?

As a Recovery Coach you will be able to use your own lived experience as well as the skills you’ll learn in this course to help others on their path to recovery. Being a Recovery Coach is a powerful experience and exemplifies the spirit of giving back, which is so often an important part of maintaining one’s recovery. Being a Recovery Coach takes compassion, empathy, self care, and a modest amount of time. In exchange Recovery Coaches are rewarded many fold with the knowledge that they have had an important impact in people’s lives. 

Taking the Next Step

We know one blog post might not be enough to convince you so if you’re on the fence we invite you to come visit us at the center and have a chat. We’ll help you figure out if becoming a recovery coach is right for you. We are open Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 3:30pm. We also have frequent events at which we’d be more than happy to chat with you so check out our calendar to see when we’ll be at the center after hours. Our address is 180 Elm Street Milford NH 03055. You can also always call us at (603)554-8142 or email us at recover@arcnh.org.

If you are ready to register head over to our Eventbrite page now! Register now >>>

If you or someone you know is in need of recovery services or support contact us now.

Contact ARCNH