My name is Angela, and I have been studying recovery coaching this past year, having resigned from my career in accounting. Although I have no history of drug addiction, I can attest to its powerful healing. It’s non-judgmental, compassionate approach has helped me become more confident. It has helped me to hold my own when confronted with people or a difficult situation, and it has given me an abundance of self-worth. These were always my most difficult challenges to overcome.

Recovery coaching will not take you to a place emotionally or mentally that you are not ready to go, and will not force you to experience something you are not ready to re-experience. You remain the driver of your own healing journey, which is all-empowering and extremely fulfilling. I do believe that all human pain is the same, although the way we choose to express it and our ability to deal with it is different. You don’t need to have an addiction history to gain a greater measure of wholeness with recovery coaching.

Recovery coaching has led me to work with people with drug addictions and I currently work with Westsiders Against Addiction, which is a support group that takes a spiritual approach to helping people overcome addiction. I have found that recovery coaching works extremely well with spirituality/religion on any level, as the inner search for wholeness that any path takes you on is wonderfully supported by recovery coaching. Aren’t we all recovering from something?

The clients I have worked with have said recovery coaching has helped them find their own “way” within to overcome their substance abuse. It has helped them look at themselves less negatively with the understanding that they have the ability to overcome, while feeling safe and comfortable enough to speak without judgment, fear or embarrassment and with open trust during the session. They have then been able to use the techniques to coach themselves. These truly are the keys to helping anyone.

I almost always use visualisation, as it is so powerful and easy for the brain to assimilate a newer approach to handling emotionally-triggered stress. At the same time it calms the emotions and allows the soul to come up with an alternative answer, which can be used when faced with the same stressful situation.

It is also helpful to look at a time in the past that was fulfilling and happy and bring those images and feelings to the present time. For example, fill the void the client is feeling, or use that to replace a negative feeling or action that drives the person to use the drug, using simple questions like, “how does that makes you feel” or “who / what are thinking of when you said that”.

Role playing is extremely useful in helping the client face the person/s who have harmed them, including themselves, and encouraging them to speak to that person/s so they can have their say. This helps them to unburden themselves and to replace that space with an affirmation. This “anchors” the work done through positive words in present time, for example the affirmation, “I am safe, I am protected, I feel accepted”.