Building Basic Structure and Routine in Early Recovery, VI

7. Many treatment centers offer special programs, workshops, and seminars aimed at helping patients address various aspects of recovery. Some deal with how to structure your life to avoid stress, how to prioritize decision-making, learning how to better cope with urges, or other particularly relevant topics. It’s very important for you to share those experiences with me so that I can suggest how the things you learned might fit into the coaching program as we plan safe, healthy and recovery-oriented systems of care that help to address real-world issues in your life.

8. In my experience as a recovery coach as well as my personal recovery experiences, obtaining a 12-step sponsor can be a difficult and frustrating undertaking for some. For 12-steps to work in your recovery, sponsorship, a critical element is required and must be addressed. The role of a recovery coach is not the same as a sponsor and I encourage boundaries between the two. Coaches can however, talk to you about how to obtain a sponsor in a 1,2,3 method that’s easy, effective and protects you from awkward moments that you may have fear and anxiety about.

As you become close to 12-step group members, use them as sounding boards or ask for their support as you try your hand at structuring your environment. While 12-step groups are nonjudgmental, and they aren’t a substitute for treatment, nor do they offer treatment, the support and encouragement you receive from participating in them can be the difference between feeling good about how you’re handing your day-to-day environment and feeling lost and confused about what to do and when to do it. So, make use of your friends and allies, including your 12-step sponsor, in helping to structure your environment.

Stay tuned for more structure ideas and don't hesitate to reach out for professional help, recovery coaches are available when you need them.

Be well.