What is Independent Recovery Coaching
Real Independent Recovery Coaching
I was born and raised in western Pennsylvania.
Graduated from Ligonier Valley High School.
Here I am in the photo above – number 15; white jersey-back in my Larry Bird-esque basketball days.
How about those shorts?
I also lived in eastern Pa for 8 years after college. Including the metropolis of Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania.
I grew-up, recovered and broke into the addiction treatment field in Pennsylvania.
I get pre-occupied with South Carolina for obvious reasons. In 2012 I moved here.
This last year in 2017, South Carolina had about 800 overdose deaths, but in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania they had over 5000 overdose deaths in 2017?
A 64% increase over the past 2 years.
Outside Looking In
I’ve been in Pennsylvania a bunch this summer and early fall due to personal/family matters.
And now, as an outsider, it’s easy to see how weary communities are where the “epidemic” is concerned.
They are growing numb. If you live and work in it day to day you may not see the frustration. Maybe you do.
But I’ve been a dual resident over the past 3 months (due to some personal issues; we own a house there) and it’s very noticeable.
5000 – The New Normal?
5000 dead is going to become the new normal.
Everyone knows someone who has died from overdose.
Will we get to a place where it’s not even noteworthy???
Needed Change
Pennsylvania needs some radical change.
Not another committee. Or an additional peer recovery staff in the county detox.
Not another training or technical assistance event. No more research to identify exactly what the problem is.
Pennsylvania needs more independent autonomous recovery community organizations.
Coaches in the world harnessing the full power of the community.
Independent. Not run by your county drug and alcohol authority. That’s not their job. Their job is treatment.
Real Independent Recovery Coaching
The difference between recovery coaching being delivered by an independent organization and coaching delivered by treatment/county authority is the following:
- In an independent organization RECOVERY IS THE ONLY THING WE DO.
- In a treatment/county run organization recovery is another thing they do.
Because, at FAVOR Greenville, it’s the only thing we do. We will bring unique benefits to the table.
You need both of these models.
Take Action
But in most parts of the Commonwealth you only have the “peer in treatment org” model.
If the system won’t support it….Raise some money and take some action.
If inspired the community will support new efforts.
But you’re gonna have to take some chances.
I’m exposed to life in Western Pa. I don’t know as much about Eastern Pa.
At least they are looking at safe injection sites in Philly…. That’s shaking things up.
The takeaway for South Carolina. Learn from their mistakes.
Pouring money into the same things over and over yields little return on investment.