What is a Recovery Mentor?

Much like using a weight loss coach, wellness coach or a life coach, you can now have a Recovery Mentor, also known as a recovery coach. Coaches and Mentors are leaders, someone who helps guide in a general sense. They are the ones with all the knowledge for their particular practice, and help guide the team.

If a basketball player does not have a coach, they are not able to become a much better player all on their own. With the help of a coach, the player will be able to learn new skills and improve far faster than they would without. This same idea applies to Recovery Mentors in treatment facilities. Patients will eventually become acclimated and learn the ins-and-outs, but it happens much faster and much more comfortably with the help of a Recovery Mentor.

A Recovery Mentor is physically with you at your residential rehab to help guide you through the ins and outs of the facility and help you get acclimated. Quite literally, they will make sure you have all the necessities such as toiletries, money or even cigarettes – whatever will help you feel at home. They will help you very closely the first few days to make sure you are happy, comfortable and adjusting to your new life in treatment.

Beginning treatment at a residential rehab is often very scary and intimidating for many people. It is a sudden life change that can happen, especially for long-term addicts. In severe cases, addicts can lose their homes or jobs and learning to live in a sober environment can be exhausting. At the beginning, it can be highly uncomfortable to get used to your new space and new habits, especially while experiencing withdrawal symptoms on top of it all. Having a Recovery Mentor helps you through all of this and makes your stay more comfortable and assuring so that you can focus on therapy.

Most Recovery Mentors graduate from Recovery Coaching classes and receive a certification. Depending on your location, there are a number of pathways to becoming a certified Recovery Coach. World Coach Institute offers a wealth of options, depending on the setting you wish to choose. Recovery Mentors can work for private individuals, in the recovery center itself, or with the families of patients in recovery. Either way, Recovery Mentors are well-trained and, most importantly, can empathize with you.

Is a Recovery Mentor different from a therapist?

A Recovery Mentor is not a therapist, but rather, a resource for patients to be able to lean on during your stay in residential rehab. Your Recovery Mentor is someone who can relate to you, since they are in recovery themselves and have been through the program as well. By sharing their life experiences with you, they are able to answer any questions you may have and ease any nerves that you may have. They know how you feel, they have been in your shoes and they have dedicated their lives to making patient’s stays easier.

Your assigned Recovery Coach will, however, work closely with your therapist to make sure that you are staying on track with your individualized recovery program. At Pinelands, each therapist has Recovery Mentors that they work with. Your Recovery Mentor will always work with that specific therapist hand-in-hand. Your individual recovery program is all the things you do while you are not with your therapist. This can include things like going to the gym, making your bed, keeping your room clean and other foundational building blocks that have been lacking in the past.

How does using a Recovery Mentor work?

At Pinelands Recovery Center, our Recovery Mentors are part of the whole treatment team. Upon entering, a patient is assigned with both a therapist and a Recovery Mentor, who they will meet within the first 48 hours. All of our Recovery Mentors are in recovery and use their experiences, professionally and personally, to help patients break through barriers.

The patient will then meet with their Recovery Mentor for one hour sessions each week, and take part in group activities with them to help give the patient some practical experiences. When the patients’ stay in treatment is nearing its end, their Recovery Mentor will work to connect the patient with someone in their community to have a more lasting relationship with them. This can include some alumni of our program, or another sober sponsor to help support them when they are ready to leave.

You are not alone while you are going through recovery, and we will make sure of it. Every step of the way – from the second you walk in, to the second you leave to enter your new life – we work closely with you. Our dedicated staff is here for you, and have all been where you are. Pinelands Recovery Center of Medford is widely known as one of New Jersey’s finest, most respected addiction treatment facilities.

With comfortable 30-bed accommodations and a 24-hour professional staff, we can offer clients a serene, relaxing environment amid the lush piney woods. This stress-free setting with its sense of warmth and welcoming enables you to feel comfortable and confident about your clean and sober life ahead.

We will establish clear goals, both general in nature and specific to your needs. We continue to monitor those goals, to make sure that our clients are progressing and buying into their recovery plan. We thrive on assisting clients in feeling connected to the recovery community, share and demonstrate effective coping techniques, help clients to modify attitudes and patterns of behavior and everything else you will need to be happy and productive living a sober, healthy life.

We ensure that clients complete their planned concrete tasks, encourage hope, optimism and healthy living. Our recovery program is not a revolving door treatment program; it is a recovery model designed to help clients go on to lead productive, happy lives. For more information, visit pinelandsrecovery.com