What can you expect from your mentor? While it is important to note that each person and each situation is different, there are a range of ways a recovery mentor might work with you to help you maintain your recovery. For example, your mentor might attend a 12-Step (or other recovery program) meeting with you and help you translate the program’s strategies and philosophies into specific action. They can offer advice grounded in their own experiences (as well as drawn from their training) and help you work toward (and celebrate) your recovery goals and milestones.

Long and short: A recovery mentor is a person you can count on to encourage you, hold you accountable, and offer support when the going gets tough. That relationship can be absolutely critical in the early days of your recovery journey, a period of time when you are likely to face abundant challenges while still trying to develop the habits that will lessen the likelihood of relapse. Having the steady voice of a recovery mentor available to you in the early going can make all the difference.

THE BENEFITS OF A MENTORSHIP IN RECOVERY

• ● One-on-One Guidance: Completing an alcohol or drug treatment program and moving to the next step of the recovery process can be stressful and overwhelming. It takes time to put everything you learned in treatment into practice. Having a recovery mentor provides you with the one-on-one guidance you need to move forward with support and confidence. It makes it easier to avoid slipping back into old behaviors and thought patterns that lead to a potential relapse. Even though everyone has their own story of addiction, your mentor has been where you are now. They have been in the same situation and experienced the same feelings and emotions. They are there to help you overcome any challenges you encounter and move forward in your recovery
• ● Mentorship is a Relationship of Trust: When you go through the process of addiction recovery, you often feel alone. Relationships may have been damaged and trust destroyed during active addiction. In recovery, relationships need to be repaired and trust rebuilt. As you begin this process, you may feel like there is not anyone you can count on. A recovery mentor is someone you can rely on and trust. By giving you guidance and advice, your mentor can help you repair your damaged relationships.
• ● An Accountability Partner: Throughout the process of recovery, temptations come up. You have to choose sobriety each day. Having a mentor throughout recovery means you do not have to deal with temptations alone. Checking in with your mentor at specific times throughout the week is a great way to stay actively engaged in your recovery process. When you talk to your mentor, they will help you work through your temptation and encourage you to make the right choices. Your mentor helps you stay accountable for your actions and safeguard your recovery.

Many people who struggle with substance use disorders feel disconnected from other people. They find it hard to find others they can relate to as they go through recovery. During this time, having a recovery mentor means having a meaningful connection. Your mentor is an integral part of your life as you go through the process of recovery.

A recovery mentor is like a sponsor in some ways but is quite different in others. In fact, there are enough differences that some people may find it useful to seek support from both a recovery mentor and a sponsor.

Other Key Traits of a Recovery Mentor

The traits that make a mentor effective are largely just what you would expect:

• ● Like a sponsor, a recovery mentor is a person who is also in recovery from a substance use disorder.
• ● They are friendly, with good communication skills and experience working with those who are newly sober.
• ● They are fully committed to principles of privacy and confidentiality.
• ● They are comfortable and adept at working with individuals from a variety of backgrounds.
• ● They are passionate about helping others maintain their sobriety. A key takeaway here: A recovery mentor is committed to their own recovery—and to yours.

KEY PRINCIPLES FROM A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE

How often do you find yourself reacting to what someone else has said or done, experiencing anger or confusion before you even realize what’s happening?

I want to tell you about a coaching tool that will help you to be more aware of how you respond in the moment. When you use this tool, you will accept yourself more fully, learn gracefully, and overall, enjoy more confidence.

I love the Universal Growth Principle because it is simple to remember and it keeps me moving forward when I’m feeling confused or unsure.

People often refer to the Universal Growth Principle as "The 4 A's", which stands for Awareness, Acceptance, Action and Adherence.

The first A of The 4 A's, stands for Awareness. If I can’t see my behavior then I can’t choose how to change it, expand it, explore it, or add to it. I remain blind and unaware. My behaviors run me instead of me running them.

In order to let this feedback in and consider it, I first had to calm myself by journaling and become curious about my behavior. I learned to do a simple breathing practice to help me be more receptive.

The second A stands for Acceptance. For me, acceptance has always been somewhat mysterious. It was hard for me to be open to accepting those parts of myself I didn’t necessarily like: being insecure, being judgmental. Looking back, I had a pretty intense desire to want to control situations and even people.

I didn’t want to admit that I was scared of not having things go my way. I had to learn to be curious about how to accept all parts of myself, even those parts I don’t really like. It was hard.

ACCEPTANCE IS THE ANSWER TO ALL MY PROBLEMS!!

Acceptance is giving ourselves a positive way to work with our own reactivity. Working with my own reactivity has been very helpful, knowing that I can self-observe and start to see every situation as a learning opportunity. It’s all just information that can help me to be the kind of person I aspire to be.

The third A stands for Action. This is where the rubber meets the road! Action requires that we not only look at what our patterns of thought, emotion and behavior are . . . Action requires that we actually do something about it. We get to behave in a different way than we have in the past in order to produce an outcome we want! We can choose. It is about Noticing → pausing → and then collecting our energy—without containing or suppressing it—then taking the risk to act in a way that supports who we want to be.

The last A of the Universal Growth Principle is one I am constantly working on within myself: Adherence. Adherence simply means practicing . . . practicing and having the commitment to

keep practicing. Like practicing a musical instrument, we can have the same patience with ourselves that we would with anyone learning something new. We honor ourselves for wanting to explore our behavior, for being aware, and we gently get back on the horse if we have fallen off, for whatever reason.

The Journey of discovery and Self Empowerment is an intense one that requires a comprehensive skill set. Using the Universal Growth Principle as well as embracing components of Post Traumatic Growth will help to solidify your Recovery and improve your Life beyond limiting beliefs and behaviors.

Awareness - Acceptance - Action and Adherence. These are the Four A’s of Recovery. Can you envision your Life free from the bonds of addiction? Are you ready to walk the path of personal freedom and peace? Do you have the desire and courage to rise above the chaos in your Life?

If you answered YES to one or more of the questions above - then you owe it to yourself to contact Innovative Coaching Strategies and start a conversation with Robert Kehoe, a true Advocate for Humanity to begin your Recovery Journey