Think of it this way. People sign up for triathlon training plans, Avon Walk-for-Breast Cancer training plans, diet plans (think Weight Watchers, for example), ADHD coaching plans, employment-search plans (think “head-hunter”), SAT-prep and/or college-search/applications plans for juniors and seniors in high school – you name it, people can and do find an expert, a “coach,” if you will, who helps them develop a plan for how to achieve an end objective.
Additionally, people hire a “coach” to help them stay on track, modify the plan when necessary, discuss successes and set-backs, and strategize ways for achieving the goals and objectives of the plan as time moves on. In other words, it is not uncommon for people to hire athletic trainers, yoga gurus, academic coaches/tutors, therapists, diet coaches, and the like to help them with the successful implementation of their plans.
Continuing Care Plans (CCPs) and Recovery Coaching Services (RCSs) provide a similar vehicle for addicts/alcoholics and their loved ones to begin and/or continue 
their recovery from an addiction to drugs or alcohol. These concepts are explained in more detail, below.
CONTINUING CARE PLANS (CCP’s)
There is the perception that after a 28-day residential and/or intensive care treatment program, for example, that “all is well” and life can go back to “normal.” What is missing is the understanding that addiction, like other diseases, requires continuing care. According to the ASAM’s 2009 Principles of Addiction Medicine Fourth Edition, “…effective treatment attends to multiple needs of each individual, not just his or her alcohol or drug use. To be effective, treatment must address any associated medical, psychologic, social, vocational, legal problem, and environmental problems” (ASAM, Principles…, p. 389). Additionally, the Principles cites one of the key components of “the best treatment programs” is “continuing care” (ASAM, Principles…, p. 351).
Purpose: To involve the addict/alcoholic and family member(s), if applicable, in a comprehensive conversation on what happens after rehab; thereby helping all concerned better appreciate that treating addiction diseases is no different than treating other diseases in accordance with the disease treatment model. The disease treatment model is three-fold: 1) detox/stablization, 2) rehab (e.g., 28-days at a treatment center), and 3) continuing care, of which the Continuing Care Plan/Living Arrangement Agreement is the first step. All concerned need to understand that as a brain disease, addiction recovery requires the continued work to “wire around”/“unwire” the embedded addiction-related coping brain maps and replace those with healthy coping brain maps.
To that end, all concerned need to understand how daily living is fraught with their (both family member’s and addict/alcoholic’s) respective relapse triggers. Clearly identifying what those are, how to cope with them, what to expect, how to self-care, pros and cons of SLEs (sober living environments), AND for the addict/alcoholic, how to tackle the things that fell apart during their addiction (e.g., parenting, credit, employment, relationships) can be critical for lifelong recovery for all concerned.
To learn more about BreakingTheCycles.com’s unique FAMILY Continuing Care Plans, please download BTC.CCPFlier.1.16.12.
Lisa and Caroll’s Role: Lisa and/or Caroll meets with all concerned, including the treatment team (if the addict/alcoholic completed treatment with a treatment facility), family members, addict/alcoholic, and other related parties to develop the outline of the CCP. The CCP will address the issues that “fell apart” during the addiction and identify what will be done to address / live through said issues, such as: credit repair, job-search assistance, parenting classes, and the like, as well as continued interaction with the treatment team (if applicable), 12-step meetings (if applicable), NAMI meetings (if applicable), drug testing services (if desired), non-12-step programs (if preferred), work with an addictions specialist therapist. Lisa and/or Caroll then conduct the research to identify resources in their local area and provides a resource list of where they can find assistance as part of their CCP. Most importantly, they develop the CCP that addresses the triggers, recovery plans, living issues, strategies for dealing with communication break-downs and the like.
Logistics: Lisa (or Caroll) conducts a brief “discovery” call, if you will, whereby she talks to the key participants about their concerns, hopes, and objectives. From there, Lisa and/or Caroll provide a detailed outline and schedule for how the CCP will be developed. It generally takes five sessions (average 1 to 2 hours/session) to complete the process, with work to be completed between sessions. Meeting(s) occur online via SKYPE or via conference calls or in person, if so desired and travel arrangements allow.
LIVING ARRANGEMENT AGREEMENTS (LAAs)
Some families are not entirely convinced their loved one is a drug addict/alcoholic. They recognize that substance abuse is the problem — not the job, not the children, not the relationship — but they/their loved one still believe(s) they can “control” or “moderate” their substance use. And, it’s true, if the problem is substance abuse and not addiction, it is possible to use “normal” or moderate amounts of a substance — drinking within normal limits or using prescription drugs in accordance with a doctor’s prescription. But, at the same time, the non-substance misusing family members are anxious, worried, fearful this will be just one more series of broken promises to stop or cut down. In these cases, working with Lisa and Caroll to develop a Living Arrangement Agreement (LAA) may help. LAA’s are much like CCPs as explained above — they address the myriad of issues, but most importantly, they include agreement on what the staged approach (one more attempt to moderate or cut down) and then what. Note: Lisa and Caroll do not conduct LAA work with illegal drug misusers|families for reasons to be explained in a phone call. Additionally, all concerned must have a level of understanding about the disease of addiction, condition of substance abuse, and the impacts on family members/friends before LAA work can begin, for which Lisa offers an excellent 2-hour informational consulting service via Skype, in person, or conference call. See Consulting Services on this website for more information.
RECOVERY COACHING SERVICES (RCSs)
Purpose: In essence, a recovery coach, then, is the person to help the client/family member implement their CCP. At this stage, both would decide who will be engaging the services of the recovery coach (one or the other or both, together). Note: a person does not need to engage in Frederiksen and/or Fowler’s Recovery Coaching Services in order to work with either or both to develop a CCP.
Logistics: Frederiksen and/or Fowler’s coaching services involve weekly scheduled phone or Skype calls that last up to one hour in order to:
- talk about the week’s highlights, heartaches, setbacks, successes
- plans for the week ahead – steps that will be taken, road blocks that might arise, methods for breaking down a big problem into doable parts
- identifying additional resources, as applicable.
Frederiksen and/or Fowler then summarizes in an email the highlights of the conversation – focusing particularly on goals for the coming week.
Recovery Coaching Services agreements start as two-months in duration, with the option to renew, IF the CCP is being followed as agreed and/or amended by involved parties. Ideally, client (and family member, if applicable) would continue with Recovery Coaching Services for 6 months to one year. Services can also be tapered – i.e., instead of weekly calls, reduce to bi-monthly calls to monthly.
Crisis Calls – in the event an “emergency” arises, client may call Lisa or Caroll between weekly scheduled calls. It is important to know that Lisa Frederiksen and/or Caroll Fowler, as your Recovery Coach, does NOT provide therapy. That would continue to be handled by a treatment team or other therapists as identified by client(s).
WHY LISA FREDERIKSEN and CAROLL FOWLER?
Please scroll down to read our bios on About Us at BreakingTheCycles.com.
To contact us, please call 650-362-3026 or email info@BreakingTheCycles.com.
©2011 Lisa Frederiksen, BreakingTheCycles.com. Rev. 10.17.11. All Rights Reserved.
