Martha Ruske, MFT
Recovery Life Coaching
RECOVERY LIFE COACHING
Who Can Benefit?
At one time it seemed enough just to be able to stop drinking. You probably did it with help: a treatment program, 12-step, or some other alternative.
Then, you might have been surprised to find that your problems didn’t end when the drinking did. Long-buried issues may have come up and you started to address dysfunctional relationships, old toxic family patterns, etc. Sometimes you wondered if things would ever get better.
But things do get better if you continue to answer the call for personal growth. People are staying sober now for long periods of time - probably unimaginable for Bill W. when he started AA. It was easy to identify the stages people went through in early recovery, but now we can identify stages in middle and later recovery too, as people stay sober for 10, 20, 30 or more years.
Is this you?
What does this mean for you? My style of recovery life coaching is suited for people who have been successfully handling their addiction but are struggling or feeling unsettled and don’t quite know where to go next. These are the kinds of clients I work with:
- People who started in AA and have added more and more 12-step programs, until the majority of their life is 12-step and recovery-focused. They have no time left for anything else and they still feel like something is wrong with them. They are committed to recovery but are looking for more flexibility in their lives.
- People who have successfully stayed sober but have no support system and it’s taking a toll. Their life got better for awhile but now it feels stagnant.
- People who have successfully stayed sober but are experiencing stress and are concerned about relapse. They know of other people who were sober for years and started drinking again, but they don’t know why that happened or what signs to look for.
- People who want to expand their lives, maybe tackle some goals they had made pre-addiction, but need support from someone who understands recovery. They want to step out into a more challenging life, but they’re also fearful of leaving what feels safe.
- Helping professionals who are themselves in recovery and who are adept at supporting others, but fall short when it comes to supporting themselves. They struggle to seek help and make themselves vulnerable without compromising their clients' well-being.
- American expatriates who want to stay clean and sober while fully living in their environment. They are not finding the the resources locally to support their continued recovery.
Did you recognize yourself in any of these descriptions? Often people with addictions have lived in isolation. When confronted with experiences in their lives that are hard to handle, they either “tough it out” or get someone to take over and tell them what to do. The middle road is to get support. If you think you might want support, check out the section on How it Works.