What is the difference between sponsorship and sober coaching? Can a person have both? Can a person be both a sober coach and a sponsor?
Sponsorship:
Sponsorship has a long history in the 12 Step movement. Early members of Alcoholics Anonymous would often go out on 12 Step calls to help those who were seeking the AA solution to alcoholism. Usually, two people would go out on these 12th Step visits. If the person wanted what these sober members of AA had, then the newcomer would be taken to meetings and introduced to the 12 Step program and fellowship. This 12th Step work would naturally evolve into a Sponsor/Sponsee relationship where the more experienced AA member would pass on the teachings of AA to the newer member. (To learn more about the development of sponsorship in AA, read pages 25-29 in the booklet Living Sober published by AAWS.)
Many of the newcomers to AA were fraught with marital problems, unemployment, housing problems, etc. The early pioneers of AA quickly discovered that they had to remain focused on the AA solution to alcoholism. That’s where they had tremendous success. That’s not to say the other problems were ignored, but early AAs understood they were not equipped nor trained to take on problems other than alcoholism. As Bill W. cautioned the fellowship, “Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family back. This just isn't so.” (pg. 99 Alcoholics Anonymous)
Moreover, early sponsors of AA also discovered that when they helped their sponsee focus on staying sober and the AA design for living, many of the problems the Sponsee was facing became more manageable or went away altogether.
As stated on page 27 of Living Sober, “A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who can help solve only one problem: how to stay sober. And the sponsor has only one tool to use— personal experience, not scientific wisdom.”
So, if sponsors help sponsees stay sober using the 12 Step method, what does a sober coach do?
Sober Coaching:
In 2006, William White coined the phrase Recovery Coach to describe a process of working with people in recovery. The Recovery Coach works with someone new in recovery and provides support and assistance. The coach helps with positive change, post-treatment integration, conducts reuse prevention planning, and works with the new person on life goals not related to addiction such as relationships, work, or education. The Recovery Coach is usually a person who has “lived experience” with recovery, but not always.
Since 2006, there has been an explosion of Recovery Coaching throughout the United States. The name has morphed several times and goes by different names throughout the country, but frequently you’ll hear the titles Recovery Coach or Sober Support Specialist used. However, the most common title used is Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS).
A PRS provides non-clinical assistance to the person new in recovery. It is an action-oriented model of help with an emphasis on improving present life and reaching future goals. It is a process that allows peers to explore and experience recovery with a guiding hand of support and compassion. A PRS uses a partnership model wherein the individual is the expert on his or her life, and the one who decides what is worth doing.
The Difference:
The difference between a sponsor and sober coach is quite distinct. A sponsor helps an individual with learning and practicing the tenets of their 12 Step program whether that be AA, NA, CA, CMA, etc.
A Recovery Coach, or PRS helps a person navigate early recovery by helping them with issues pertaining to employment, housing, finances, etc. The PRS uses a peer led model of help utilizing Motivational Interviewing. The PRS is a guide by the side rather than a sage on the stage. The PRS works within the peer’s framework never superimposing their will or definition of recovery upon the individual with whom they are working.
Can a person have both a Sponsor and a Sober Coach?
Programs like AA are very clear about what they do and don’t do. Taken from AA material on Cooperating with the Professional Community, we find this list of things that AA does not do with or for its members
• Make medical or psychological diagnoses or prognoses.
• Provide detox or nursing services, hospitalization, drugs, or any medical or psychiatric treatment.
• Provide housing, food, clothing, jobs, money, or any other welfare or social services.
• Provide counseling.
• Provide letters of reference.
• Discuss prevention, treatment, advocacy, legislation, etc.
So, if AA or the other 12 Step programs don’t provide the above, who can? Although recovery coaches are not clinical, they can provide referrals to treatment centers, counselors, or other medical authorities. They can help with housing issues, issues of food scarcity, employment, or legal issues. So yes, a person can work with both a sponsor and a recovery coach because the two are working on different areas of a person's recovery.
Can a person be both a Sober Coach and a Sponsor?
The program of AA has no restrictions on what a person outside of AA does for employment. In fact, the program of AA is quite clear on this principle. In Tradition Ten of the AA program, we find the following, “Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues…” So yes, a person can be employed as a sober coach, and sponsor people in AA.
However, it is recommended that a person not sponsor people with whom they are working as a sober coach. This can blur the lines between the sober coach/sponsor roles and lead to conflicts of interest.
