1. Module 4 Recovery and Community ALL UNITS
All Units (4.1 to 4.4)
Module 4 Recovery and Community ALL UNITS

2. Unit 4.1 What is a Recovery Community?
Unit 4.1A Module Introduction
This module introduces the key ideas about Recovery Communities and the role of a Recovery Coach. It is intended to support you in thinking about what you can do to sustain your own recovery and how sharing your experience can help you and others to continue making changes in your life and reach your goals.
It has been established that effective recovery communities have access to housing, work, education, mutual aid and peer support. A Recovery Community is about integration of people in recovery, in the wider community and the treatment community. It is about everyone working together to support each other in becoming addiction free. A Recovery Coach is someone who uses their experience in recovery to help others with their recovery.
Recovery Coaches draw their legitimacy not from traditionally acquired
educational credentials, but rather, through experiential knowledge and
experiential expertise. (Borkman, 1976)

3. Unit 4.1 What is a Recovery Community?
Introduction – Different Communities 1munities
Community
Belonging
Sharing
Difference
We can use the term community to describe groups of people with similar experiences.
We all belong to lots of different communities and share different experiences with them. These shared experiences bring a sense of community.
Examples of communities:
Rural Community – a group of people all living in a rural area
European Community – nations and states unified by common interests
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4. Unit 4.1 What is a Recovery Community?
Introduction – Different Communities 2
Sometimes communities may be defined by more specific experiences. People may have similar experiences but they are not defined by them; however, they may find support in specific communities. For example: The LGBT community is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and LGBT-supportive people, organisations, and subcultures, united by a common culture and social movements. The Recovery Community: People in Recovery from Addiction who share experiences of addiction and recovery.
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5. Unit 4.1 What is a Recovery Community?
Unit 4.1B What is a Recovery Community?
In 2010 in the UK the National Treatment Agency (NTA) undertook a consultation with the treatment and wider community about Recovery. They suggested that the way to support Recovery in the long term was to support the notion of Recovery Communities where services and individuals were integrated and all working to the same goal – addiction free communities. They called this Building Recovery in Communities. The central message was that support for recovery needed to look at the Whole Person – all aspects of their lives and supporting people in this way is called Holistic Support.
Trainer Tip : The link here is to the NTA Building Recovery Communities Summary Report pdf (4.1C)

6. Unit 4.1 What is a Recovery Community?
Unit 4.1C Building Recovery Communities UK-NTA
In the UK, the National Treatment Agency (NTA) also encouraged Autonomy and allowing people to define their own recovery journey. The final report recognised the need for mutual aid and social networks that allowed people to gain support from each other in maintaining their recovery from addiction. The idea that Recovery from Addiction is CONTAGIOUS was also discussed.
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Tutor Tip – Question for group – ‘We considered Autonomy in the Recovery and Education Module – what does this mean to you?’
The NTA is now part of Public Health England

7. Unit 4.2 Functions of Recovery Communities
4.2A Functions of a Recovery Community
Contagious Recovery As we discussed in the previous Unit 4.1, the more open we are about recovery the more this might instil hope in other people and educate the wider community. There is evidence that supporting people with their Recovery by sharing our own stories but recognising that everyone is different will be a key supporting factor for on-going recovery. The role of the Recovery Coach is central to this idea. A recovery coach is someone who has experienced both Addiction and Recovery and supports their peers to obtain and maintain their own sobriety.
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8. Unit 4.3 What is a Recovery Coach?
4.3A Experiential Knowledge and Experiential Expertise
A Recovery Coach needs support in developing skills to support others and ensuring they are confident in their own recovery. They will have a wealth of lived experience and skills to use this information to support others. This is called experiential knowledge and experiential expertise. One vital thing a Recovery Coach must learn is that what worked for them (experiential knowledge) may not work for others – they must be open to difference (experiential expertise). Experiential knowledge is information acquired about addiction recovery through the process of one’s own recovery or being with others through the recovery process. Experiential expertise requires the ability to transform this knowledge into the skill of helping others to achieve and sustain recovery (White and Sanders, 2006).
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9. Unit 4.3 What is a Recovery Coach?
4.3B The Recovery Coach Role
How can people use both experience and expertise to support others?
Recognising that what worked for them may not be what will work for others.
The coach needs to be open to both acknowledging their own vulnerability but recognising that in giving skilled support they are respecting the autonomy of others.
They might share their story or the stories of others.
Provide insight into how they or others managed difficulties.
Share experiences of change.
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Trainer Tip – If people are interested in Recovery Coaching they can be directed to this Website and the Recovery Coaching Training Manual and Links Sheet (see the Train the Trainers Module).
See also – Recovery Coaching Training Manual Links Sheet – in Train the Trainers Module

10. Unit 4.4 Next Steps – Personal Action
4.4B – Group Tasks: Final Thoughts
What happens next? What learning can you take from this module to support you in the future? You may want to explore some of the ideas more deeply and there are some resources you could investigate, the Daily Inventory of ‘My Recovery’ Worksheet could be a good place to start. Resources Unit 4.1C – Building Recovery Communities UK-NTA (pdf report) Unit 4.1D – Recovery Communities across Europe (handout) Unit 4.2B – Professional Boundaries Worksheet Unit 4.3A – Experiential Knowledge and Experiential Expertise (handout) Unit 4.4A – Daily Inventory of ‘My Recovery’ Worksheet
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Trainer Tip – If people are interested in Recovery Coaching they can be directed to this Website and the Recovery Coaching Training Manual and Links Sheet (see the Train the Trainers Module)
My Recovery
Key Learning for Me
Final Thoughts