How to Become a Rehab Therapist

How to Become a Rehab Therapist

Rehab therapists or counselors are people who help people with disabilities to live full and independent lives. Rehab therapists also help those people to accomplish their personal goals. Whether clients hope to return to a much-loved job or move into an apartment, rehab therapists help them acquire the skills and strategies they need to succeed. Rehab therapists also play an important role in raising public awareness about disability issues and achieving social justice for this undeserved population of people.

Rehab therapists quite commonly work with a wide range of people including:

  • People with a mobility impairment
  • People with a mental illness
  • People with traumatic brain injury
  • People with chronic disease
  • People with addiction and substance abuse
  • People with impairment such as blindness and deafness
  • People with language and communication disorders

Rehab therapists understand the social, emotional, and occupational barriers their clients face. To help people with disabilities especially those with addiction and substance abuse, rehab therapists need to explore what they need and prefer. In many cases those people with addiction and substance abuse need sobriety and ways to stay sober. Once that goal is identified, rehab therapists, work together with their client to develop necessary strategies of staying sober. This might involve role-playing, learning new coping skills, job modification and so much more. As needed the counselor connects the client with helpful organizations and community resources such as 12 step programs or outpatient programs. Rehab therapists also will work with employers to help them accommodate to on the job needs of people with disabilities.

So how do you become a rehab therapist?


How to Become a Sober Companion

How to Become a Sober Companion

Sober companions are probably best known by their work with celebrities as almost “glorified babysitters” but of course there is much more to it than that. Also, not all sober companions are watch dogs for celebrities. Sober companions work with slews of addicts and alcoholics sometimes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help them remain abstinent.

What is a sober companion?


So how can you become a sober companion if you want to be one?


There are growing recovery associations (,,,, and boards established to set standards or monitor the state of the field recovery coaching, that overlap some of the roles of a sober companion. There is no formal sober companion oversight and accountability as yet. Since early in 2011, Faces and Voices in Recovery has been working on developing standards, credentialing and more clearly defined roles of a recovery coach, peer support specialist, and a sober companion. One can see why there is a concern according to the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors, as it is a process that is just underway.


If you really want to be a sober companion the best place to start is with someone who already is. So go out and find people who are already doing what you want to do. If you can’t find anyone who is a sober companion go ahead and get on your computer. You can be sure to find ways to become a sober companion online.

What is a Sober Companion?

What is a Sober Companion?

What is a Sober Companion, Sober Coach, or Recovery Coach?

A sober companion, sober coach, or recovery coach provides one-on-one assistance to newly recovering drug addicts and alcoholics. The goal is to help the client maintain total abstinence from alcohol and drugs, and to establish healthy routines outside of a residential treatment facility. Sober coaches assist with the transition from treatment back to everyday living. The sober coach will meet the client at discharge, accompany them on their trip home, and within 24 hours, attend with them their first AA or NA meeting.

What are the Duties of a Sober Companion?

The sober companion’s duties encompass a wide variety, from ensuring that the client remains abstinent to serving as a resource broker and advocate in the client’s home community.

The primary duty of a sober companion is to ensure the recovering addict does not relapse. They may be hired to provide round the clock care, be on-call, or to accompany the recovering addict during particular activities, such as taking them to fellowship meetings at which the recovery coach encourages them to meet people and get phone numbers. They work together with the client in making their home a clean and sober environment, as well support the client in following through with their recommended discharge plan.

A sober companion also acts as an advocate for the newly recovering person and provides new ways for the client to act in their own living environment. Many companions use techniques such as chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, meditation, distraction, massage, diet and proper nutrition, exercise and even prayer and affirmation of sober choices. A sober coach either completely removes the addict from his own environment of hidden stashes, or may search for hidden drugs in their own environment, in an effort to make the living environment safe for the client and to prevent them from relapsing

How Long Does Sober Companion Services Last?

Companions are available to assist clients for as long as support is deemed necessary. Sober companion treatment usually lasts for 30 days however, oftentimes, much longer. The time required to effect a meaningful change varies greatly depending upon the client, their co-occurring disorders, and the family life at home. Ideally, a companion’s presence in the client’s life will decrease as the client’s ability to confront family, work, and legal issues without relapse is proven. Some providers stay with their clients for many months, and some offer only transportation services.

The Benefits of Having a Sober Companion

The first few days outside of the structured treatment setting are typically the most critical – and most trying for the newly recovering alcoholic/addict. This transitional period is often awkward and uncomfortable for the recovering person therefore, sober companionship and coaching offers support, encouragement, and camaraderie during this crucial time.

Other circumstances for which having a sober coach is beneficial are cases where an actor or musician will not attend treatment, but must remain abstinent to complete a film or recording project. Another circumstance might be that the newly recovering alcoholic/addict is in school and thus needs to be back in their own living environment.








3 Ways You Might Be Enabling and Not Coaching

3 Ways You Might Be Enabling and Not Coaching

In order to know if you might be enabling and not coaching you first have to recognize the difference between enabling and coaching. Enabling is when you are doing something for your client that they can or should be doing for themselves. Your job as a recovery coach is not to save your client or do things for them that they should be doing for themselves, it is merely to show them the path to success and how to do all of those things for themselves! If you are worried you might be enabling and not coaching there are some signs that can let you know. Here are 3 ways you might be enabling and not coaching:

You are allowing rules to be bent or broken

As a recovery coach it is your responsibility to set firm and easily defined boundaries, guidelinesand rules for your client. If you are allowing rules to be bent or broken you might be enabling and not coaching. You begin allow the rules to be bent or broken when you stop understanding that you deserve to be respected and that means your boundaries, rules, and guidelines you lay out for your client must be respected. If your requests for respect and accountability fall on deaf ears and only result in more rules being bent or broken or missed appointments etc. then you might be enabling and not coaching. You have to set personal boundaries as a coach that cannot be repeatedly crossed.

Cleaning up their mess

If you find yourself covering for your client if they miss work, school or IOP then you might be enabling and not coaching. If you have picked up your client at a bar in the middle of the night or bailed them out of jail than you are enabling and not coaching. An addict should always take responsibility for their actions and their life. By constantly helping them escape responsibility you are making their addiction worse and helping them destroy themselves which is the exact opposite of what you want to do.

Not confronting them

If you are afraid of confronting your client about their behavior then you might be enabling and not coaching. Your job is to give your client the best advice you have and to call them out on their behavior to better their life. There is a good chance they will get angry but addiction is a problem that needs some tough love and you know this. A drug or alcohol addiction wont go away all by itself and it is your job to coach your client and confront them about their problems. If you aren’t confronting them out of fear or whatever reason then you are enabling and not coaching.

It can be really easy to enable an addict or alcoholic instead of coaching them. A lot of the times the two are closely related but being able to know the signs you might be enabling and not coaching can help to avoid any enabling problems.