Drug and alcohol addiction do not need to control your life. Instead, you need to control the addiction. That is much easier to do with the help of a recovery coach or an addiction therapist. Ideally, you will have both on your side. You can find such help with a recovery coaching program Northern IL families count on for help. Northern Illinois Recovery helps makes it easier to choose a recovery coach vs addiction therapist by working with you to determine the best fit. Here is a closer look at what each does.
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Addiction Therapist is a Licensed Professional
If you ever have seen a professional therapist for mental health or other issues, you already have a good idea of what an addiction therapist does. An addiction therapist is either a professionally licensed psychologist or a licensed psychiatrist. The main difference is one can prescribe medications, while the other provides counseling. Both are effective tools for dealing with drug and alcohol addiction.
When choosing a recovery coach vs an addiction therapist, it is important to remember a therapist needs to get paid. That means you need health insurance, which some people may not have. Unfortunately, many who suffer from addiction also lack health insurance coverage. There could be financial barriers to getting a licensed addiction therapist to help with your condition.
Recovery Coach Helps on Personal Level
A recovery coach is not a licensed professional. In most cases, a recovery coach is a person with personal experience with addiction and recovery issues. Often times, a recovery coach is a recovered addict. That can help with relating personal issues and ensuring a level of understanding. It also can make it hard to fool a recovery coach who already went down the dark path of addiction and emerged from the forest a new person.
When choosing a recovery coach vs an addiction therapist, it helps to know a recovery coach typically is more accessible. Instead of scheduling appointments for office visits, a recovery coach is a much more informal tool for beating addiction. A recovery coach is like a sponsor for a recovering alcoholic. That person is available for support during bad times and helps guide you to make smart decisions that enable your recovery.
Both Approaches Work Best
Ideally, a recovering addict will have a recovery coach and addiction therapist to provide a full range of support. The recovery coach is more accessible on a day-to-day basis. Personal experience and shared insights help guide addicts away from the bad decisions that often lead to repeated forays into substance abuse. A therapist, though, can help with medical needs and assess your mental progress on a more professional level and better enable you to overcome the daily temptations of drug and alcohol addiction.
Contact Us for Help
Northern Illinois Recovery provides a full slate of support services to help addicts beat their demons and live a sober life. If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol, we offer a full slate of recovery services. You don’t have to let drugs and alcohol control and likely ruin your life. Instead, a simple toll-free call can put you on the road to recovery and regaining your life by calling us at 855.786.1978.
Licensed Physician and Surgeon
Dr. Beth Dunlap, a board-certified addiction medicine and family medicine physician, and is the medical director at Northern Illinois Recovery Center. She is responsible for overseeing all the integrated medical services at both campuses. Beth completed medical school, residency, and fellowship at Northwestern University, where she continues to serve on the faculty as a member of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. She has extensive experience in addiction medicine at all levels of care, and her clinical interests include integrated primary care and addiction medicine, harm reduction, and medication-assisted treatment.
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