Recovery coaching after rehab helps turn a discharge plan into things that actually happen: getting up, attending appointments and meetings, eating properly, moving your body, making honest calls and planning the hours that used to drift.

Our view is candid. A good coach helps implement structure, routine and healthy habits, holds the person accountable without shaming them, and lives what they preach. That does not mean performing perfection. It means their conduct, boundaries and own support are consistent with the recovery they encourage. Coaching can strengthen continuing care, but it cannot guarantee sobriety.

What the role is — and is not

“Recovery coach” is a broad title. It may describe a trained peer worker using lived experience, or a professional coach with different training and no peer credential. Credentialing, supervision and regulation vary by country and jurisdiction, so ask what the title means in this particular case.

Lived experience can bring trust, hope and hard-won practical knowledge. It is not, by itself, proof of competence. A capable coach also knows how to keep boundaries, protect privacy, recognise risk, work within their training and refer onwards.

Coaching is not psychotherapy, medical care, medication advice, detox supervision, crisis care or Twelve-Step sponsorship. It should not compete with treatment or fellowship. Read what a recovery coach does and the fuller coach, sponsor and therapist comparison before asking one person to fill every role.

A useful rhythm for the first weeks

Start with one proper weekly planning session. Review sleep, food, movement, work, appointments, medications to take as prescribed, high-risk situations and enjoyable sober time. Put names, places and times beside each commitment. If meetings are part of the plan, choose them from the current Bali meetings directory and allow for real travel time.

An ordinary day might then include:

  • Morning: a short check-in, the day’s priorities and one honest question: “What could knock this off course?”
  • During the day: the person carries out the plan. The coach may accompany an agreed activity or appointment, help solve a practical obstacle, or send a brief reminder within the contact agreement.
  • Evening: a five-minute review of what happened, what was avoided and what needs changing tomorrow.

At the end of the week, count follow-through rather than demanding a flawless mood. Which commitments were kept? Where did isolation, resentment, money, tiredness or unplanned time appear? What needs booking before the weekend? The rhythm should gradually build independence, not dependence on a coach to run the person’s life. For the wider transition, see what happens after rehab.

How coaching fits with the rest of continuing care

A therapist can address clinical symptoms, trauma and patterns within their qualifications. A doctor or prescribing clinician manages medical assessment and medication. A sponsor shares experience of working a Twelve-Step programme, while meetings provide peer connection and fellowship.

A coach helps put agreed actions into the diary and notices when follow-through slips. With the person’s specific written permission, they may coordinate practical information with the care team. They should never quietly report to family, interpret medication, disclose therapy conversations or present themselves as the whole support network.

Agree the boundaries before paying

Ask for a written agreement covering:

  • Session fees, deposits, cancellations, travel, activities and any charges for messages or accompanied time.
  • What contact is available between sessions, response times and what happens overnight.
  • What notes are kept, where they are stored, who can see them and when information may be shared.
  • The limits of confidentiality, including the local rules or policies for immediate serious danger, abuse, neglect or other safeguarding concerns.
  • The crisis and return-to-use plan, including who the coach contacts and when clinical or emergency help takes over.
  • Dual relationships, gifts, loans, transport, social media, family contact and how either person can end the arrangement.

Privacy promises should be precise, not “everything stays between us” without exceptions. Safeguarding duties and privacy law vary, so a coach should explain the rules that apply to their setting rather than improvising during a crisis.

Questions to ask — and red flags

Ask: What training, current credential, supervision and insurance do you have? How do you use lived experience without making my recovery copy yours? What is outside your scope? How do you work with my therapist, sponsor, meetings and medical team? What would the first week look like? How do you handle a missed session, return to use, deteriorating mental health or a conflict of interest? Can I see the service agreement before paying?

Walk away from guarantees of sobriety, pressure to stop therapy or medication, vague qualifications, secrecy from the care team, sexual or romantic behaviour, borrowing or lending money, unexplained access to bank cards, punitive surveillance, large prepaid packages without fair exit terms, or a coach whose own conduct repeatedly contradicts what they prescribe.

If alcohol or drug use returns, use the agreed plan and read what to do after relapse. For overdose, severe withdrawal, seizure, immediate danger or risk of self-harm, use the urgent help guidance and seek emergency or medical care. A coach may help connect support, but is not the emergency service.