Questions
How is this different from therapy?
A therapist is licensed, trained to treat mental health conditions, and can diagnose. I am none of those things. What I have is lived experience of recovery and training in peer support. Coaching is practical and forward-looking; therapy goes places coaching should not. Plenty of people do both, and they do different jobs.
Do I have to be sober to start?
No. Where you are is where we start.
Do you meet in person or online?
Either. In person on the Front Range, or online anywhere in Colorado. In person is better when it can happen; online beats a meeting you skip because of a drive. Most people end up doing some of both.
I am looking for someone for my son, daughter, or partner. Can you help?
Often, yes — and it is worth knowing up front that the person themselves has to want the conversation. I cannot make someone engage, and a coach arranged over somebody's head rarely goes anywhere. What I can do is talk it through with you first. See the page for families.
Do you work with families directly?
Sometimes. Whether it is a fit depends on what you are looking for, and that is a conversation rather than a policy.
Is this confidential?
Between us, with limits you should know in advance: if I believe someone is in immediate danger I will act on it, I will report anything the law requires me to report, and peer coaching does not carry the legal privilege that therapy does — my notes could be subpoenaed. All of it is in the written agreement before anything starts.
What if I am in crisis?
Use 988, or 911 if it is an emergency. I am one person with a calendar, not a crisis service, and I am not reachable at any hour. That is a real limit rather than a disclaimer.
Can you recommend a treatment centre or a sober living?
No, and not because I am being unhelpful. I do not refer anyone to a specific facility, program, or sober living, and I do not accept anything of value from any of them. If you want to understand what a level of care means as a category, I will happily explain it. Naming a business is where I stop.
Do you take insurance?
No. This is a cash-pay practice.
Will this work?
I do not know, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What I can describe is what happens, not what results.
Peer recovery coaching is not therapy, counseling, or medical care. It does not diagnose, treat, prescribe, or provide psychotherapy or medical advice, and it is not an emergency service.