Difference Between Companion-Assisted Reintegration and 12-Step Sponsorship
Organizational Context: Where the sponsor serves as a representative of a voluntary, financially self-supported recovery mutual aid society, the companion does not.
Service Context: Where the sponsor-sponsee relationship occurs in relative isolation from professional helpers, the companion service relationship often occurs within the context of a treatment team and a formal treatment plan or recovery plan. Many decisions that are the sole purview of the sponsor (e.g., the number of individuals to work with at one time, the physical settings in which service activities occur, when to terminate the service relationship) might be dictated to the companion by the organization for which he or she works with.
Philosophical Framework: Where the sponsor provides support within a particular program of recovery, the companion provides recovery support across multiple religious, spiritual, and secular frameworks of recovery. The sponsor emphasizes the viability and superiority of the Twelve Step program as a framework for successful recovery (“It works if you work it”); the companion emphasizes a philosophy of choice that recognizes the legitimacy of multiple pathways of long-term recovery. The operational motto of the best companion’s is “recovery by any means necessary.” It matters little to them whether recovery is initiated without professional assistance (solo or natural recovery), with peer-assistance or professional treatment (affiliated or assisted recovery), or is initiated via peer and professional supports but maintained without such assistance (disengaged recovery) (White and Kurtz, 2005). The focus is on the goal, not the method.
The practical implications of this orientation are that the companion:
• conveys the legitimacy of multiple pathways to those with whom he or she serves,
• understands the language, catalytic metaphors11, and rituals reflected within these pathways,
• works to expand the variety of recovery support structures within the communities he or she serves, and
• develops collaborative relationships with the individuals and groups representing these pathways.
Scope of Those Served: Where the sponsor’s services are limited to those who have “a desire to stop drinking” and to those who have sought help within a local recovery support program, the companion serves a larger group of people, including those who may not yet have a desire to stop drinking and those who are seeking recovery but are opposed to participation in a particular recovery program. As a representative of a particular recovery program, the sponsor begins from the position of “If you want what we have…”. In contrast, the companion works with individuals who are not yet at that point or who may want it but continue to relapse. Where sponsors may terminate sponsorship of those who continue to relapse, the recovery coach continues to provide recovery priming under such circumstances. The companion engages clients prior to recovery initiation and prior to first contacts with mutual aid groups, continues those contacts even in the face of relapse, and sustains contact (via recovery check-ups) after some clients will have disengaged from active participation in mutual aid groups. In general, the companion role is much more assertive than the role of sponsor in engaging individuals whose character traits (including self-defeating styles of interacting with lay and professional helpers), problem complexities, and environmental obstacles to recovery pose significant challenges to recovery initiation.
Degree of Reciprocity and Power in the Service Relationship: Where the sponsor-sponsee relationship is based on a reciprocity of need (the sponsor is there in part to support his or her own sobriety), the companion has a fiduciary relationship with those he or she serves. Where there is minimal power differential in the sponsor-sponsee relationship (there are definite exceptions to this), there is at least moderate power differential in the companion service relationship. The long-term sponsorship relationship often evolves into an enduring friendship and a form of mutual sponsorship (AAWS, Inc, 1983, p. 25), but such sustained reciprocity is less appropriate in the companion service relationship. The vulnerability of persons served within the companion relationship is perhaps protected through the use of safeguards that are not present in the sponsor-sponsee relationship (e.g., informed consent, legally governed confidentiality, professional supervision, complaint and redress procedures).
Service Menu: Where the primary focus of the sponsor is on the use of Twelve Step Tools (personal story sharing, meetings, step work, literature, sober social activities), the companion works within a formal service continua and is educated to access a broader range of recovery-supportive services (education, employment, health care, housing, day care, transportation, counseling for co-occurring problems, etc.). AA is very clear on the singularity of purpose of the sponsor: “A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who helps the newcomer solve one problem: how to stay sober” (AAWS, Inc., 1983, p. 10).
Financial Remuneration: Where accepting money for sponsorship or other Twelve Step service work would be a violation of AA’s Eighth Tradition, companions may be provided on either a volunteer or paid basis.
Anonymity: Where personal anonymity is usually maintained in the sponsor’s interactions with outside agencies and the press that could potentially occur as part of his or her sponsorship activities, the companion has no such anonymity as a formal representative of the agency for whom he or she volunteers or works with. Companions may self-identify themselves as persons in recovery, but generally refrain from identifying themselves with a particular program of recovery at the level of press.
Policy Advocacy: Where policy advocacy in one’s role as a Twelve Step sponsor is prohibited by Tradition Ten, advocacy to access needed service and to address systems barriers to recovery initiation and maintenance are an expected part of the companions role.
Affiliation: Where brokering formal affiliations with other organizations as a sponsor is prohibited by Tradition Six, the companion may act on behalf of their agency/client to negotiate formal affiliations and collaborations with other organizations toward the goal of expanding local recovery support networks.
It can be seen from this review that significant differences exist between the roles of sponsor and recovery coach. These distinctions are important for several reasons.
1. Performing sponsorship functions (e.g., making a Twelve Step call as an AA member, meeting with sponsees) on time one is working as an companion is a violation of Twelve Step Traditions and professionally inappropriate (beyond the scope of most agency companion job descriptions and explicitly prohibited in many).
2. Performing sponsorship functions through the companion role could weaken local sponsorship practices and diminish community recovery support resources by replacing such natural support with the formal support of local treatment agencies.
3. Seeking reimbursement for sponsorship functions performed by a recovery companion is, at best, a poor stewardship of community resources and, at worst, fraud.
4. Role ambiguity and conflict resulting from a mixing of sponsorship and companion functions could inflict injury on clients/families, service workers, service agencies, and the community.
5. The companion role represents a form of connecting tissue between professional systems of care and indigenous communities of recovery and between professional helpers and sponsors; when those filling this role abandon this middle ground and move too far one direction or the other, that connecting function is lost (Bass & Calori, 2006).
11 Catalytic metaphors are concepts that spark breakthroughs in perception of self and the world at such a profound level that they incite change in beliefs, behavior, identity and relationships.
Source for distinctions outlined above -http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/pdf/recovery_symposium/SponsorRecoveryCoachAddictionCounselorWhite2006.pdf
Call - 323.804.5555 [email protected] Video Chat also available on Skype
Service Context: Where the sponsor-sponsee relationship occurs in relative isolation from professional helpers, the companion service relationship often occurs within the context of a treatment team and a formal treatment plan or recovery plan. Many decisions that are the sole purview of the sponsor (e.g., the number of individuals to work with at one time, the physical settings in which service activities occur, when to terminate the service relationship) might be dictated to the companion by the organization for which he or she works with.
Philosophical Framework: Where the sponsor provides support within a particular program of recovery, the companion provides recovery support across multiple religious, spiritual, and secular frameworks of recovery. The sponsor emphasizes the viability and superiority of the Twelve Step program as a framework for successful recovery (“It works if you work it”); the companion emphasizes a philosophy of choice that recognizes the legitimacy of multiple pathways of long-term recovery. The operational motto of the best companion’s is “recovery by any means necessary.” It matters little to them whether recovery is initiated without professional assistance (solo or natural recovery), with peer-assistance or professional treatment (affiliated or assisted recovery), or is initiated via peer and professional supports but maintained without such assistance (disengaged recovery) (White and Kurtz, 2005). The focus is on the goal, not the method.
The practical implications of this orientation are that the companion:
• conveys the legitimacy of multiple pathways to those with whom he or she serves,
• understands the language, catalytic metaphors11, and rituals reflected within these pathways,
• works to expand the variety of recovery support structures within the communities he or she serves, and
• develops collaborative relationships with the individuals and groups representing these pathways.
Scope of Those Served: Where the sponsor’s services are limited to those who have “a desire to stop drinking” and to those who have sought help within a local recovery support program, the companion serves a larger group of people, including those who may not yet have a desire to stop drinking and those who are seeking recovery but are opposed to participation in a particular recovery program. As a representative of a particular recovery program, the sponsor begins from the position of “If you want what we have…”. In contrast, the companion works with individuals who are not yet at that point or who may want it but continue to relapse. Where sponsors may terminate sponsorship of those who continue to relapse, the recovery coach continues to provide recovery priming under such circumstances. The companion engages clients prior to recovery initiation and prior to first contacts with mutual aid groups, continues those contacts even in the face of relapse, and sustains contact (via recovery check-ups) after some clients will have disengaged from active participation in mutual aid groups. In general, the companion role is much more assertive than the role of sponsor in engaging individuals whose character traits (including self-defeating styles of interacting with lay and professional helpers), problem complexities, and environmental obstacles to recovery pose significant challenges to recovery initiation.
Degree of Reciprocity and Power in the Service Relationship: Where the sponsor-sponsee relationship is based on a reciprocity of need (the sponsor is there in part to support his or her own sobriety), the companion has a fiduciary relationship with those he or she serves. Where there is minimal power differential in the sponsor-sponsee relationship (there are definite exceptions to this), there is at least moderate power differential in the companion service relationship. The long-term sponsorship relationship often evolves into an enduring friendship and a form of mutual sponsorship (AAWS, Inc, 1983, p. 25), but such sustained reciprocity is less appropriate in the companion service relationship. The vulnerability of persons served within the companion relationship is perhaps protected through the use of safeguards that are not present in the sponsor-sponsee relationship (e.g., informed consent, legally governed confidentiality, professional supervision, complaint and redress procedures).
Service Menu: Where the primary focus of the sponsor is on the use of Twelve Step Tools (personal story sharing, meetings, step work, literature, sober social activities), the companion works within a formal service continua and is educated to access a broader range of recovery-supportive services (education, employment, health care, housing, day care, transportation, counseling for co-occurring problems, etc.). AA is very clear on the singularity of purpose of the sponsor: “A sponsor is simply a sober alcoholic who helps the newcomer solve one problem: how to stay sober” (AAWS, Inc., 1983, p. 10).
Financial Remuneration: Where accepting money for sponsorship or other Twelve Step service work would be a violation of AA’s Eighth Tradition, companions may be provided on either a volunteer or paid basis.
Anonymity: Where personal anonymity is usually maintained in the sponsor’s interactions with outside agencies and the press that could potentially occur as part of his or her sponsorship activities, the companion has no such anonymity as a formal representative of the agency for whom he or she volunteers or works with. Companions may self-identify themselves as persons in recovery, but generally refrain from identifying themselves with a particular program of recovery at the level of press.
Policy Advocacy: Where policy advocacy in one’s role as a Twelve Step sponsor is prohibited by Tradition Ten, advocacy to access needed service and to address systems barriers to recovery initiation and maintenance are an expected part of the companions role.
Affiliation: Where brokering formal affiliations with other organizations as a sponsor is prohibited by Tradition Six, the companion may act on behalf of their agency/client to negotiate formal affiliations and collaborations with other organizations toward the goal of expanding local recovery support networks.
It can be seen from this review that significant differences exist between the roles of sponsor and recovery coach. These distinctions are important for several reasons.
1. Performing sponsorship functions (e.g., making a Twelve Step call as an AA member, meeting with sponsees) on time one is working as an companion is a violation of Twelve Step Traditions and professionally inappropriate (beyond the scope of most agency companion job descriptions and explicitly prohibited in many).
2. Performing sponsorship functions through the companion role could weaken local sponsorship practices and diminish community recovery support resources by replacing such natural support with the formal support of local treatment agencies.
3. Seeking reimbursement for sponsorship functions performed by a recovery companion is, at best, a poor stewardship of community resources and, at worst, fraud.
4. Role ambiguity and conflict resulting from a mixing of sponsorship and companion functions could inflict injury on clients/families, service workers, service agencies, and the community.
5. The companion role represents a form of connecting tissue between professional systems of care and indigenous communities of recovery and between professional helpers and sponsors; when those filling this role abandon this middle ground and move too far one direction or the other, that connecting function is lost (Bass & Calori, 2006).
11 Catalytic metaphors are concepts that spark breakthroughs in perception of self and the world at such a profound level that they incite change in beliefs, behavior, identity and relationships.
Source for distinctions outlined above -http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/pdf/recovery_symposium/SponsorRecoveryCoachAddictionCounselorWhite2006.pdf
Call - 323.804.5555 [email protected] Video Chat also available on Skype