MRC Coach Spotlight: Chelsey McBreairty
Recovery coaches play a crucial role in the process of helping individuals living with substance use disorder navigate their road to recovery. Each month, we are shining a light on a member of Healthy Acadia’s Maine Recovery Core (MRC) team, and we invite you to join us in celebrating the hard work and dedication that these recovery coaches bring to our community, the people they support, and Healthy Acadia. This month, the MRC Coach Spotlight is on Chelsey McBreairty!
Chelsey McBreairty
Chelsey is a Maine Recovery Core Intern and Recovery Coach in Washington County with Healthy Acadia and the Coordinator at the Downeast Recovery Center through AMHC. Over the past two years, Chelsey's unwavering dedication and determination have made her an invaluable asset to the community and a shining example of what it means to go above and beyond.
Chelsey is known for taking the initiative to start projects, including establishing of a FREE produce program at the Downeast Recovery Center. Recognizing the increasing food insecurity in the county, Chelsey devised a comprehensive plan to make fresh fruits and vegetables accessible to everyone, regardless of income. This initiative has had a profound impact, providing nutritional support to community members during these challenging times.
Beyond food security, Chelsey has also contributed to the well-being of local children by creating a clothing closet at the recovery center. Collaborating with the Machias Youth group, she has effectively managed and organized the closet, ensuring that children in need have access to essential clothing items. Through these projects, Chelsey is not just a Recovery Coach; she's a community builder with a heart for making positive and lasting change.
Her positive attitude shines through no matter what obstacles are thrown her way. Her strength and tenacity are just two amazing qualities she holds that have only helped her to grow into the exemplary Recovery Coach that she has become.
Thank you, Chelsey, for being a source of inspiration and support for our community through Maine Recovery Core!
Recovery Coaches Play a Critical Role
Recovery coaches offer individualized, holistic, and ongoing support to individuals in all stages of recovery. Recovery Coaches offer:
Support and Empathy
Recovery coaches provide a non-judgmental and empathetic presence for individuals in all stages of recovery. They understand the challenges and struggles associated with addiction because many coaches have personally experienced recovery. This empathy is invaluable in helping individuals feel understood and not alone in their journey.
Personalized Guidance
Recovery coaches work one-on-one with individuals, offering personalized guidance and support. They help those seeking recovery set achievable goals, create recovery plans, and navigate the complex path to sobriety. These plans often address physical, emotional, and social aspects of immediate and long-term recovery.
Relapse Prevention
Coaches are trained to recognize the signs of potential relapse and can intervene to help prevent it. They work one-on-one with individuals to develop coping strategies, stress management techniques, and problem-solving skills to deal with triggers and temptations.
Access to Resources
Recovery coaches are well-connected to local support services and resources. They can connect recoverees with treatment programs, therapy, support groups, social supports, and other essential services that aid in recovery. This network can make a significant difference in an individual's success in maintaining sobriety.
Accountability
Coaches provide accountability and motivation. Recoverees meet with their coaches regularly, which can encourage consistency in following a recovery plan and reduce the chances of relapse.
Building Self-Esteem and Confidence
Navigating the complex and often difficult road to recovery can have negative impacts on individual self-esteem and confidence. Recovery coaches can aid individuals in regaining their self-worth and a sense of accomplishment as they reach milestones in their recovery journey.
A Bridge Between Clinical Care and Real Life
Coaches act as a bridge between clinical treatment and the real world. They support individuals as they transition from structured treatment programs back into their daily lives, teaching them how to apply the skills they've learned in treatment to real-world situations.
Reducing Stigma
Recovery coaches work to reduce the stigma associated with substance addiction. They promote understanding and compassion, aiming to shift the perspective of addiction as a moral failing to a treatable health condition.
Long-Term Support
Recovery is an ongoing process. Recovery coaches can provide long-term support, even after formal treatment has ended, helping individuals maintain their sobriety over the years.
Cost-Effective
Utilizing peer recovery coaches can be a cost-effective approach to substance use disorder treatment. By preventing relapses and connecting individuals to appropriate resources, they can reduce the burden on the healthcare system and save both money and lives.
Healthy Acadia houses two large and highly integrated coaching systems. Maine Alliance for Recovery Coaching (Maine-ARC) and Maine Recovery Core. Maine-ARC provides training, supervision, technical assistance, and funding for six recovery coach coordinators. Each coordinator supports a full system of recovery coaching and the coaches in their region.
Maine Recovery Core (MRC) offers recovery coaching positions as paid internships. MRC interns offer direct peer support at a variety of partner sites, with the aim to improve recovery success among individuals facing substance use disorders. Working closely together, both of these programs span Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo, and Washington counties, and are funded by the Maine Office of Behavioral Health.