Recovery Services
Does the Pursuit of Ever More Leave You Feeling Never Enough?
Life addictions and substance use can disconnect us from reality, at a great personal cost. Genesis Recovery Coaching can help you become the agent of your own transformation and reclaim manageability and serenity in your life.
I want to take a step toward reclaiming my life today.
Welcome to Genesis Recovery Coaching
We all desire reward, relief, and escape. For some of us, at different times in our lives, the way we do this becomes problematic. That’s the time to take an honest look at ourselves, accept help, and take the leap towards becoming healthy again.
As a recovery coach, my desire is to offer support to those who are beginning, continuing, or recommitting to their recovery. My approach is based upon mutual respect and inclusivity, authenticity, empathetic listening, the exchange of perspective, compassion, accountability, and curiosity.
Perhaps you recognize habits beginning to have a detrimental effect on your life. Maybe your motivation is external, as you seek to maintain a marriage, relationship, or career. Perhaps you’ve completed a treatment program and are looking for support and accountability during the next stage of your recovery. Genesis Recovery Coaching is here to provide you with that assistance.
Fear of the unknown can be a powerful barrier. We are often concerned that we will be judged for our problems. Shame, denial, and cognitive distortion prevent us from facing our challenges head on. The hardest aspect of recovery is facing our own truth. As your coach, we will walk this exploration together.
Genesis Recovery Coaching is a Calgary-based service, able to offer virtual coaching as well across Canada.
Alan has been CCAR trained through Still Here. He is a professional member of CACCF (Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation) and a recovery coach trainer for Optimal Recovery Coaching Associates Inc.
He coaches clients seeking a healthier life beyond substance use, living (behavioral addictions) and at-risk alcohol use.
About Our Process
I personally respond to all inquiries and offer a free virtual 30-minute consultation. During this consultation I will seek to understand where you are and what you are looking for. I will provide clarity about what I can offer, explain pricing options, and answer any questions you have.
If the decision is made to proceed, we will typically hold weekly 60-minute Zoom sessions. After creating a relationship, we’ll establish goals.
Between sessions you’ll be provided with feedback to help track your progress, celebrate your wins and chart the path forward. Communication between meetings is available.
Our period of collaboration could range from 6 weeks to several years. Self-efficacy is the ultimate goal.
Packages:
6 1-hour sessions $600 (if prepaid); or
$125 per individual session
I’m ready to engage help and chart a path to a better life.
Trust is essential in creating inclusive, generative recovery relationships.
As someone who walks the talk of recovery, I offer you a relationship of equals.
I understand the need for open mindedness, safety and empathy. I appreciate the power of connection based on shared lived experiences. I know that pathway of pain and chaos.
I will:
- Honour your uniqueness, your lived experience, needs, perspectives, values, behaviours, and beliefs.
- Create a nonjudgmental safe space in which you can be honest, vulnerable, and empowered to take risks.
- Respect your privacy, providing confidentiality and discretion in all matters of the relationship.
- Offer perspective and feedback, especially when actions and behaviours seem unaligned with stated goals.
- Introduce coaching tools to enhance your own self-discovery and learning.
- Provide linkages to resources and community assets that support your recovery and goals.
- Empower self determination and the development of self efficacy.
- Support your personal accountability.
Coaching in the LGBT+ Community
Rates of substance use and addiction in our community are substantially higher than those of many groups. (Estimates as high as 30% versus 9% in population as a whole). Discrimination, stigma, undefined sense of self and co-occurring disorders are but a few of the exacerbating factors we face. Where do we turn? Where do we seek help? Those were questions I also faced.
My personal lived experience lies in identifying as a cis-gender gay male and in becoming trapped in sexual compulsivity, substance use and pornography. Some of you may relate to the culture of Party and Play. This was a gradual entrenchment for me and simply became part of my lifestyle. I do not judge what this is. However, I can state that for me it became problematic and then severe, and I had to seek help.
I fully appreciate that sexuality and sex is a complicated exploration of self. Oftentimes what is healthy and what is not is a complex path to navigate. For me, my behaviours and practices became self harming and destructive. The consequences of my actions and decisions eluded me. In moments of clarity, I promised myself and others I would change, yet I found myself repeating the same destructive patterns. Shame drove me back into isolation. I truly felt I could not talk to anyone about this.
I have fought, and continue to fight, external stigma and personal shame, while creating a life that makes sense for me. There are no simple answers or solutions, but connection to community and resources provide great hope. Today I love and value myself. I thrive within many "communities". I continue to build healthy, reciprocal relationships. I have found inner peace with myself and those around me. And I get to give back and help others thrive.
As an LGBT+ coach, I can walk beside you in this conversation and exploration of self, with a relatability others from outside may not be able to provide. I can link you with empowering supports. I can sit with you in an environment of compassion and inclusiveness.
What Our Clients Say
Pathways to Recovery:
From Abstinence to Harm Reduction
You are the agent of your own change and your recovery must reflect your own life, goals, and personality. While abstinence is a desired outcome for many, harm reduction may be an approach more attainable for others. Part of the process is discovering the pathways which best support your priorities.
Identifying Addictions
Addictions take many forms. By the time we identify them, or admit their presence, they may already be holding us back, prohibiting us from living the life we want to lead. They are characterized by substance use or compulsive actions that continue and despite negative and harmful consequences, we are unable to stop. They often occur in conjunction with one another, compounding the complexity, clouding our judgment, and hampering our recovery.
Sex Addiction
Sex addiction or sexually addictive behaviours is becoming more recognized. While other dependencies are openly addressed, sex addiction remains stigmatized. Exploring sexuality is rightly considered an ideal, which makes it difficult to know when our sexual behaviour has become problematic and self harming. Sex addiction can manifest itself in many possible ways: pornography, sexual compulsivity, sexual fantasy and obsession, image seeking, internet hook-up sites, massage parlors, affairs and sexual risk taking. These activities and behaviours become more intense and progressive overtime. They will often co-exist with alcohol and substance use.
Substance Use
Prescription drugs and other substances use can consume our lives, causing or exacerbating mental and physical health problems. Oftentimes we consume with members of our social circles, making it difficult to know where to turn when we suspect that things may be getting out of hand. Access to resources and support are a critical part of a successful and sustained recovery.
Technology Addiction
Technology has become increasingly prevalent in our lives, affording many of us the opportunity to learn, connect, and earn a living. Unfortunately games, chat boards, and social media have the potential to overrun our lives when we lose perspective. If you find yourself abandoning responsibilities or ignoring loved ones, it may be time to examine your relationship with technology.
If these or other life addictions are becoming problematic in your life, Genesis Recovery Coaching can help.
