Addiction Recovery Coaching: Training & Certification Guide

Addiction recovery coaching is a form of peer support for people in or seeking recovery from substance use disorders. As a recovery coach, you walk alongside someone during one of the most difficult transitions of their life. You help them set goals, build accountability structures, navigate the recovery support system, and develop the life skills needed to sustain long-term recovery.

You are not a therapist. You are not an addiction counselor. You do not diagnose, treat, or provide clinical interventions. What you do provide is something clinicians often cannot: lived understanding, practical guidance, and consistent, nonjudgmental support from someone who genuinely gets it.

Recovery coaching is rooted in the belief that recovery is possible for everyone, and that peer support — someone who has navigated their own recovery or understands the process deeply — can be a decisive factor in whether a person sustains it. The Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) has been a leading force in professionalizing this role, establishing training standards and credential pathways that have shaped the field nationally.

If you're drawn to coaching work that involves vulnerable populations and meaningful, life-or-death impact, this niche may be right for you. But it demands more than good intentions. It demands rigorous ethical boundaries, ongoing training, and honest self-awareness about your own readiness to hold space for people in crisis.

This is the most important distinction in this entire field, and getting it wrong puts vulnerable people at risk. Recovery coaching and addiction counseling are not the same thing. They serve different functions, require different training, and operate under different legal and ethical frameworks.

What recovery coaches DO: Provide peer support and mentoring. Help clients identify and pursue recovery goals. Connect people to community resources — housing, employment, mutual aid groups, social services. Offer accountability and encouragement. Share relevant lived experience when appropriate. Help build daily routines and recovery capital.

What recovery coaches do NOT do: Diagnose substance use disorders or co-occurring mental health conditions. Provide addiction counseling or psychotherapy. Develop clinical treatment plans. Prescribe or manage medications. Conduct clinical assessments. Make medical decisions of any kind.

Clinical addiction treatment — the kind that involves assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention — requires licensure. Depending on the state, that means credentials like the Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC), Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), or similar designations. These require graduate-level education, supervised clinical hours, and state licensing exams.

Recovery coaching, by contrast, is a nonclinical peer support role. You work alongside the clinical system, not inside it. You may collaborate with a client's treatment team, but you do not replace any member of it. If you want to understand how coaching differs from clinical practice more broadly, see our guide on life coaching vs. therapy.

This boundary is not a technicality. People in early recovery are medically and psychologically vulnerable. Overstepping your scope — even with the best intentions — can cause real harm. Every credible recovery coach training program emphasizes this point heavily, and for good reason.

The Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) offers the Recovery Coach Professional (RCP) credential, one of the most recognized recovery coaching credentials in the United States. CCAR has been training recovery coaches since 2000 and has shaped how the field is practiced nationally.

RCP requirements — 60 hours of specialized training:

• Recovery Coach Academy (CCAR's foundational training covering recovery coaching principles, skills, and practice)
• Ethical Considerations for Recovery Coaches (dedicated ethics training addressing boundaries, dual relationships, confidentiality, and scope of practice)
• 14 additional hours of CCAR-approved elective training
• An interview with CCAR leaders as part of the credentialing process

Who can pursue the RCP: One of the most distinctive features of the RCP credential is its accessibility. It is available to anyone — people in recovery, family members of people in recovery, and allies with no personal recovery experience. There is no prerequisite recovery time requirement. CCAR's philosophy is that effective recovery support can come from multiple perspectives, not exclusively from people with lived experience of addiction.

This open-access approach sets the RCP apart from some state peer specialist certifications, which may require documented personal recovery history. Whether you have lived experience or not, the RCP pathway evaluates your competence through training and an interview process, not through biographical prerequisites.

The training is practical and scenario-based. You will learn how to have difficult conversations, how to handle situations where a client relapses, how to set boundaries without damaging the relationship, and how to connect people with services they may not know exist. If you're comparing this to other coaching certifications, the RCP is narrowly focused on addiction recovery support rather than general life coaching competencies.

The CCAR RCP is not the only credential path for recovery coaching. Several other options exist, and the landscape varies significantly by state.

State-specific Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) credentials. Many states have established their own peer specialist or peer recovery support certifications. In Connecticut, the CT-PRS (Connecticut Peer Recovery Specialist) is a state-recognized credential. Other states have similar designations — names vary (Peer Recovery Coach, Peer Support Specialist, Certified Recovery Support Practitioner), but the function is similar. These credentials are often tied to Medicaid reimbursement, meaning organizations can bill for peer services delivered by credentialed staff.

NAADAC peer support credentials. The National Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) offers the National Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (NCPRSS). This is a national-level credential that may complement or substitute for state-specific certifications depending on your state's requirements.

State Medicaid requirements. If you plan to work for an organization that bills Medicaid for peer recovery services, check your state's specific credentialing requirements. Medicaid-billable peer services typically require a state-approved credential, not just a training certificate. The credential requirements, approved training programs, and supervision mandates vary by state.

For a broader view of coaching credentials, including ICF certifications for general coaching practice, see our certifications overview.

Recovery coaching attracts people from several distinct backgrounds, each bringing different strengths to the work.

People in long-term recovery. This is the most common pathway. You've navigated your own recovery and want to help others do the same. Lived experience gives you credibility and understanding that no textbook can replicate. But it also means you need to be honest about your own recovery stability. If your own recovery isn't on solid ground, supporting others through theirs can be destabilizing — for both of you.

Family members and loved ones. If you've been affected by a family member's substance use disorder, you understand the impact of addiction from a different but equally valid perspective. Family members often bring deep empathy and an understanding of how recovery affects entire households, not just the individual in recovery.

Allied professionals. Social workers, counselors, nurses, community health workers, and other professionals sometimes pursue recovery coach training to expand their skill set or to transition into peer support work. If you're already in a clinical role, adding recovery coaching skills can deepen your understanding of the peer support model.

Community advocates and allies. Some people are drawn to this work through community organizing, faith communities, or social justice work without personal or family experience of addiction. CCAR's RCP credential is explicitly open to allies, recognizing that effective peer support can come from people who care deeply about the recovery community without having lived the experience themselves.

Regardless of your background, what matters most is your ability to meet people where they are without judgment, maintain clear boundaries, and stay grounded when the work gets emotionally demanding — because it will.

Recovery coaches work across a range of settings. The work environment you choose will shape your daily experience, your income, and your relationship with the clinical system.

Community recovery organizations. Recovery community organizations (RCOs) are among the most common employers of recovery coaches. These nonprofit organizations are often peer-led and provide a range of recovery support services. Many CCAR-trained coaches begin their careers in RCO settings. Positions are frequently funded through state and federal grants, particularly SAMHSA block grants.

Treatment centers and behavioral health agencies. Residential treatment programs, outpatient clinics, and behavioral health organizations increasingly hire recovery coaches to complement clinical staff. In these settings, you work as part of a multidisciplinary team — your role is peer support and recovery planning, while clinicians handle assessment, diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention. Boundaries are critical here, because you're operating inside a clinical system without being a clinician.

Hospitals and emergency departments. Some hospital systems have embedded recovery coach programs, particularly in emergency departments. When someone presents with an overdose or substance-related crisis, a recovery coach connects with them during or shortly after the medical intervention — offering immediate peer support and helping them access treatment or recovery services. These hospital-based programs have expanded significantly in response to the opioid crisis.

Criminal justice settings. Drug courts, reentry programs, and probation/parole departments sometimes employ recovery coaches to support individuals transitioning out of the criminal justice system. This work requires understanding both the recovery process and the legal constraints your clients are navigating.

Private practice. Some recovery coaches build independent practices, offering one-on-one peer support on a fee-for-service basis. Private practice recovery coaching is less common than in other coaching niches, partly because the target population often faces financial barriers, and partly because many recovery coaching services are delivered through grant-funded organizations. If you're considering private practice, see our guide on starting a coaching business for the operational fundamentals.

Let's be straightforward: addiction recovery coaching is not a high-income niche compared to specializations like executive coaching. If your primary motivation is earning potential, this is not the field for you.

Private practice rates: Recovery coaches in private practice typically charge $50-$150 per hour. This range is lower than most other coaching niches, reflecting both the financial constraints of the client population and the field's roots in community-based, peer-driven support.

Organizational employment: Many recovery coach positions are salaried roles within community organizations, treatment centers, or health systems. These positions are frequently funded through grants — federal (SAMHSA), state, or local — which means job stability can depend on funding cycles. Salaries vary widely by region and organization, but expect ranges typical of human services positions rather than clinical roles.

Medicaid reimbursement: In states that have approved peer recovery services for Medicaid billing, organizations can bill for services delivered by credentialed peer specialists. This has created a more sustainable funding model for recovery coaching positions in some states, though reimbursement rates are modest.

The people who thrive in this work are driven by mission, not money. That said, mission doesn't pay rent. If you're entering this field, have a realistic financial plan. Some recovery coaches supplement their income with related work — facilitating training workshops, leading recovery support groups, or combining recovery coaching with other coaching or peer support certifications.

Ethics in recovery coaching deserve more than a checkbox. The population you're working with is vulnerable. Many of your clients will be in early recovery, dealing with co-occurring mental health conditions, navigating unstable housing or employment, and managing relationships damaged by substance use. The ethical stakes are high.

Scope of practice. This bears repeating: you are not a counselor, therapist, or clinician. If a client presents with symptoms of a mental health crisis, suicidal ideation, or a medical emergency, your job is to connect them with the appropriate professional — not to manage the situation yourself. Knowing when and how to refer is a core competency, not a sign of inadequacy.

Dual relationships. Recovery coaching often exists in small communities where everyone knows each other. You may be asked to coach someone you know from mutual aid meetings, recovery housing, or community events. Dual relationships are unavoidable in some cases, but they require careful management. CCAR's Ethical Considerations training addresses this directly.

Confidentiality. Recovery carries stigma. Your clients are trusting you with information that could affect their employment, custody arrangements, housing, and relationships. Treat confidentiality as sacred. Understand the limits of confidentiality (mandatory reporting, duty to warn) and communicate those limits clearly to every client from the start.

Self-disclosure. If you have lived experience, how much do you share? There's no universal answer. Strategic self-disclosure — sharing relevant parts of your story to build trust and model recovery — can be powerful. But oversharing, using sessions to process your own experiences, or centering your story over the client's needs crosses a line. Your recovery story is a tool, not the point of the relationship.

Your own recovery maintenance. If you're a person in recovery, working closely with people in active addiction or early recovery can be triggering. You need a plan for maintaining your own recovery while doing this work — supervision, peer support of your own, clear work-life boundaries, and honest self-assessment. Burnout and compassion fatigue are real risks in this field. Take them seriously.

For a broader discussion of how coaching differs from clinical practice, see our guide on life coaching vs. therapy.