Recovery Companion Support Services
To be a leader in the fields of Addiction and Behavioral Health Treatment by setting the standard for how recovery companion services are provided and giving companions the support, structure, and supervision they need to help people on the first steps of their journey.
Many years ago when recovery companion work started, there was no formalized training. A companion was lucky to get work. A few individuals monopolized the market, some of whom were not in recovery themselves and had neither training nor personal experience with the challenges clients face.
When a recovering person was fortunate enough to get a ‘gig’ as a companion, they were thrown into the field with a newly recovering addict just out of treatment; both client and companion were fending for themselves and trying to find their way together. While this sometimes created a tremendous bonding opportunity, it would often end in disaster because the companion had no support.
The role of the person booking the job for the companion was simply that—just booking the job. Companions would be in foreign cities, at odd hours of the night, with little to no structured support.Too often the person booking the jobs felt no responsibility for guidance – or outcome. Recovery companions longed for accountability and support. As a result, some companions started working with one another, talking to each other, and reaching out to more experienced clinicians in order to get the support they needed.
Eventually some of those companions started mentoring, helping, and booking jobs for other companions. The role of a recovery companion supervisor was organically created and, from that, Post Treatment Services was born. PTS operates under an assumption: the role of one person who has been through the early stages of recovery helping another person during those same stages is, to use a phrase from recovery literature, “without parallel”.
The only thing better is when that experienced recovering individual has someone standing by, familiar with the case on the other end of the phone to assist, support, and supervise them through each step of the transition and journey. Recovery companions working with PTS are not working alone. Every member of the PTS team gets the opportunity to watch what happens when newly recovering people receive a few words of encouragement from someone who has been there.
Our support staff and companions get to see when the light comes on and magic shines through to someone who might not have stayed clean. Today, our vision is a reality. Everyone at PTS works as a team, from re-framing a stressful situation for someone in crisis to getting a client safely from point A to B. Through this collective, multi-disciplinary work we make client success possible. Having someone walk side-by-side, a new person in recovery can avoid relapse or re-traumatization and begin to thrive.
Meet the team at Post Treatment Services:
As one 12-step fellowship states, “The therapeutic value of one addict helping another is without parallel.” Recovery from addiction and the effects of family mental illness began in 1985 for Joann and she has maintained her own personal recovery since 1990. During this..
Dr. Donna Markus has worked in the addiction treatment field since 1976. During a career spanning over 4 decades she has served in a variety of capacities at facilities ranging from non-profit, state funded, to private treatment centers. She has functioned as Executive..
Lori Cerasoli has been on the vanguard of our field since its inception. Her first assignment as a sober companion came in 1988: as far as we know, she was the first female sober companion. Lori began working in the field of recovery in 1983, working her..
Carrie Ray wears many hats: she is a singer, a music teacher and a mom as well as an office manager. Her experience balancing many elements in a composition shows in her ability to keep the many elements of Post Treatment Services operating in harmony…
We can talk to you, your team, or family to determine the best fit and needs for you or your client.