As National Recovery Month wraps up, Swampscott is preparing to launch a recovery coach academy in October.

September is recognized as National Recovery Month, aimed at promoting and supporting evidence-based treatment and recovery practices. The observance started in 1989 and has since worked to celebrate the gains made by those in recovery from substance use disorders. 

This year’s theme is “Recovery is REAL (Restoring Every Aspect of Life,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The theme emphasizes that with the right treatment, support, and resources, recovery is possible.

“It’s going to be so educational and supportive,” said Michelle Simons, Swampscott Health Department’s opioid settlement funds program contractor and program support specialist. “I think the recovery coach academy is going to be a breakthrough of the stigma.”

The free recovery coach training is part of a regional collaboration between Swampscott, Marblehead, and Salem, funded through the towns’ combined opioid abatement funds. Courses will take place at the Swampscott Police Department on October 7, 8, 14 and 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Trainees will complete the first 30 hours of the 60-hour educational requirement needed to apply for certification as a Massachusetts Addiction Recovery Coach. The following 30 hours will be provided at a later date or given opportunities to take elsewhere. 

The program, Teach to Reach, works to assist allies and those with lived experiences become trained as recovery coaches and create a path to become certified recovery coaches. 

Simons, who is approaching her 25th year in recovery, said it’s essential that people with lived experience have their voices heard.

“What got me into recovery was other people that have done this before me,” Simons said. “They understand it. However, their voices were valued amongst each other but not in a clinical medical world.”

Over the past few years, the concept of recovery coaching started to emerge. When the opioid abatement settlement money came about for substance use prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery support, towns and cities started hiring people in recovery to run areas of the addiction services. 

“This peer recovery movement really started to take hold in about 2008,” Simons said. “It’s this concept that ‘nothing about us without us.’”

Simons called the program an “art,” where core coaching skills are taught, but individuals can draw on their personalities to connect with and support people in different situations. The program is hands-on and allows people to practice how they’re going to talk to someone in a situation. 

The more grassroots approach allows for a different approach than counseling. 

“We’re not going to sit in an office and talk about your past,” Simons said. “It’s building on people’s strengths. It’s meeting a person where they’re at, whether they’re interested in recovery or not, keeping the door open, building a trusting relationship.”

Simons now works in Swampscott and can be reached at 781-596-8864 x1282 or by email at osfprogramcontractor@gmail.com for anyone seeking support or treatment. She also hosts virtual office hours that can be found on the town website. She supports individuals struggling not only with opioid use but also with other substance use disorders. Simons noted that the majority of people who reach out for support are dealing with alcohol use.

“The stigma with opioids and with harder drugs is they’re in a town like Swampscott, where I think people tend to keep it quiet and go to a family doctor or maybe even an outside doctor to get the support they’re looking for,” Simons said. “So I don’t know how big the opioid problem is in Swampscott. I see overdose statistics from Lynn, and occasionally there will be somebody from Swampscott on there.”

While Simons attends a high risk substance use mental health meeting monthly, she said the data is not specifically focused on Swampscott but this can be another reason recovery coaching is so necessary.

“It helps people have the hard conversations,” Simons said. “They get tons of resources. They get connected to the recovery community. They know exactly what to do now when they do encounter someone.”