The Power of the Recovery Coach Approach: A Life-Changing Phone Call

The ringing phone pierced an otherwise soundless summer night last month, and reluctantly, I reached for it.

The work days were long, and the required rest was way too infrequent.

“Kevin, it’s Austin (a pseudonym I’ll use to protect his identity for these purposes).

He was calling from Jacksonville, Florida, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out who this was.

“I’m back with my family, and I want to take you bass fishing if you can make it down here.”

This conversation was jogging my memory.

Austin was homeless in Jacksonville a month and a half ago and was drinking too much rum, even for his own liking.

He found me on Google and called.

He was homeless and clearly unable to pay for a recovery coach, but we chatted for about 40 minutes. He, detailing his despair and me, bringing him the best version of recovery coaching I could muster.
At the time, I asked him about his family, about his drinking, and our shared love of fishing.

He was calling me this late at night to thank me. He was sober, back with his family, and celebrating new possibilities for his life.

We had initially talked for less than an hour.

Forty minutes.

But, as far as he was concerned, that was enough to prompt him to make a difficult change in his life.

This is just one case in point in the power of the coach approach. And contact doesn’t have to be long for real change to occur.

I think about Austin every time the phone rings late at night.

Stories like Austin’s and several others mean more to me than any financial gain.

It reminds me that the recovery coach approach is unspeakably potent and capable of sparking immense change.

Austin will remember me for quite some time—he calls me to remind me of that.

And I’ll never forget him.