What is a Recovery Coach?

A Psychosocial Recovery Coach (recovery coach) supports people with a psychosocial disability who require support in managing complex challenges of daily living.

We promote and facilitate your social and economic independence and participation through the provision of capacity building supports.

A recovery coach will focus on helping you to have greater participation in managing your life and will collaborate with other services to support and underpin these outcomes.

A recovery coach will work collaboratively with you, your family, carers and other services to design, plan and implement a recovery plan, and assist with the coordination of supports.

What is ‘recovery’?

The NDIA defines recovery as ‘achieving an optimal state of personal, social and emotional wellbeing, as defined by each individual, whilst living with or recovering from a mental health condition.’

Recovery coaches can facilitate these positive outcomes for increased wellbeing and quality of life.

What is a psychosocial disability?

The NDIS Commission defines psychosocial disability as:

‘A mental health issue that affects people’s daily activities such as socialising or interacting with others in a social setting, learning or self-care, or their capacity to fully participate in society’.

Some of the specific disorders include:

schizophrenia
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
bi-polar disorder
severe and persistent anxiety and depression.

People experiencing these issues may have substantially reduced functional capacity (ability to undertake) any of the following:

communication
social interaction
learning
mobility
self-care
self-management
social and economic participation.

Who can be a recovery coach?

A recovery coach may be:

someone with a lived experience (called a lived experience recovery coach), or
someone with learned experience and knowledge of psychosocial disability and mental health,

Recovery coaches must have:

tertiary qualifications in peer work or mental health (minimum of Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work or Certificate IV in Mental Health OR equivalent training
AND / OR
a minimum two years of experience in mental health-related work

What is a Recovery Plan?

A recovery plan should:

build on, clarify, and break down goals into short-term objectives
identify strengths and barriers
enable the person to identify areas of life where they have choice and areas of life where they have no choice
identify key contacts in your life and their ability to support you
map the identified goals with available and potential resources and services
identify early signs that may require changes in supports and identify how supports can be adjusted to meet fluctuating needs.
support the person to plan and manage available resources and services in the broader service system (including, for example, their NDIS funded supports and clinical mental health services) to optimise the use of these resources
clarify how supports complement and interact with one another
help the person navigate the broader service system
clarify roles and responsibilities of the person, recovery coach, clinical supports and other supports.

Recovery Coach role: