POST-TREATMENT SUPPORT
Recovery Mentor or Sober Companion?
Families are given several labels: recovery mentor, sober companion, sponsor, therapist. They mean different things. This page describes what each one actually is, when each fits, and the questions that decide between them.
Contact Us →Four roles families confuse
The four roles families get confused between
Definitions
Therapist: a licensed clinician delivering treatment to someone who has agreed to attend. Sponsor: a peer in a mutual support fellowship, unpaid, working within that fellowship’s framework. Recovery mentor: structured practical support after treatment ends, when the scaffolding of a programme disappears and ordinary life resumes. Sober companion: closer presence, often for a defined and higher-risk window, such as a return home, a trip, or a specific event.
A comparison table setting out the specific differences on cadence, cost, credentials and use case is being finalised for publication and will appear on this page once verified. Until then, the useful test is not the label but the question of risk and structure.
How to choose
How to work out which fits
The useful questions are about risk and structure, not about labels. How high is the risk in the next few weeks specifically? Is the problem knowing what to do, or doing it when nobody is watching? Is there a defined window, such as a return home, or is this ongoing? What clinical care is already in place, and what is this meant to sit alongside?
A first call will get you a clear recommendation based on those questions. Sometimes the answer is a mentor, sometimes a companion, sometimes both in sequence, sometimes neither.
Why Us
Why families and clinicians choose to work with me
CADC-III
Credentialed
I hold the Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor III credential (Sober College), one of the highest-level counseling credentials in California.
CCMI-M
Intervention-specific
I also hold the Certified Case Manager Interventionist credential (Breining Institute), the dedicated intervention-methodology credential. The strongest practitioners hold both.
2 Models
Matched to your family
I work in both the Johnson Model and the Invitational Model, and recommend the one that actually fits your family’s situation.
What neither of them is
What neither one replaces
Neither replaces clinical treatment. Neither guarantees an outcome. If anyone tells you otherwise, ask a great many questions.
Both are meant to sit alongside clinical care and family support, not in place of them. The right answer for your family often includes more than one of these, in sequence.
Practical next step
How to decide, in one call
The first call is a confidential conversation about what is happening at home and what post-treatment support would actually help. By the end of that call you will have a clear sense of whether a mentor, a companion, or something else is the right fit, and what setting it up would look like.
If someone you love is in immediate danger, call 911. If they are talking about not wanting to be here, call or text 988. Los Angeles County residents can reach the Department of Mental Health ACCESS line on 800-854-7771.
Talk With Me
Talk with me in confidence
Call 866-826-0985 or email info@lifestyleinterventions.com to start a confidential conversation.
Frequently Asked
Frequently asked questions
Is a recovery mentor the same as a sponsor?
No. A sponsor is a peer within a fellowship and is unpaid. A mentor is a paid, structured role.
Do I need one if they have a therapist?
Possibly. They do different things. A therapist works in sessions; a mentor works in the gaps between them.
How long does support usually last?
That varies with the situation. I would rather describe it correctly on a call than approximate it here.
Can you arrange this after treatment elsewhere?
Yes. Mentoring often begins after a programme run by someone else.
Which one fits our situation?
That depends on risk, structure and what is already in place. A first call is the fastest way to work it out.