For Therapists

Could Your Clients Benefit From Therapeutic Mentoring or Sober Coaching?

  • Do you have a client who needs extra support?
  • Do you have a client who is struggling to apply what they learned in treatment into their daily lives?
  • Is your client nearing the end of a treatment or wilderness program, but still in need of structure and support?
  • Would you like to offer more options to clients who are serious about moving forward with their lives?

Mentoring helps those wishing to integrate the tools they learned in coaching or treatment into their real lives. Our mentoring philosophy is that our clients can do something differently if they are willing to do the work; by making changes in their life, they can be successful – especially with the support of a team that includes their counselor, their loved ones, and a mentor.

Many of our referrals come from therapists, therapeutic education consultants, psychiatrists, wilderness programs and residential treatment programs. Perhaps your client is not in treatment, but needs additional support. Maybe he or she is nearing completion of a program, but could still use support or sober coaching once they are done. Maybe you’re a therapist whose client is ready to put what they’ve learned into action but could use some help with life and organizational skills. Of course you want your client to have as many tools in his or her toolbox as possible.

How Does The Coach/Mentor Relationship Work?

In these cases where clients need additional support, we work with the therapist and/or psychiatrist as a team. Typically, a mentor will meet with the therapist or other treatment provider either weekly or every other week to compare notes and check in on the client’s progress. These meetings are very strategic and usually last approximately 15-30 minutes. If there is anything you see that we could be working on – or vice versa – these meetings give us both an opportunity to inform the other party and work collaboratively. We are very clear with clients who come to us via referrals that we are in regular contact with their primary therapist and that everyone needs to be on the same page. Usually the therapist meets with the client once or twice a week and the mentor sees the same client for 2–10 hours per week on average, depending on what we as a team feel is necessary. With the help of a team, a struggling client can finally implement the lessons learned in coaching into his or her everyday life and start moving toward being a healthy, well-rounded person.

You may think your client could benefit from mentoring, but still have a few questions and concerns…

What can mentoring do that counseling doesn’t?

People show up differently for different people. The more eyes on your client’s progress, the better! We often receive information from our clients that therapists don’t see or hear. The mentoring relationship is different than coaching; it’s much more casual and we see clients more often. We are also observing people in real life settings instead of an office, which gives us a perspective that most counselors don’t have. We describe ourselves as the “do-ers” of the relationship.

What is the goal of mentoring?

Short-term, we aim to help our clients learn coping and organizational skills that help them move forward in life and deal with everyday stressors in a positive way. Long-term, we want each and every client to learn how to live independently and to make choices that are conducive to their overall happiness in life.

How do parents feel about this team approach?

Parents like the fact that there are more sets of eyes to monitor what’s happening with their child. Parents are goal-oriented and like to see tangible results like jobs, school, good grades and positive changes in behavior. It’s easier to see the results of counseling if you have someone working on the logistics and implementing changes into the client’s everyday routine.

Still have questions about how mentoring works and if it could benefit your clients or program? Contact us and we will be glad to answer any questions you may have about the mentoring process and how we may benefit your clients.




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hello@expandmentoring.com
(303) 945-3007

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