Recovery Coaches in the Emergency Department
Kingdom Recovery Center, Northern Vermont Regional Hospital and the State of Vermont have partnered to bring our recovery coaching services to individuals in the ED who may have had an overdose, are there for alcohol related health problems or other substance use.
The program connects a patient in the Emergency Department with one of our coaches. It includes motivational interviewing to see where the person is at. Do they want treatment? Do they need help navigating resources to help them with their substance use? What have they tried in past? What worked and what hasn’t worked? By meeting patients where they are at, we can help them begin a recovery journey by maintaining contact for 10 days, referring them to outpatient services, inpatient services, or helping them to understand medically assisted treatment such as Methadone, Suboxone, or medications that reduce cravings for alcohol, like Naloxone. For some of the individuals we have had contact with, they begin coming to in-person peer groups and get connected with a recovery coach who help them create a recovery plan and help to guide them on whatever path or recovery they choose.
As of September 2020 we have served approximately 104 people that were seen in the Emergency Department by our recovery coaches.
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Sarah McFarland | Emergency Department Recovery Coach Supervisor
Recovery Date: March 5, 2015
Personal Pathway: Multiple pathways
Personal Mantra: “Hard things are hard.”
In March of 2016, Sarah graduated from Springfield College with a Bachelor Degree in Human Services with a concentration in Addiction Studies.. Since graduation Sarah, has worked in the Addictions field first as a Recovery Aide on the Adolescent Unit of Valley Vista and then in the role of Emergency Department Recovery Coach before stepping in as the Program Supervisor.
Sarah is dedicated to continuing her education in order to bring awareness of Substance Use Disorder and Recovery concepts to her community.