Jodi Lin

They/Them

CRPA, CPS, DvT Level 1 (Candidate) Enthusiastic and determined Recovery Coach strives for change. Patient and empathic with a background in the creative arts. Uses over 2 decades of lived experience in recovery to support goal and vision attainment.

For initial consult

coachjodilin@gmail.com

I have been coaching since February of 2022, at first supporting with a mental health focus at a peer-run crisis residence and later as a recovery coach in a substance rehabilitation center. I have been sober for 21 years and am a  Certified Peer Specialist, Certified Recovery Peer Advocate, and a Level 1 Developmental Transformations drama therapy practitioner in training. Raised in Los Angeles, I currently enjoy living in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

I showed a talent for sports at an early age and began a disciplined training lifestyle at the age of 9. Lacking a holistic approach to wellness at the time, mental health concerns took over after sustaining a back injury. I left the sport and the dream at age 15. Turning to the arts for inspiration, I entered the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.  Mental health concerns persisted, and without direct support, I turned to substance misuse to cope and find relief.

I attended Sarah Lawrence College where my creativity was the glue that held my life together at the seams. But for me, creativity alone was not enough. As my alcohol and drug consumption increased to the point of dependance, my ability to show up for the things that I loved decreased to near oblivion. The seams of my life were coming loose with every drink or drug. I thought relocating to Cambridge, Massachusetts and enrolling in acting conservatory would give me the new life I needed to solve my problems. Yet even at the American Repertory Theatre Institute at Harvard, my mental health declined.

I moved back to Manhattan in 2001 just before the attack on the World Trade Center. I hit bottom with Post Traumatic Stress and Substance Abuse Disorders at this time. As the universe would have it though, I found help. The counselor I worked with listened to me with her heart and helped me to a path of action that supports me to this day. Today, I practice a person-centered, trauma-informed, and strengths-based approach to recovery coaching. With patience, persistence and empathy, I use my lived experience and training to help identify and support my clients with their wellness goals.

*Photo by Brett Lindell

The Deepest Desire To Be Well

Using my lived experience as a foundation, I seek to provide a safe space for exploration, with a non-clinical point of view. Together, as peers, we work to discover the interconnection between curiosity, wonder, love, creativity, sobriety and mental wellness. For me, this work is a sacred act of courage. At my core, I am a talented creative, a reliable and true friend and family member, a spiritual being and a dependable worker. My time in recovery shows me that these roles come easy to me when I am well. But when I’m not taking care of my mental health and lack self care, I compulsively sabotage my every desire. For this reason, I continue to need support. What cannot be done alone, can be done together.

A lifestyle of untreated mental health issues, drinking and substance use is all-consuming.  Living a life based in self destruction compromises the sense of self. Self destruction breeds more self loathing resulting in even more shame. Stuck in a loop of negativity, it is impossible to dream of a better life. When I entered recovery, I dared to create and dream again. Being present with my work, I felt vulnerable doing things I used to do with ease, for the first time sober. My relationship to substances, to loved ones and to art began to change as I started to change.

Even good change can feel destabilizing. Holistic wellness is structured like a table. To stay balanced, one needs all four legs. If one of the supporting legs is taken away, it needs to be replaced with some other form of support. When I extracted substances from my life, I had to learn how to cope without them, even though they had stopped working. One-on-one sessions with a recovery coach can be this support. In our work, a goal can be to strengthen coping strategies to feel confident in balancing a life of wellness, independently.

The Practice

My work is most successful meeting weekly with my clients in individual in-person or virtual sessions. The first sessions are spent diving courageously into the wellness plan of goals.The plan creates a loose structure for our work together, and can grow and change as you continue to do so. To begin, we engage in gentle discussion prompted by a series of possible questions related to but not limited to the following ares of life:

  1. Community- What does community mean to you? Is community interest based? Do you have a community or network of individuals to support you? Is it of interest to you to  build or grow your community?

  2. Relationships and family- What is your relationship to friends, family and loved ones? What do healthy relationships look like in your life? What do you want relationships to look and feel like in your life? Who do you want to be in these relationships, romantic and otherwise?

  3. Physical health- Are there physical health issues you need support in? These might include sobriety, harm reduction and abstinence, weight loss, fitness, managing pre-existing conditions.

  4. Mental health- Do you have a therapist and or psychiatrist? How would you describe your mental health and do you need support in this area of your life? Do you have trauma that you are recovering from? Does trauma keep you from living the life that you dream of?

  5. Spiritual health- Is spirituality important to you? Do you have goals in this area of your life? These could include becoming part of a spiritual community like 12 Step Fellowships, church, temple, or are you interested in developing an individual spiritual practice like meditation and chanting? Is spirituality about movement for you, such as exploring a yoga practice, for example?

  6. Creative health- Do you have any creative interests? Acting, writing, filmmaking, dancing or crafts like crocheting and knitting, textiles, visual art. Do you have a passion or anything you have always wanted to explore?

  7. Education- Are you happy with your studies in the past? Do you have goals in this area that you would like to explore?

  8. Employment- Are you happy with your job? Is there an area of work you have alway felt called to? Does your employment line up with your values? Are there any changes you would like to make in this area of your life?

  9. Housing- Does where you live bring you joy? Does where you live line up with your vision? Does where you live support your recovery?

As your recovery coach, I support you in your journey to these goals. The approach can be expansive, beginning with the situations that need immediate change, and working upward and outward in a ripple of positive change. For example, in my own life, I put my sobriety first and everything else seemed to fall into place. You may find in our discussion that not all of these goals apply to you. My role as the recovery coach is to walk along side you, using my lived experience to support your discoveries, desires and actions. The path may not be linear. The journey is about you. You lead me. I use a person-centered approach, believing that the client is the expert on their own lives.

© 2024 jodi lin

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