Starting with a new support person is rarely simple. For people with psychosocial disability — where mental health has often shaped the history of support relationships — beginning something new can trigger as much anxiety as anticipation.
If you’re about to start recovery coaching, or you’re considering it, here’s an honest account of what the early period looks like and what you should expect.
The first session is not about goals
This surprises some people. They expect to arrive with a list of what they want to change and leave with a structured plan. That’s not how good recovery coaching starts.
The first session — and often the second and third — is about getting to know each other. A recovery coach will want to understand:
- What your life actually looks like day to day
- What’s worked in the past, and what hasn’t
- What support has felt helpful vs. what has felt intrusive or unhelpful
- What you understand about your own situation and recovery
- What you’d like to be different in your life — even if you can’t put it in goal language yet
That last point matters. People don’t always arrive with clearly articulated goals. Sometimes they just know something isn’t working. A recovery coach’s job in the early sessions is to listen well enough to help the person identify what that is — not to impose a framework before they know the person.
Building trust takes time — and that’s by design
Recovery coaching is a relationship-based support. Unlike a clinical appointment, which has a specific task (assessment, prescription, therapy technique), recovery coaching works through the ongoing relationship between the coach and the participant.
That means trust is the foundation, not a nice-to-have. And building trust — particularly for people whose mental health has involved previous experiences of being let down, misunderstood, or mistreated in support relationships — takes time.
A good recovery coach doesn’t push for disclosure before it’s offered. They don’t treat sessions as data-gathering exercises. They show up consistently, follow through on what they say they’ll do, and allow the relationship to develop at the participant’s pace.
If the trust feels difficult to build — say something. A recovery coach worth working with will hear that, not be threatened by it.
What does the session structure typically look like?
Sessions are flexible and shaped by the participant and the moment.
Early sessions might involve:
- Conversation about the person’s recovery history and what’s shaped where they are now
- Talking through what a typical day looks like, including where things feel hard
- Beginning to identify patterns in what affects the person’s functioning and wellbeing
Later sessions often shift toward:
- Working on specific skills or strategies the person has identified as important
- Reviewing progress against goals and adjusting as needed
- Problem-solving things that have come up since the last session
- Building awareness of early warning signs and what to do when things start to shift
There’s no fixed curriculum. The content of sessions comes from the participant, not from a program the coach is delivering. That’s what makes it personalised — and it’s why the relationship between the coach and the participant matters so much.
How often should sessions happen?
Most participants start with fortnightly sessions. For people going through a particularly difficult period, weekly contact makes sense — more frequent touchpoints provide more stability. For people who are more settled and want to sustain gains they’ve already made, monthly sessions can be enough.
Session length is typically an hour, though some coaches are flexible on this depending on the participant’s capacity and needs on a given day. Not every session needs to be an hour to be valuable.
Sessions can happen at home, in the community, or remotely — whatever works for the person. For some participants, getting out of the house for a session is itself a meaningful part of the work. For others, the comfort of being at home makes it easier to be open.
What should you do if it’s not feeling right?
Say so — either to the coach directly, or to your support coordinator.
A recovery coaching relationship that isn’t working isn’t something you need to tolerate. Recovery coaching works through the relationship; if that relationship isn’t working, the support isn’t working.
You might find that:
- The coach’s communication style doesn’t suit you
- The focus of sessions doesn’t feel aligned with what you actually need
- You don’t feel heard or understood in sessions
These are legitimate reasons to raise a concern or consider a different coach. It’s not a failure — matching is part of the process. A good coach will appreciate the honesty.
How do you know it’s working?
Progress in recovery coaching often isn’t linear. Some sessions feel productive; others feel like going in circles. That’s normal.
Signs that the coaching is having an effect over time might include:
- Being able to identify early warning signs that previously caught you off guard
- Maintaining a routine through periods that previously would have destabilised it
- Feeling more confident making decisions or advocating for yourself
- Reconnecting with activities or relationships that mental health had made difficult to sustain
These changes tend to be gradual and often aren’t obvious until you look back over a few months. Reviewing goals periodically — together with your coach — helps make the progress visible.
Katarina’s approach at Thrive
Katarina comes to recovery coaching from a clinical background as a registered mental health nurse and psychotherapist. That means she’s worked with complex mental health presentations in inpatient, community, and private therapeutic settings — not just in a coaching context.
Her approach is grounded in that clinical experience but isn’t clinical in its delivery. She doesn’t treat recovery coaching as a therapy session, and she doesn’t position herself as the expert on someone else’s recovery. She brings knowledge, structure, and clinical awareness to a relationship that is fundamentally about the participant’s goals and self-determination.
If you’re looking for a recovery coach whose clinical background means she can genuinely handle complexity — not just the straightforward presentations — that’s what she offers.
If you’d like to find out whether recovery coaching is right for your situation, or if you have questions about what the early process looks like, Katarina is happy to talk.
Call 0423 364 723 or email oliver@thriveinlifecare.com.au.