A passion driven lifestyle is one connected to purpose. Not a dream job, not a side hustle, but a spark impossible to define. The thing that makes hard work and discipline feel good. We believe everyone has the potential to connect with their purpose, and can help others experience that to be true for themselves. All it takes is a willingness to tap into curiosity and explore. 

A Creative Recovery Coach is an individual active in their personal projects and committed to living a Passion Driven Lifestyle. Coaches act as a guide for an artist or musician through their unique struggles of recovery from Substance Use Disorder. It’s not uncommon for an artist with Substance Use Disorder to have their creative practice become enmeshed with their substance use, making it difficult to become inspired or even imagine creating without their drug of choice. Most often the process of recovery can separate an artist from their previous creative community and isolate them from the sense of connection that is necessary to recover. In this situation, a Creative Recovery Coach plays a vital role in mentoring a peer through their journey of recovery while reintegrating their creative practice in a new and healthier context. 

A Creative Recovery Coach offers individualized support to a peers creative goals while providing recovery centered tools and resources as they work towards personal growth by utilizing their professional trainings and lived experiences. 

A Creative Recovery Coach is active in multiple facets of a peer relationship. Artists and musicians face their own mountain of obstacles and emotions that can be more adequately supported by someone with personal experience in the field. Because of these unique qualities, coaches act as a mentor in topics even outside of a creative project in addition to the following tools and resources:

• Project Management 

  • • Turning ideas into achievable goals

    • Creating project timelines

    • Providing accountability to meet creative milestones

    • Identifying tools and resources to overcome obstacles

    • Teaching ways to promote the artist or artwork if desired

• Resource Brokering

  • • Sharing applicable tools and resources specific to the peer or project

    • Connecting the peer to communities or individuals 

    • Identifying additional resources as needed 

    • Optional access to creative jobs and apprenticeships 

    • Optional opportunities to participate in New Obsession gallery events and public creative workshops

    • Access to various art and music supplies and tools based on availability 

• Skill Building 

  • Knowledge of multiple techniques and mediums 

  • Library of exercises and workshops to enhance skills

  • Promotion and networking for career driven artists 

  • Creating a body of work and/or portfolio

• Applicable Assessments and Worksheets

  • Assessments to identify areas of growth and quality of life 

  • SMART Goals Tracking

  • Brainstorm and Artist Block worksheets 

  • Shared documentation for peer to peer reflection 

Community Workshops are collaborative sessions where your community comes together to complete a project led by a Creative Coach. These workshops are a great way to build stronger connections, have fun, and learn new skills in a welcoming, accessible environment. All project materials are provided by New Obsession.

It’s completely normal to feel self-conscious when learning something new or expressing yourself creatively. The Creative Coach supports the group through each step of the artistic process—helping participants develop skills, collaborate with others, and gently challenge their own limitations. This experience invites vulnerability, encourages emotional expression, and makes space for joy and connection.

Each workshop begins and ends with a group conversation to set intentions, review the project, and reflect on personal takeaways or challenges.

A Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS) is someone with personal lived experience of Substance Use Disorder, that is in recovery, and has gone through training to expand their skills and knowledge of peer support. Their experience and training qualifies them to coach an individual as they navigate their own personal recovery goals and achieve a higher quality of life. The aim of a Recovery Support Peer Specialist is to connect an individual with communities and resources as identified by the peer that will assist them in living a self-directed life based on their own definition of recovery.