Why Is Peer Counseling So Important In My Ongoing Recovery?

I love being a volunteer peer counselor for other lawyers struggling with addiction.  Peer counseling provides me with continuous opportunities to reflect on my own personal progress. Through active listening, and by sharing coping strategies, I find myself rediscovering and strengthening the tools that helped me in my own recovery.  It reinforces the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reminds me of the coping mechanisms I need to sustain that lifestyle.

Volunteering also gives me a sense of community. It offers a supportive environment where peer counselors can form meaningful connections with lawyers who really need some frank talk to reduce their feelings of isolation. That act of giving back gives me a renewed sense of hope and motivation.

Ultimately, serving as a peer counselor helps me stay accountable, stay connected, and stay focused on my healthy lifestyle choices, all while making a positive impact on someone else’s journey. By healthy lifestyle choices, I mean not just sobriety from a certain substance.  I mean the whole package.  Self-care.  Relationships.  Work/life balance.  To me they are all equally important as abstinence from whatever substance and/or behavior you were addicted to.

Being a peer counselor is a uniquely powerful way to continue healing, grow emotionally, and build resilience.

Watch Wil describe his path out of addiction.

Wil Miller, JD (At Large Board Member For Washington Lawyers Assisting Lawyers) wmiller@walal.org