Question 1

What is this course?

Accepted Answer

A 36-week supervised training course for people in established recovery who want to support others going through it. It covers what peer support is, where its limits are, how to hold boundaries, what to do in a crisis, and how to keep your own recovery intact while you do it.

Question 2

Who is it for?

Accepted Answer

People with at least two years of continuous recovery who are already being approached for help, or who expect to be. It is not an introduction to recovery — there are other courses here for that.

Question 3

Is it free?

Accepted Answer

The material is free. Every week, every form, permanently.

The certificate isn't free to administer. Your sponsoring organisation — not you — pays a one-off registration fee when it registers: a Cohort Registration (£250 / $300) covering up to eight candidates, or an Individual Registration (£60 / $75) if you're the only one. If cost is a barrier there's a hardship waiver — one tick box, no means test, fee £0.

Paying never buys a pass. A candidate who doesn't meet the standard at a gateway isn't certified, whatever was paid.

Question 4

Do I need a qualification to start?

Accepted Answer

No academic qualification. You need two years of continuous recovery, a sponsoring organisation, and a supervisor.

Question 5

Can I just read it without doing the assessed parts?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and some people should. You'd get the whole thirty-six weeks and no certificate. If you want the training without the credential that's a legitimate use of it.

Question 6

How long does it take?

Accepted Answer

Thirty-six weeks, structured as four parts. Realistically about nine months, because gateways take time to arrange.

Question 7

Can I go faster?

Accepted Answer

No. Supervision has to be monthly and can't be banked or caught up at the end. Nine sessions across nine months is a minimum, not a target.

Question 8

What's the entry process?

Accepted Answer

An application form, a reference taken independently of you, a live interview of 30–45 minutes, and a recorded decision. Your sponsoring organisation runs it.

Question 9

Why two years of recovery?

Accepted Answer

Because helping too soon is one of the most reliable ways to damage your own recovery, and because the failures in peer support cluster heavily among people who started early. Some organisations will want longer than two years.

Question 10

I've been in recovery eighteen months. Can I apply now?

Accepted Answer

No — but ask what would need to be different and when to come back. Most people turned away at this stage are early rather than unsuitable.

Question 11

I've been supporting people informally for years. Am I exempt from anything?

Accepted Answer

No. Prior experience often makes the reflective work more important rather than less, because habits have already formed.

Question 12

Who interviews me?

Accepted Answer

Two people from the sponsoring organisation, together, in the same conversation. One of them will normally be your proposed supervisor.

Question 13

Why two?

Accepted Answer

Because a supervisor who has already agreed to supervise you has an investment in saying yes. That's human rather than dishonest, but it means they shouldn't be the only person in the room. The second interviewer asks the harder question and makes the decision defensible.

Question 14

What's the interview like?

Accepted Answer

Thirty to forty-five minutes, by video or in person, using a standard set of questions asked of every applicant. It covers where your recovery is now, why you want to do this, a time you tried to help someone who wasn't ready, how you handle being told something you don't want to hear, and what you'd do if someone rang you drunk at two in the morning for the fourth time that week.

There are no right answers and it isn't a test of knowledge. They're looking at how you hold yourself when you're not composing on paper.

Question 15

What if I'm turned down?

Accepted Answer

Ask for the reason and what would change it. Most declines are about timing. A candidate who takes a deferral well has already demonstrated something the course spends eight weeks trying to teach.

Question 16

What is a sponsoring organisation?

Accepted Answer

A church, treatment centre or ministry that appoints your supervisor, holds your records, and signs your certificate at the end if you earn it.

Question 17

Why can't I just do it on my own?

Accepted Answer

Because nobody can assess their own readiness for this work. The failures — over-involvement, boundary drift, working harder than the person you're helping — don't announce themselves. From the inside they feel like dedication.

Question 18

What am I actually asking my church for?

Accepted Answer

Not money. About twenty hours of someone's time across nine months, and a judgement at the end.

There's a pack you can hand them that explains the whole thing. Download it, give it to them before the conversation, and ask for a proper meeting rather than catching someone after a service.

Question 19

What if my church says no?

Accepted Answer

Ask what would need to be different. If it's a capacity problem rather than a you problem, they may be able to name another organisation.

Question 20

I don't have a church or any organisation to ask. What now?

Accepted Answer

Then you can't be certified yet — and it's worth being straightforward about that rather than letting you find out at week thirty.

A sponsoring organisation has to be in place before an application can be considered, because they appoint your supervisor, run the admissions process, hold your records and sign the certificate. Christian Family Recovery doesn't admit, interview, supervise or assess anyone, and doesn't supply supervisors.

What you can do:

• Read the whole course anyway. It's free and it's yours. Many people do this and find it useful on its own.
• Approach an organisation you're not a member of. A local treatment centre, a recovery ministry, a church running a recovery group. You don't have to attend somewhere to be sponsored by it.
• Ask the organisation your supervisor belongs to. If you have someone in mind to supervise you, their employer or church may be willing to sponsor.
• Build the relationship first. Volunteer somewhere for six months and ask then. That's a longer route and it's often a better one.

Question 21

Can my sponsor from AA or NA be my supervisor?

Accepted Answer

Possibly, if they have substantial sponsorship history and can commit to nine months. But be aware supervision and sponsorship are different relationships doing different jobs — supervision is about your practice, sponsorship is about your recovery. Collapsing them removes a layer of protection from you.

Question 22

Can a family member supervise me?

Accepted Answer

No. Never.

Question 23

What do I actually have to do?

Accepted Answer

Four strands run the whole course:

• A reflective journal — one dated entry a week, 36 in total
• Eight written knowledge checks, marked by your supervisor
• Nine monthly supervision sessions
• Three observed practice sessions, in the final part only

Question 24

How much time per week?

Accepted Answer

Roughly two to three hours — reading, tasks and journalling — plus an hour of supervision monthly.

Question 25

Who reads my journal?

Accepted Answer

Your supervisor reads a selection, including the four gateway entries. Nobody else — not your church, not us, not the group.

The organisation keeps a record that entries were read and were adequate. It does not keep the entries.

Question 26

Why does that matter?

Accepted Answer

Because if you believed your journal would be filed by your church, you'd write a version fit for filing, and the whole strand would become worthless.

Question 27

What are the knowledge checks like?

Accepted Answer

Written, in your own words, marked against a published scheme. Pass mark is 70%. One resit permitted after further study.

Question 28

What are the gateways?

Accepted Answer

Four points — weeks 8, 17, 26 and 36 — where your supervisor and organisation review everything and decide whether you continue. The next part isn't released until the gateway is signed.

Question 29

What if I don't pass one?

Accepted Answer

The usual outcome is a hold: specific work, a stated period, then a second conversation. It isn't a failure, and most people who stall are moving too fast rather than lacking capacity.

Question 30

Can I be removed from the course?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Grounds include conduct putting someone at risk, concealed return to use, refusal to follow safeguarding procedure, a sexual or romantic relationship with someone you support, and falsifying records. The process is written down and you'll be given it before you start.

Question 31

What happens if I relapse during the course?

Accepted Answer

If you tell your supervisor, the course pauses. You re-engage your own recovery support, and a return date is agreed — normally not less than six months of renewed continuous recovery. It doesn't end your training.

If you conceal it, that's grounds for withdrawal. Not because of the using — because a peer supporter who conceals from their supervisor is unsafe by definition, and concealment is the behaviour that demonstrates it.

Question 32

That feels harsh.

Accepted Answer

It's the opposite. It's designed so that telling the truth is always the better option for you. A course that ended your training for a relapse would guarantee people hid them.

Question 33

What if I become attracted to someone I'm supporting?

Accepted Answer

Tell your supervisor immediately and stop supporting that person. That applies regardless of who initiated it, whether both of you are single, or how genuine it feels.

Telling your supervisor isn't a confession of wrongdoing. Concealing it is the wrongdoing, and acting on it would end your training.

Question 34

Will the course dig into my past?

Accepted Answer

It asks you to examine your motivation, your rescue patterns, and what your own recovery currently requires. It does not ask for a trauma history and isn't therapy.

If personal material comes up that's bigger than supervision can hold, you'll be pointed toward a counsellor. That's not a failure of the course.

Question 35

What if I find out I'm not ready?

Accepted Answer

Then the course has done its job at week eight rather than in a room with a frightened person. That's the single most useful outcome it can produce short of qualifying you.

Question 36

What does it actually say?

Accepted Answer

That you completed 36 weeks of structured training, produced assessed written work, were supervised monthly for nine months, were observed in practice, and were judged safe to offer peer support within defined limits.

Question 37

What doesn't it say?

Accepted Answer

That you're a counsellor, therapist or clinician. It's not an accredited qualification and carries no professional registration. Both statements appear on the certificate itself.

Question 38

Who issues it?

Accepted Answer

Your sponsoring organisation, not us. They appointed the supervisor, they hold the records, they make the decision.

Question 39

Can I work as a peer support worker with this?

Accepted Answer

It may help you apply, and some employers will value it. It is not a licence and doesn't qualify you for any regulated role. Check what any specific job actually requires.

Question 40

Does it expire?

Accepted Answer

Registration renews annually. Renewal needs confirmation of continuing recovery, a named current supervisor, six hours of CPD and a countersignature from your organisation.

Question 41

Why does it expire?

Accepted Answer

So that a credential can be withdrawn if someone becomes unsafe. A qualification that never lapses can never be taken back.

Question 42

How does an organisation check my certificate is current?

Accepted Answer

You're given a registration number and a credential card with a QR code. They scan it or enter the number at christianfamilyrecovery.com/verify and get back your status and expiry date.

Question 43

Is my name published anywhere?

Accepted Answer

No. There's no browsable list and no search by name. Someone can only confirm a number you've given them, and the page isn't indexed by search engines.

Question 44

Can I opt out of verification and still hold the certificate?

Accepted Answer

Yes, in one click, and there are good reasons some people do.

Questions people ask

Before you start

Getting on the course

Sponsorship

The work involved

Difficult questions

The certificate

The only Christian recovery service built for all four people in the room: the addict, the family, the church and the rehab centre.