A recovery worker supports people through and after treatment for addiction or serious mental illness, with a focus that sits specifically on rebuilding a life rather than on treating symptoms directly, which is usually the job of other clinical professionals earlier in someone's care.
Rebuilding the practical shape of a life
The work covers relapse prevention built into daily routine, housing, employment and training, reconnecting with family relationships that may have become strained or broken during the worst of an illness, managing money, and building a routine that holds together without the substance use or the crisis sitting at the centre of it any longer.
Lived experience, often shared directly
Many recovery workers bring their own lived experience of recovery to the role, which tends to build a particular kind of trust with the people they support. They usually work within drug and alcohol services or community mental health teams, sitting alongside clinical staff rather than replacing the clinical treatment someone has already received.