Video Transcript: What Not to Do: Playing Therapist, Sponsor, Savior, or Treatment Expert

🎥 Video 5B Transcript: What Not to Do: Playing Therapist, Sponsor, Savior, or Treatment Expert

Hi, I am Haley, a Christian Leaders Institute presenter.

Addiction recovery ministry attracts compassionate people. That is a gift. But compassion without role clarity can become dangerous. In this video, we are naming what not to do as an Addiction Recovery Chaplain.

First, do not play therapist. A chaplain may listen, pray, encourage, and help someone reflect spiritually. But the chaplain does not diagnose, treat trauma, provide clinical counseling, manage mental health care, or create a therapy plan. When a person needs counseling, trauma care, psychiatric support, or clinical addiction treatment, the chaplain should encourage referral to qualified professionals.

Second, do not play sponsor. In many recovery communities, a sponsor has a specific role connected to step work, accountability, recovery experience, and recovery culture. A chaplain may honor that role, encourage the person to stay connected to a sponsor, and support spiritual growth. But the chaplain should not replace the sponsor or undermine the sponsor’s relationship.

Third, do not play savior. This may be the most subtle danger. A chaplain can begin to feel responsible for whether someone stays sober, attends meetings, reconciles with family, gets treatment, or avoids relapse. That burden does not belong to the chaplain. Jesus is Savior. The chaplain is a servant. The chaplain can be faithful, prayerful, wise, and available within boundaries, but the chaplain cannot carry another person’s recovery.

Fourth, do not play treatment expert. A chaplain should not give medical advice about detox, medication, withdrawal, treatment options, psychiatric symptoms, or substance use risks. If someone is intoxicated, in withdrawal, talking about overdose, expressing suicidal thoughts, or showing serious instability, the chaplain should not try to manage that alone. Escalation and referral may be necessary.

Fifth, do not create secret dependency. Addiction often involves secrecy, isolation, intensity, and emotional urgency. A chaplain must be careful not to become the hidden person someone calls while avoiding sponsor accountability, family honesty, church leadership, treatment, or recovery group responsibility.

A wise chaplain can say, “I care about you, and I want to support you in a way that strengthens your recovery, not replaces your recovery supports.”

What helps? Humility, clear words, team accountability, and respect for other helpers.

What harms? Secret meetings, constant texting, money promises, spiritual pressure, or acting like one caring relationship can replace a full recovery community.

The Addiction Recovery Chaplain serves best when the chaplain stays inside the chaplain role: present, prayerful, truthful, boundaried, and referral-aware.