From Dove to Peer Recovery Case Manager
In pursuit of her own personal and professional growth, Amber McIntosh was in search of a career beyond the restaurant industry in which she’d been working. She found that opportunity in recovery, and it turned out to be so much more than she’d imagined. 
Today, Amber is a peer recovery case manager at the Dove House with multiple peer recovery coach certifications and more on the way. Currently, she is also a student at Southern New Hampshire University where she is studying to earn her bachelor’s degree in human services expected graduation date March 2023.
“I made the decision to further my education so I would be eligible to help people struggling with mental health and addiction in a deeper capacity,” Amber said. “It’s truly a rewarding field with a purpose.”
She knows firsthand the value and importance of empowering women to become substance free, self-sufficient, and healthy. Amber got sober at Dove House in 2013, where she learned to gain the tools necessary to grow in recovery and lead her version of a substance free, self-sufficient, and healthy life.
As a peer recovery case manager that now serves women just like her, she gets to watch the Dove House clients grow into the women they never knew they could be due to the stigma of addiction and mental health. This has been one of her favorite parts of now getting to work in the recovery house that helped to save her life.
“I enjoy helping people embark on their journey to recovery and guiding them in the process of leading their definition of a successful life,” Amber said. “Watching people grow and providing them the tools to do so is an experience that words cannot define.”
Her primary focus in her role is to help clients identify their goals and remove barriers to achieving their chosen goals. And every client’s goals are valued and honored—from something as seemingly little as learning how to use a vacuum cleaner to pursuing a college degree.
To her, Dove House differs from other treatment and recovery programs because it provides an intimate setting that allows the women to get comfortable enough to open up to the providers and accept the help that is being offered. The women bond and become a family. Amber said that many clients come back even after completion of the program and continue to utilize Dove House as a part of their recovery foundation.
“My wish is for the women at Dove House to give recovery a chance, to realize that they are more than their addiction and to trust the process,” Amber said. “I wish for the women to understand that it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.”
