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How to start a recovery coaching practice in Texas

Your recovery is the qualification no one else can bring. Here's how to turn it into work: the Texas certification, the business basics, the line you don't cross, and the ways recovery coaches get paid.

By Ryan Coane, LCDC-I. Updated October 27, 2026. General information, not legal, tax or billing advice.

1. Get certified

Texas has one state peer specialist certification, with two endorsements: Recovery Support Peer Specialist (RSPS) for substance use, and Mental Health Peer Specialist (MHPS). The certifying body is the Texas Certification Board (tcbap.org), approved by Texas Health and Human Services.

You'll need to: be 18 or older, have lived experience of recovery and be in self-directed recovery now, have a high school diploma or GED, be willing to share your recovery story, and pass criminal history and registry checks.

  1. Do the online orientation and self-assessment.
  2. Complete core peer training, then the supplemental training for your endorsement. Each ends with a knowledge test.
  3. Apply to the Texas Certification Board.
  4. Your first certification lasts 6 months. In that time you log 250 hours of supervised peer work and get a supervisor's recommendation. (Reading and videos don't count toward the hours.) One 6-month extension is possible. Then you're certified for 2 years.

The board lists its fees on its site; check there for the current amounts.

2. Decide how you'll get paid

  • Medicaid, through an enrolled provider. Texas Medicaid pays for peer specialist services for adults (code H0038), but you can't bill it yourself: a treatment program, clinic, group practice, LMHA or other enrolled provider employs or contracts with you and bills. How Medicaid billing for peer services works.
  • Contract with programs. Treatment programs, sober living homes and recovery community organizations often need peer support. Your own business can contract with them.
  • Private pay. Some people and families pay for recovery coaching directly. Set your rates, and put them on your listing so people know before they call.
  • Grants. State and local recovery support grants fund peer work in many communities.

3. Set up the business

  • The legal entity. Many coaches form a Texas LLC: the Certificate of Formation (Form 205) with the Texas Secretary of State costs $300.
  • An NPI. Get a National Provider Identifier from CMS's NPPES, with the taxonomy code 175T00000X (Peer Specialist). Programs and health plans will ask for it, and it's how people find you in provider directories, including this one.
  • HIPAA. You become a HIPAA "covered entity" if you send standard transactions like insurance claims electronically. If you work under a program, follow its privacy rules; if you're on your own, keep what people tell you private and your records secure either way.
  • Insurance. We found no Texas rule that requires a peer specialist to carry liability insurance, but programs you contract with may require it. Ask them.

4. Know your scope

A peer specialist shares lived experience and helps people build their own recovery. Texas rules are clear about what you don't do: no psychotherapy, no diagnosing, no clinical assessments, no services that need a license, and no dual relationships. When someone needs more, connect them with a counselor, a doctor or a program. On Find Care you can point them to addiction treatment in their city.

5. Get found

Most people looking for a recovery coach search online, and most recovery coaches don't have a website. Claim your free Find Care listing and you get:

  • Your listing in your city's recovery coach list, for anyone searching Find Care
  • A free one-page website at gocimahealth.com/yourname, with your story, your services and your rates
  • Free online booking, so someone can book a first call at 11 at night instead of leaving a voicemail
  • A flyer and QR code to leave at meetings and programs, and a "Find me on Cima Find Care" badge for your own site

Already listed? Search your city's recovery coaches (Houston shown) and claim yours. See how claiming works.

6. Keep your certification

Certification renews every 2 years, with 20 hours of training (3 of them in ethics) and a new background check.

Sources

  • 1 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 354, Subchapter N, Peer Specialist Services: requirements §354.3051, training §354.3155 and §354.3159, certification §354.3203 and §354.3205, renewal §354.3161 and §354.3207, scope §354.3055
  • HHSC, Certification for peer support, a Medicaid benefit: hhs.texas.gov
  • Texas Certification Board: tcbap.org
  • Texas Secretary of State, Form 205 instructions: sos.state.tx.us
  • CMS, covered entity guidance: cms.gov

Find treatment near you

Detox, residential, outpatient and medication treatment across Texas. Pick a city, then call a program directly.

Not sure where to start? SAMHSA's National Helpline is free, confidential and open 24/7: 1-800-662-4357. In a crisis, call or text 988. In an emergency, call 911.

List your practice on Cima Find Care

Tell us about your practice. We check your Texas license, set up your listing and send it to you to approve, usually within two business days.

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Get help now: find treatment near you

Get help now

Find programs near you, then call them directly. Their numbers are on every listing.

Not sure where to start? SAMHSA's National Helpline is free, confidential and open 24/7: 1-800-662-4357. In a crisis, call or text 988. In an emergency, call 911.