Lemoore native takes on role as 'Sober Coach," helping recovering alcoholics battle their addictions and demons

By Ed Martin, The Leader Editor
Lemoore native and Lemoore High School grad Frank Valle talks about his experiences and his new role as a Sober Coach helping others with their alcohol and drug abuse.
Lemoore native and Lemoore High School grad Frank Valle talks about his experiences and his new role as a Sober Coach helping others with their alcohol and drug abuse.

Frank Valle isn’t content with retirement. The 75-year-old former bilingual alcohol and drug counselor has a mission, and it’s not the early-bird special or his senior citizen discounts. He wants to help people break the cycle of pain associated with drug and alcohol abuse and to lend a helping hand, bringing relief to the wayward souls of those who continue to face the destructive demons of alcoholism and drugs.

Sometimes an alcoholic, or a drug addict, needs a helping hand, whether it’s Alcoholics Anonymous or a good friend. Valle knows how difficult it can be to tear one’s self away from Demon Alcohol.

The former Lemoore High School quarterback has experience – personal and professional. For 20 years, Valle helped alcohol and drug addicts get sober from his perch as a bilingual alcohol and drug counselor with Kings and Tulare counties.

He too faced his demons, and when they appeared to be winning, he took them head on at, kicking his destructive habit, a disorder affecting friends and family – but he didn’t do it alone. He had help, from people who cared about him.

He knows what it takes to break the chains of alcoholism. He has experienced the humiliating pain of an addict – whether it’s alcohol or drugs. Valle was once a severe alcohol abuser. He was just a kid who took his first swig of alcohol at 12 years old and didn’t stop until he was 38 – a tortuous year when he found himself facing a three-year jail sentence – because of his excessive drinking.

“My drinking was always in our family culture, and as I grew up, it seemed like it was an acceptable thing to drink alcohol.”

He was lucky. He had friends who helped in his recovery, including a judge, a classmate from his 1960 graduating class, who gave him an option: jail or recovery. He chose the latter, and he’s never regretted the choice.

Valle’s addiction began early. When most children, during their formative years, are focusing on baseball and school, Valle began his long-tortured relationship with alcohol.

“At the age of 12 a friend and I got some wine, and we drank it. That was the beginning of my desire to drink. I enjoyed the effect of the alcohol. It was an occasional drink in high school, and then my young adult years, and then all through my marriage. At the age of 38, the drinking seemed like it was acceptable.

“Most of the time I could hold my drink, but towards the last ten years of my drinking, there were violent times, especially in the Venice area” where he unfortunately associated with some unsavory characters, getting into fights and fueled by alcohol.

“Between the 1970s and 1980, (because of my drinking) the progressiveness of the disease I was drinking every day. I drank every day, and weekends.”

His family was a casualty. “That is my biggest shame because I know that I created a dysfunctional family. They all seem to be doing okay now. I’ve seen them go through problems because of alcohol in the family because it is a disease. It’s hard to live with an alcoholic.”

Valle wants back into the game, to help others, and he has the experience. He is a Certified Recovery Coach who wants to work with recovering addicts – drug or alcohol. Guys like him are referred to as “Sober Coaches” a relatively new tool to help recovering addicts in their long-term recovery. Most recovering addicts relapse within the first 90 days of discharge or completion of a program. The Sober Coach helps with the transition. Valle says having the proper support structure in place is of utmost importance in any recovery effort. The Sober, or Recovery Coach, can be helpful for making decisions about what to do with your life and the part your addiction or recovery plays. Coaches help clients find ways to stop addiction or reduce the harm associated with addictive behaviors. Recovery coaches can help a client find resources for harm reduction, detox, treatment, family support, and education.

As a recovering alcoholic and 20 years as an alcohol and drug counselor, he has the knowledge to help.

“This is my passion,” said Valle, “helping the addicted. I’ve been doing it for 37 years. I want to help people.” He said there is no cure for alcoholism, instead, always referring to himself as a recovering alcoholic.

He was 38 years old when he finally saw the light. “Why I decided to stop was that I had acquired in 10 years, six drunk driving arrests. My last DUI I had a divorce, and in those ten years my family was in disarray,” he remembered. “My last time in court, the judge, a Lemoore High School (graduate), Tim Buckley, told me I had a choice of a recovery home or three years in prison.”

He said he survived thanks to friends like Buckley and Bill Gundacker, another friend and classmate. “I enrolled in the recovery program, and I began to realize the damage I had done, and I saw clarity. I decided I needed to quit drinking.”

Was it difficult to stop after so many years? “Well, it wasn’t very hard,” he said. “My desire to quit drinking became pretty obvious. I didn’t have a way back because I could never control my drinking. I learned in that recovery home that I was affected with a disease of alcoholism and that there was no going back.”

He hasn’t had a drink in 37 years, not a drop.

He says guys like him are needed, now more than ever.

“When you work in this field, you kind of almost know that not everybody’s going to make it, and it is a disappointment when somebody ODs (overdoses) or when somebody gets killed in a car accident. I’ve had that experience. I feel bad, but I know I’ve done the best I could with them.”

Valle says it’s getting serious with the abuse of alcohol and the prevalence of drugs, including opiates. He has advice for families. “I would suggest that you watch your children, and if you have a drinking problem, you should address it. Any doctor will tell you that it’s poison to your system. I’ve seen a lot of people die because of alcohol and drugs.”

“Being from Lemoore, I think it’s nice that they know there’s help out there, a local guy like me that can help, someone who has had the experience. After 37 years of sobriety, I can help.”

Frank Valle, a recovering alcoholic, has 20 years of experience in Kings and Tulare Counties working as an alcohol and drug counselor. He is a Certified Recovery Coach and can be contacted at (559) 901-7695 or ValleSoberCoach@gmail.com and www.ValleSoberCoach.com.

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