Online course to support clients with addiction

A trailblazing online course to train financial advisors on how to assist clients with addiction and mental health issues is now available nationwide. 

The Recovery Within Reach program consists of three educational modules that raise awareness about substance use disorder, its financial impact and financial advisors’ role in guiding clients throughout recovery. It was first launched in 2023 at the state level by the Ohio Department of Commerce’s Division of Securities following years of high rates of opioid overdose deaths. 

READ MORE: Why Ohio is turning to financial advisors to help fight the opioid crisis

At the time, nearly 13 Ohioans were dying each day from unintentional drug overdoses, 84% of which were caused by opioids. 

“We had a state problem of financial advisors having clients who were experiencing financial difficulty because of either addiction or having a family member with addiction,” Andrea Seidt, the Ohio Securities Commissioner, said. “So we wanted to give them resources and train financial advisors to be able to help those families in need.”

Recovery Within Reach has trained around 2,500 advisors nationwide so far, Seidt said. The free program is accredited by the North American Securities Administrators Association; advisors who complete the course may earn an hour of continuing education credit.  

Substance abuse can be costly and all too common. When the state-level training program first launched, the median annual cost of opioid addiction was around $35,000 per client, a 2023 Ohio Department of Commerce survey found. And a 2017 survey of more than 400 advisors by Investment News found that 36% reported working with clients, or their families, with drug addictions. 

READ MORE: Marijuana, cocaine, opioids: How to broach drug use with clients

Though on the decline, drug overdose remains a primary cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 44. Nearly 77,677 Americans died from drug overdose between February 2024 and January 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Even though financial advisors might not currently serve clients struggling with addiction issues, completing the educational modules can prepare them, should the situation arise.

How to identify clients who are in need

Michael Lewis, the chief behavioral officer and senior financial advisor at Cary, North Carolina-based Family Legacy Financial Solutions, said his family struggled to find the right medical assistance and cost effective strategy when his then 14-year-old son was suffering from addiction issues.

Lewis, who is also featured in the program’s second training segment, said the Recovery Within Reach modules could help advisors understand that they may find themselves at the front line of assisting clients in the early stages of addiction, guiding them to the appropriate assistance and financial management strategies throughout recovery.

Financial advisors should immediately inquire about unusual signs of financial activities that might indicate addiction, such as unexplained withdrawals and shifts in investment objectives, Lewis said. He added that while it’s understandable that clients might provide an alternative explanation of their activity, advisors should carefully assess whether those explanations are reasonable. 

“Don’t be judgmental. You need to be empathetic and understand who you’re talking to and be sensitive to the fact that they may be angry and defensive,” Lewis said. “Don’t launch into an attack, just be cognizant of your own tone.”

READ MORE: How advisors can help clients with opioid use disorder

Completing the modules could also help advisors increase awareness of other types of addiction, such as alcoholism and gambling. Oyauma Garrison, the CEO of Maryhaven, a nonprofit center that provides substance abuse treatment and other services, said that when advisors meet with clients, they should look for possible signs of substance use disorder, such as injection marks, distress, reddish eyes, significant weight loss and unusual smell. 

“It’s highly important for advisors to be alert, to be aware and then to be able to offer resources to their clients,” said Garrison, a former financial professional who is featured in two of the modules. “It’s not to be accusatory in any matter, but it is to be a good advocate.”

While it’s too early to assess the impact, Recovery Within Reach has set a goal of training 5,000 advisors — around the same number of lives Ohio lost to unintentional drug overdose in 2023 — to combat the stigma around addiction, Seidt said. 

“If we can create an ally in the financial advisory community for every person we lost, then you [can] imagine the good that that will do and how many client families might be saved,” she said.