El'Anya Nightingale
El’Anya (L’Anya) Nightingale is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor I at Discovery Counseling, Inc., which serves clients with offices in Corvallis, Lincoln City, Newport and Waldport, Oregon and surrounding areas. After completing a two-year counseling internship and earning her CADC I certification, she now works as a facilitator of change in an outpatient treatment setting, supporting people with substance abuse issues from all walks of life, both self-referred and mandated to treatment, as they begin and learn to deepen their recovery journeys. Her approach is grounded in compassion, accountability, and a deep respect for each individual’s capacity for transformation. With more than 25 years of continuous sobriety, El’Anya’s professional path is inseparable from her lived experience in long-term recovery. She began her career in the peer support movement, progressing from Peer Support Specialist to Certified Recovery Mentor before completing over 1,000 hours of supervised clinical training and formal addiction studies. Her earlier work includes advocacy and education with Friends of Recovery Vermont, mentoring in women’s Oxford Houses, and counseling roles in both Vermont and Oregon—experiences that shaped her recovery-oriented, peer-informed philosophy of care. In parallel with her clinical work, El’Anya spent a few years as Director and Minister of The Center for the Study of God’s Living Heart, where she provided spiritual advising, teaching, and program development for individuals and communities across the country. She is deeply devoted to helping others discover their inherent God-Consciousness and integrate spiritual awareness with healing and personal growth. El'Anya has also volunteered her time and effort to her passion projects; helping women to heal and recover through the Clearwater Project and helping people in recovery from substance use and mental health issues reach resources throughout the state of Oregon through her work with Peer Galaxy, a huge peer-led information calendar and clearinghouse (www.peergalaxy.com). Outside of work, El’Anya enjoys jewelry making with semi-precious stones, gardening, retreats, and meaningful time with her recovery community—living what she defines as success each day: sobriety, service, and presence.
• CADC1
• The Center for Addiction Study and Research
• Friends of Recovery Vermont
• Oxford House
• The Center for the Study of God's Living Heart
• Peer Galaxy
• The Clearwater Project
• Vermont Senate Office, James M. Jeffords (I-VT-D'Cd)
• Oxford House of Barre, VT
• Peer Galaxy
• Clearwater Project
What do you attribute your success to?
I contribute my success to an internal drive to be the best version of myself that I can be every day, and to unfold that version in as helpful of a manner that I can, so as to be of service and support to as many humans as I can. I have also had a lot of help from many angels and helpers along my own path, and I am eternally grateful to everyone who has ever given me a hand up.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Just keep moving forward, no matter what.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If you have lived experience, I strongly recommend beginning with Peer Support Specialist training and exploring Certified Recovery Mentor pathways, as they provide a solid foundation rooted in empathy, practical skills, and real-world understanding. If you do not have lived experience, I encourage pursuing comprehensive classroom education combined with extensive supervised clinical hours to build the knowledge, structure, and professional confidence necessary for effective and ethical practice.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in my field right now is the lack of external supportive resources for and the habitual relapse of some of our clients. The best opportunities lie in that addiction is a continuous, growing problem and there is always room for and the need for new counselors and clinicians.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important work values for me are the sharing of my lived experience and authenticity with and for my clients. It is imperative that a clinician be as forthcoming and genuine as they can be, no matter what their actual experiences with addiction are. This is called, "meeting clients where they're at" and then helping them to move forward in their individual recovery.
In my personal life, I live with integrity and Spirit, and I have a completely dialed-in moral compass these days that keeps me "on the Beam", as I like to call it.
