What It Is Like Living in a Sober House: A Complete Guide

Recovering from addiction is a long and arduous process, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t resources to help along the way. Many people think addiction can be solved simply by going to a treatment facility and completing the program. While recovery is possible, it often takes much more than just a treatment program. For that reason, sober living homes are an important next step once a person has completed their initial treatment. The benefits of sober living homes are numerous, from providing a secure environment during the early stages of recovery to setting up healthy habits that will support lifelong sobriety.

This supportive environment is comfortable and ideal for people trying to reintegrate into society.
At Creekside Recovery Residences, we’re committed to not just having our clients find a safe sober living to live, but to create sustainable change as they acclimate back to life without substances.

Sober living houses and halfway houses offer a multitude of benefits to those seeking long-term recovery. They carry over into the residents daily schedule to help implement positive habits that they can continue using long after they move on to fully independent living. 14 Reasons Being Sober Makes Your Life Better Different than an outpatient treatment program, sober living houses provide a drug free living environment alongside inpatient treatment. A halfway house is normally more affordable, which helps individuals save money and take time to establish themselves back into work.

Benefits of Out-of-State Sober Living Programs

Phase I lasts 30 to 90 days and is designed to provide some limits and structure for new residents. Residents must agree to abide by a curfew and attend at 12-step meetings five times per week. The purpose of these requirements is to help residents successfully transition into the facility, adapt to the SLH environment, and develop a stable recovery program. Most sober living environments provide separate homes for men and women.

It’s important to understand how do sober living homes work in concert with other rehabilitation centers and programs so that a comprehensive treatment plan can be implemented. Some are on the campus where drug and alcohol addiction treatment is provided, and others are independent homes, apartments or condos. The number of residents depends on the size of the home or licensed beds in a facility. In most sober-living environments, bedrooms are shared, but some do provide individual rooms. Typically, there are rules about shared living spaces and individual room maintenance and chores, visitor hours, meal times, curfews and Twelve Step meeting requirements.

How to Stay Sober

If they leave too early, their chances of relapsing increase significantly. Others may limit or restrict cell phone and internet access because they can act as triggers that could lead to relapse. In the United States, 60.1% of individuals ages 12 and older use at least one substance (like tobacco, alcohol, or an illicit drug), according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Regular drug-testing is another necessity, and that also goes without saying. Not having one is a warning sign that the home isn’t giving that much importance to the recovery of their patients. By Buddy T

Buddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.

Without these guidelines in place, there wouldn’t be much support or structure, which is the whole point of living in a substance abuse halfway house or sober living home instead of on your own. Lack of a stable, supportive environment is a major obstacle to returning addicts to a life of sustained sobriety. Sober living homes are one good option for families https://en.forexdata.info/alcoholic-ketoacidosis-statpearls-ncbi-bookshelf/ and friends looking to help loved ones make it successfully through treatment. The objective of a sober living home is to remove the individual from a destructive environment and instead create a new supportive social network. There are a wide variety of types of sober living homes available, including small group homes and larger group complexes.

So, how do sober living homes work, anyway? What even are they?

12 Steps programs tend to be the most common support group in sober living. Support groups serve as the backbone for rejoining the community in a healthy way. These support positive social connections beyond SLHs to maintain lifelong sobriety. Neither type of program is the same as a residential inpatient program.

The idea of living in a sober home is to free oneself from the clutches of drug addiction, but with more independence. With that being said, location plays an important role in decision making. Patients are required to pay a certain amount of rent and other corresponding fees. Join the thousands of people that have called a treatment provider for rehab information. Most people who make their way into recovery have left a lot of pain and suffering in their wake.

Lack of Drug-Testing Procedures

Ultimately, sober living is a great choice for those in early recovery. It is considered part of the early recovery stages and precedes an individual’s steps into full sobriety. Sober living program may last around 6 to over a year but recovery lasts a lifetime. The structure of sober living tends to run in phases of increasing independence.

With a safe place to return every night, your child continues to engage with their sober community and receive the support and guidance necessary to living a successful sober life. While one person may be ready to re-enter society after three months, others may benefit from staying longer. Overall, sober living homes are less restrictive and help you transition to independence. Sober living programs also offer longer stays than inpatient treatment facilities. Residential treatment programs are much more structured and intensive than those in sober living houses. Think of sober living as your support net as you practice new skills, gain new insight and shape your new life in recovery with other people who are possibly facing the same challenges.

You might seek these services if behavior therapies such as CBT or DBT make sense for you. Higher levels are more intense as the degree of addiction is more life-threatening. The intensity declines as an individual comes closer to early recovery.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 90 days of treatment is a fair general starting point for people beginning a recovery journey, regardless of treatment type.
Sober living homes are places where people in recovery can live for a while, typically after an inpatient treatment program.
However, the word is often used in different ways in different contexts.
SLH only require residents to maintain sobriety and timely payments on residential fees.
The more strategies you learn to identify triggers, cope with stress, and manage your new sober life, the easier it is to prevent relapse.