FAQS
WHAT IS A SOBER HOUSE?
A sober house, also known as a recovery house, recovery living, or sober living, serves as a safe transition between a residential facility and your next step returning to life on your own. This could mean your life with your spouse or partner, children, parents, or out on your own. Returning to your previous relationships and situations can be an overwhelming prospect without the necessary support to help you prepare. Sober living homes offer an in-between recovery option that allows you to practice and build on the recovery skills you learned in your residential stay.
​
Allowing yourself sober living home after treatment may be the SIGNIFICANT difference between going back to your old addictive behaviors and triggers versus continuing your RECOVERY JOURNEY.
​
It doesn’t provide the same level of structure as a residential facility. It offers an intermediate sober environment that encourages residents to develop healthy coping skills and recovery habits for when they return home.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN A SOBER HOME?
Residents aren’t bound to the sober living home’s campus as you may have been in treatment. You may come and go as you please. This allows you, in recovery, to feel like you are easing back into normal life and can start going back to daily tasks and responsibilities. Although sober living homes are less restrictive than residential facilities, they still have rules that residents must abide by, including curfews, household cleaning chores, and house and recovery meeting attendance.
​
There are many benefits to staying in a sober-living home, including attending intensive outpatient programs, outpatient programs, individual therapy, and 12-step meetings. The home structure helps you to develop or re-establish your accountability. You create a sober fellowship. A big benefit of staying in a sober living home is creating positive friendships that help to reinforce the desire to recovery and stay away from defeating behaviors including illicit drugs and alcohol.
HOW DO SOBER HOMES IMPROVE RECOVERY?
A sober living home helps your recovery in lots of ways:
Adjust to sober living in an unstructured environment.
Find a job.
Locate housing after treatment.
Develop your sober community.
Participate in intensive outpatient, outpatient, or individual treatment.
Reunite with friends and family members affected by your substance abuse in a safe and sustainable manner.
Follow a carefully designed aftercare plan, including a relapse prevention plan created in therapy or outpatient treatment.
to identify triggers that may entice you to use once you are living in the community again.
practice healthy coping skills
create a list of emergency contact numbers in times of high-stress or high-cravings/urges to use. This way you will have a plan of action for what to do during these times.
HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT SOBER HOME FOR ME?
Finding A Sober Living Home
It is highly recommended that you interview the house manager before moving in to get a feel for the home’s culture, expectations, and house rules. Make sure you feel it is a good fit for you and your recovery. Sober homes should be certified, which means they have successfully completed a thorough inspection by the certifying agency, their policies, practices, and physical environment that meet or exceed national best-practices, standards of care.
​
When To Move to a Sober Living Home
You move into a sober living home after your stay at a residential facility. Most live in a sober home for at least 6-9 months. You are welcome to stay as long as you like or need to. Many stay as long as several years because they enjoy the community, fellowship, and recovery way of living.