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

We successfully own and operate several sober houses in Texas and Colorado that are adequately serving the needs of men and women who are recovering from addiction. Many people benefit from residing in a sober living house after completing treatment, but you don’t have to make this decision alone. Those searching for the right sober living home should look for facilities with reputable staff, and a safe and productive living environment and culture.

There is no time limit on how long someone can live in a sober living house. While meeting attendance and household duties may be required, there isn’t regimented treatment programming present in the home. Sober living houses are often recommended for folks finishing up a drug rehabilitation program.Leaving the structure of a treatment program can be jarring, sometimes triggering a relapse. As such, sober living houses serve as a space to transition into a life without addiction, developing tools and community while getting used to the demands of daily life. Developing a social network that supports ongoing sobriety is also an important component of the recovery model used in SLHs. Residents are encouraged to provide mutual support and encouragement for recovery with fellow peers in the house. Those who have been in the house the longest and who have more time in recovery are especially encouraged to provide support to new residents.

Rules & Regulations of a Sober Living House

Whether it is a non-profit or private venture, a sober living home is a fully operational organization with customers, personnel, regulations, financial transactions and more. Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Finally, a transitional housing center with a sobriety requirement could be of great help if you’re struggling with housing insecurity, mainly due to addiction struggles.

• They help you to transition back into the community after intensive inpatient services and to learn to live independently without the use of drugs and/or alcohol.
• Some may have had negative experiences in treatment and therefore seek out alternative paths to recovery.
• It is difficult to ascertain the exact number because they are not formal treatment programs and are therefore outside the purview of state licensing agencies.
• A second issue is financing the houses, which often includes government funding.
• As a writer, she focuses on mental health disparities and uses critical race theory as her preferred theoretical framework.

Our purpose here is to summarize the most salient and relevant findings for SLHs as a community based recovery option. We then expand on the findings by considering potential implications of SLHs for treatment and criminal justice systems. We also include a discussion of our plans to study the community context of SLHs, which will depict how stakeholder influences support and hinder their operations and potential for expansion. Join our newsletter to be part of a community of people with shared experiences.

Trusted & Approved Addiction Treatment Center

First, you will need to systematically evaluate your current state as well as your vision for your sober living home in the future. This includes identifying priorities, organizational processes, and necessary resources to meet the needs of staff and residents. Try to choose a quality sober living home located outside of your hometown as well. Being farther away from the environment that initially drove an addiction can help individuals avoid relapse. Someone’s family and friends could become a barrier to recovery, or may even trigger relapse. Conversely, having a change of scenery and being safely away from temptation can facilitate faster healing. In the late 1940s, some AA members decided to fill this pressing need by acquiring low-cost housing that required strict sobriety and encouraged residents to attend AA meetings.

Residents may not have to pay for utilities at all, making housing very affordable. Those living in a sober living house are serious about their recovery. The goal is to transition to an independent lifestyle – free of substance abuse and addiction. Anyone who wants to stop drinking alcohol or using drugs should consider joining a sober living community. Many residents complete a rehabilitation program prior to approaching a sober living home, but this is not mandatory. If you have already gone through rehab, but you’re not quite ready to live independently, this type of facility may be an excellent fit for you. If this route sounds more like what you’re needing right now, you’ll be living in a home with other people, typically of your gender, all of which have completed their addiction treatment.

Sober living houses

You will be given a place to live and to focus on yourself, without temptation from old drug-using friends, old hang-out spots, and other environmental relapse triggers. Let’s say you or a loved one has almost completed an alcohol or other drug addiction treatment program.

This is particularly concerning because our analysis of criminal justice offenders in SLHs showed alcohol and drug outcomes that were similar to residents who entered the houses voluntarily. Aftercare plans are programs designed to facilitate long-term sobriety for people who have graduated from formal treatment programs. Research shows that individuals who remain in treatment programs longer tend to have lower rates of relapse down the road. Researchers speculate that this is because treating addiction is a lifelong process, and learning to implement the tools necessary to get relief takes time. A sober living home acts as a supplement to an individual’s recovery. It is an alternative to going from an immersive care environment straight to a totally unstructured environment at home.

Financial help from family or friends

Other referral sources may include the criminal justice system, a mental health professional, Twelve Step meeting participants, or friends and family. Whatever the source of the referral, take a tour of the facility and talk to the people living there to decide if it’s the right fit for you. 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.