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What is the Role of a Sober Living Home in Recovery?

May 17, 2022
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Home » What is the Role of a Sober Living Home in Recovery?

A sober living facility functions as a transition between a rehab facility and everyday life. If you or someone close to you is transitioning out of rehab, a sober living home might be the next step. It can be especially beneficial if:

  • Your home environment is not a supported one, and you need a place where you can apply the tools learned in rehab to maintain sobriety. 
  • Due to criminal charges or loss of job, you do not currently have a residence and need a safe place to live.

But what is a sober living house, and what does it entail?

 

What Does Sober Living Mean?

Sober living means just that: living a sober life. A sober living facility bridges the gap between overcoming addiction and returning to complete independence.

 

What is the Role of a Sober Living Home in Recovery?

Sober living can be difficult for people who leave rehab, having physically kicked their addiction, only to return to their home or the home of friends and family who also use drugs and alcohol, who don’t support the decision to get clean, or where the local environment is full of triggers or pressure to use again.

A sober living home is sometimes referred to as a halfway house. This is because people who stay there are effectively halfway between Laguna Beach addiction rehab centers and full independence, moving closer toward the independence end of that spectrum.

So what is the role of a sober living facility in recovery? 

A place to live

Firstly, a sober living house is a place to live. 

There are plenty of situations where drug addiction leads to criminal charges, job loss, financial strain, and even short-term homelessness. They can also make it challenging to get a new place to live, especially when landlords look at any history of criminal charges or joblessness and turn you away. Whatever the circumstances, they can make it challenging to have a place you can live when you leave rehab successfully. 

If you are clean but still struggling for the first time to avoid a relapse, it can be very challenging to maintain complete independence a mere 30 days or 60 days after being heavily addicted to drugs. 

So, if family members are not willing or able to help, or they have small children and don’t want anyone with the potential for relapse in their home, finding a safe place to live that still gives you some support and helps you move toward living on your own can be difficult. 

But a sober living facility is a safe place you can turn to that won’t have the same pressures the same potential triggers, and doesn’t turn you away just because of problems in your past.

A place with rules

A sober living home has rules. With sober living, you can adjust to an unstructured environment, where you have your freedom, but you also choose to do what is best.

The structure and requirements for sobriety can help you stay the course. You still have the opportunity to leave, something you might not have had during your initial inpatient rehab, but you are required to attend certain meetings and be home by a certain time, with no drugs or alcohol on the property.

A place with support

A sober living home can give you many opportunities through a support structure. 

This support structure can extend to ongoing education or getting a job, but it also takes the form of social support. When you live in a halfway house, you have a network of other people who are struggling just as you are, who can talk to you about negative feelings you might harbor toward yourself and how to continue using the skills you picked up in rehab.

A place to reinforce sober lessons

The rules about attending meetings go a long way toward ensuring you still participate in your ongoing care. 

It also gives you a chance to reinforce the sober lessons you learned in rehab, particularly things like life skills, anger management, coping mechanisms, and more.

 

How to Find Sober Living Facilities in Southern California

If you need to find a sober living facility or aftercare in Southern California, one of the best ways is to use the rehab center already providing help. Places like Laguna View Detox can help you after overcoming your initial detox program by providing aftercare, including locating a sober living facility. When you use our help, we can work with you to answer questions about insurance coverage or funding from state programs and availability and expectations for different sober living homes.

Let Laguna View Detox help you find a sober living home after rehab. Contact us today to learn more about our inpatient rehab programs in Southern California, and how aftercare and sober living can be used after treatment ends.

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