When you sign up for inpatient addiction treatment, you’ve decided to devote at least 30 days to intensive addiction work in the form of therapy, education, and other recovery-related activities. You’ll work hard to explore your relationship to alcohol and other drugs. Your highest risk for relapse is during the transition from treatment to home. Sober houses, or halfway houses, are transitional living facilities that help you adjust slowly to being back in your daily life.
Sober Housing Models
Sober houses are generally large, single-family homes and don’t usually house more than 15-20 residents. Individuals may require varying lengths of stay to transition to home. Some residents find a long-term stay of six or more months to be helpful.
The rules, activities and amenities between sober houses can vary quite a bit. Halfway houses Waldorf MD would offer may be entirely different from sober living facilities on the West Coast. Some houses have strict curfews and structured activities, while others are more flexible and emphasize independence.
Transitional Living Benefits
While inpatient treatment is challenging, it is relatively easy to stay clean and sober while in a structured treatment community. You are kept busy, and someone is cooking for you and driving you around. After this high level of support, it is not recommended you attempt to re-enter your unstructured home environment without a transition.
A stay at a sober house allows you to begin moving through life on your own again while returning “home” to a supportive group of recovering individuals. You will generally drive yourself to appointments, cook meals and negotiate house chores with residents.
The newer you are to sobriety, the higher your relapse risk. Your chances of staying clean and sober are greatly enhanced by the community living environment sober housing offers. The ability to adjust slowly to increasing amounts of freedom is the key to the transition from residential treatment to your daily home routine.