What Is a Sober Living House?

Or maybe you’re going to start an outpatient program, but living at home isn’t a sober, supportive environment for you. Since Transcend’s goal is to help you with your clean and sober recovery journey, we provide and require residents random drug testing weekly in our sober living home. It’s also the best way to work on outpatient program general acceptance, one where the client still feels dignity and respect post-treatment. Different sober living offers varying comforts and luxuries that may help you determine the transitional housing program that is right for you. It should not be confused with on-site medical care or a treatment provider, as you don’t get any formal treatment here. Our experienced team of professionals is able to answer your questions regarding our sober living houses.

In a recent study by The Recovery Village, 44% of respondents reported abusing alcohol in an attempt to ease uncomfortable feelings that stem from underlying anxiety. Two additional measures were included as covariates because they assess factors emphasized by as important to recovery in SLHs. This measure was taken from Gerstein et al. (1994) and was defined as number of arrests over the past 6 months.

What is the difference between a sober house and a halfway house?

What happens post-treatment is vital in transitioning back to society and achieving long-term sobriety. This transition period is when sober living communities can be helpful. Research shows that living in a supportive and secure environment is crucial in recovery, making it an ongoing process even after completing an addiction program. However, the length of time you stay in a sober living home depends on many factors.

What’s the meaning of sober living?

Sober living is just like it sounds, a place to stay where you'll have a supportive community and can start your new life free from alcohol or other drugs. Residents in sober-living homes commit to abstaining from substance use while participating in outpatient programming or after completing inpatient drug rehab.

Although criminal justice referred residents had alcohol and drug use outcomes that were similar to other residents, they had a harder time finding and keeping work and had higher rearrest rates. Areas for further research include testing innovative interventions to improve criminal justice outcomes, such as Motivational Interviewing Case Management (MICM) and examining the community context of SLHs. Recognizing stakeholder views that hinder and support SLHs will be essential if they are to expand to better meet the housing needs of persons suffering from alcohol and drug disorders.

Freestanding SLHs

Most residents enter the houses after residing in a short term homeless shelter located near the program. At admission, nearly all residents are eligible for some type of government sober house assistance (e.g., general assistance or social security disability) and use those funds to pay SLH fees. To help limit social isolation and reduce costs residents share bedrooms.

Part of living in recovery is “showing up for life,” meaning doing things for yourself that make you a successful, contributing member of society. When in active addiction, we tend to ignore the things that make us successful. So when getting back on our feet and in recovery, cooking and cleaning for ourselves is part of a healthy recovery plan. First, if you’re recently leaving a rehab stay or have just wrapped up an outpatient program, a sober living facility may provide you with the structure you need. While a sober living house doesn’t offer individual or group counseling, it offers structure and support to help you maintain your sobriety.

Sober Living

To assess current psychiatric severity we used the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983). This 53-item measure assesses severity of psychiatric symptoms on nine clinical scales as well as three global indices. Items are rated on a 5-point scale and ask about symptoms over the past 7 days. We used the Global Severity Index (GSI) as an overall measure of psychiatric severity.

A treatment program that offers a high level of care, such as residential rehab, can help build a strong foundation for individuals seeking to recover from substance use problems. True recovery begins once an individual completes a treatment program and is ready to take on greater responsibility and independence for their sobriety. You get to choose the period or the days to leave, but usually, the length of stay is between 3 to 12 months, which offers ample time to regain your security in terms of employment and sobriety.

This type of “giving back” is consistent with a principle of recovery in 12-step groups. It often acts as a bridge between rehabilitation and preparing members to live independently – drug- and alcohol-free. While residents aren’t required to have completed a rehab program before entry, many of them have. The tools that individuals learn in intensive rehab programs may set them up for more sustainable success in a sober living house. This support system allows residents to avoid the isolation that can sometimes come with returning home while in recovery.

Finances can be crucial in determining the best plan for your recovery. However, sober living houses are not covered under insurance since they do not provide treatment services and thus aren’t considered rehabilitative facilities. They are environments free of substance abuse where individuals can receive support from peers who are also in recovery.