Sober living houses, also called halfway houses, allow people in recovery to live together as they face the challenge of staying sober.
There will be staff on-hand to supervise and ensure the environment remains free of addictive substances.
Most people go to sober living houses after finishing treatment at residential rehab. It’s a great middle ground between being in treatment and being at home.
Residents can get back to their normal life (e.g., work and family) without losing the community support they had at rehab.
Some people opt for sober living in addiction treatment while they are working through an outpatient programme. As these programmes are less intensive, being in a sober living facility provides the extra accountability and stability many people in recovery need.
With this stability comes expectations. Residents of halfway houses must follow house rules. This can be too restrictive for some people, but it’s generally beneficial as it lowers the risk of relapse.
There are usually rules against substance-related behaviours such as using drugs and using particular toiletries. However, there are also rules in place to keep the sober living house structured, such as chores, curfews and bans on violence.
When residents are living in a halfway house, they are often encouraged to work on rebuilding their life with the support of the staff and residents in the house.
This may look like committing to sobriety, applying to jobs and/or going to work, and attending meetings with self-help group providers such as Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous.
Sober living is beneficial to many people struggling with drug or alcohol addiction. It provides the extra support and accountability that may be lacking in the often-lonely pursuit of sobriety.
This type of addiction treatment can help people with various substance and behavioural addictions; it is not just for people with alcoholism.
Whether you have struggled with cocaine, acid, prescription medication, opioids, gaming, sex, or any other addiction, you could benefit from living in a sober house.
It may be particularly useful for someone to go to a halfway house if they live alone. The lack of family support can make sobriety more difficult, and it’s much easier to give into a relapse when you can hide it from the people around you.
People with co-occurring mental health conditions may also find sober living houses to be effective. These individuals do not only have to contend with getting sober, but also dealing with their other mental health condition(s), and additional support can make this more manageable.
If you have been to rehab and you appreciated the atmosphere, this is a good indicator that you would thrive in a sober environment. The motivation that comes with being in a pro-abstinence environment can be found in a sober living home just as much as in a rehab facility.
In order to benefit from this lifestyle, it’s imperative that you are dedicated to staying sober after rehab.
Otherwise, not only would the atmosphere not be appropriate for you, but you could inadvertently make other residents feel uninspired as they attempt to maintain their sobriety.
Many people in addiction recovery feel as though the people around them cannot provide them with the support they need.
Even if they are lucky enough to have caring family and friends, they may want to connect with people who truly understand what recovery from addiction is like.
Sober living houses provide this option, as they bring together groups of people who are all choosing sobriety after struggling with drug or alcohol addiction. This can help each individual feel as though their experiences are valid, and they will not be judged for any setbacks.
For people who lost a sense of community when they got sober, sober living in addiction treatment can revive this.
Many people build their social circle on a foundation of drinking or taking drugs, and when they step away from this, they find that they are isolated.
By living with other people who are tee-total, people recovering from addiction can experience great friendships without having to immerse themselves in an unhealthy lifestyle.
Connecting with others based on shared challenges can lead to strong friendships that carry us through difficult times.
Inpatient rehab can be unrealistic in terms of real-life sobriety and independent living. Group therapy and individual therapy are excellent tools, but they do not give patients a real picture of the challenges they will face when they complete their treatment plan.
For example, the most common time to relapse is in the first year after finishing rehab. This tells us that people in recovery are experiencing immense challenges at this time, many of which they may have not been prepared for even after intense treatment.
In sober living houses, residents can slowly integrate back into the ‘real world’ with the support of staff, which lowers the risk of relapse.
Instead of going from a room full of support to a quiet home full of temptation, the person with addiction can reach out to many different people for support without having to leave their home.
No sober living house is the same, so you could end up moving into a house that isn’t as pro-abstinence as you would like, or doesn’t provide the right level of support for you.
While some homes employ a wide range of healthcare professionals and addiction specialists, others are more of a free-for-all with no staff members present.
If you do your research, you can find a sober living home that provides you with exactly what you need in recovery. Rehab 4 Addiction can guide you towards sober homes that have great success rates, diverse personnel, and impressive reviews.
Some people process their emotions better when they have time to themselves. In a sober living house, this type of person may feel overwhelmed due to regular socialising.
This could ultimately cause them to lose faith in the sobriety journey, as they may confuse the overwhelm with a lack of motivation to recover from addiction.
It is possible to manage this by choosing a sober living home that is small and close-knit. Just because you live with other people doesn’t mean you would be expected to socialise with them every day.
You would also be encouraged to make plans outside the home, such as work and hobbies, so you wouldn’t be spending all of your time with your fellow residents.
Sometimes, when one resident relapses in a sober living home, it has a knock-on effect on the other patients. If there isn’t a system in place for when this happens, it can have the opposite effect on most sober living homes in that it increases the risk of relapse.
This is why it’s extremely important to find an established sober living house that is familiar with the potential risks of people living together in recovery.
In highly successful homes, the staff will make the most of the advantages of sober living, and manage the potential disadvantages.
We can refer you for support at any stage of your recovery journey. If you have never been in treatment for addiction before, we can make a referral to inpatient rehab, outpatient rehab, or a home detox provider.
For patients who have finished rehab and would like to move into a sober living home, we will do our best to find a suitable option in your area.
Simply call us on 0800 140 4690 and tell us exactly what you’re looking for. We can offer expert tips if sober living is completely new to you.
Below, we have included answers to common questions about sober living housing:
Most sober living houses will require residents to attend 12-step (or fellowship) meetings as part of their recovery from addiction. This provides residents with additional accountability and support, which is never a bad idea.
Even if your halfway house does not ask you to do this, we would recommend that you find a self-help group that works for you.
There is always the option to go with a well-known provider such as SMART Recovery or Alcoholics Anonymous. However, you could also find a specialist group in your area that deals with particular mental health issues, specific substance use disorders etc.
The recommendation for people with drug or alcohol addiction is to spend at least 90 days in a sober living home. This is enough time for residents to adapt to the new setting, gain useful skills for coping with sobriety, and form new habits that will help them to avoid relapse.
This doesn’t mean that 90 days is the optimal length of stay. Studies show that sober living house residents show improvement in substance use, work, arrests and psychiatric symptoms after a period of six months in a halfway house (1).
If you are able to dedicate this length of time to sober living, you will have a better chance of remaining sober for the rest of your life.
You can stay in most sober living houses for as long as you want to. Long-term stays may provide you with the tools you need to eventually tackle life more independently.
However, keep in mind that you will be paying more to stay in the house long-term, and it may interfere with your personal plans e.g., living with a partner.
Relapse can happen for a range of reasons, so there is no solution that suits everyone. While it is true that relapse rates are lower among people who are in sober living, this doesn’t mean that the alternative is always a disaster.
You could keep your relapse rate low in other ways, such as going to regular self-help meetings, keeping in touch with your rehab centre, going to therapy and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
It’s also important to remember that people in sober homes also relapse. You shouldn’t feel ashamed if you end up in this situation.
No matter what type of treatment you have and how far along you are in your sobriety, there is always a chance that you will reach for drugs and alcohol again.
Fortunately, if you have plenty of support around you, you can stay motivated to get sober once more.
You don’t need to share the same addiction as someone else to support them in their recovery, and vice versa.
Sober living house residents will understand what it feels like to be under the influence, to deal with cravings, to struggle with family issues etc. They don’t need to have taken the same drug as you to relate to this.
It may even be validating to meet people in the sober living community who are struggling with a variety of addictions. It shows you that drug dependency is widespread, and it isn’t something that you have chosen to struggle with.
That said, if you do want to meet people who are battling your specific addiction, you may be able to find a relevant self-help group. This will be easier for more common substances (e.g., Cocaine Anonymous for cocaine dependency or addiction).
There are male sober living houses and female sober living houses if you feel more comfortable living with the same sex.
In some cases, this helps residents to feel more comfortable in their homes, which ultimately makes it easier for them to dive into the long-term recovery process.
If you don’t mind living in a mixed-sex environment, you will find plenty of halfway houses that cater for both men and women.
When you decide to move into a sober living house, you will receive guidance on the house rules and expectations. This will tell you how long you are allowed to stay, and what the process is for leaving early.
Most sober living houses will allow you to leave whenever you want to, as you are paying to be there. However, we encourage you to seek advice before leaving, as many residents occasionally want to leave, but this feeling passes.
If you end up leaving early, make sure you have plenty of coping mechanisms ready.
Reach out to your loved ones and explain that you may need extra support, inform your workplace, and avoid getting back in touch with people who influence you to use drugs or alcohol.
Many sober living houses provide therapy as part of the experience. You could have mindfulness sessions, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), or other psychological therapies that help with long-term sobriety.
If your house doesn’t offer therapy, there are many other ways to access it. People who have received inpatient treatment at rehab can usually get therapy for at least 12 months as part of their aftercare programme.
You can also find outpatient treatment sessions or private therapists who understand addiction.
You will be expected to be sober before going into sober housing. This is why most patients go straight from residential rehab to a halfway house.
Sober living houses are not designed to take people from the peak of their addiction to sobriety. Instead, they serve to guide patients as they maintain the sobriety that they have already established.
This means that staff at sober homes would not be equipped to help you if you hadn’t yet taken the step to get sober. At this stage, the best place to go is private drug or alcohol rehab.
Yes, there is often support for the families of people in sober living houses. They may be able to access coaching sessions, therapy and educational sessions about addiction.
This ensures sober living house residents can stay connected to their families as they recover. It also helps families to reconnect after distancing themselves due to struggling with their loved one’s drug addiction.
[1] A Clean and Sober Place to Live: Philosophy, Structure, and Purported Therapeutic Factors in Sober Living Houses https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2556949/
