Sober Living vs Halfway House

The purpose of these requirements is to help residents successfully transition into the facility, adapt to the SLH environment, and develop a stable recovery program. This is because such activities help former inmates repair the relationships that they had before they were arrested. Now let’s compare the benefits of a halfway house vs. sober living home.

• They vary in type, but all operate under the premise of offering a substance-free space for people in recovery.
• This helps keep the environment (and expectations) as consistent as possible.
• Recovery and sober living homes can empower individuals to get the help they need, and the aftercare required to complete rehabilitation.
• Interviews will elicit their knowledge about addiction, recovery, and community based recovery houses such as SLHs.
• Residential housing includes a sober living arrangement, where individuals must maintain a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle and access support services like counseling, therapy, and 12-step meetings.

Recovery journeys can be long and involve several attempts in order for people to resolve their problems. Treatment can be part of this for many, but there are multiple factors outside of treatment that also influence outcomes. The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers is a nonprofit professional society designed to offer support to organizations across the continuum of care. IOP is primarily geared towards those who don’t need medical detoxification or 24-hour supervision. Regarding treatment, ongoing therapy or a support group is an absolute must.

PARTIAL CARE PROGRAM

In most sober-living environments, bedrooms are shared, but some do provide individual rooms. Typically, there are rules about shared living spaces and individual room maintenance and chores, visitor hours, meal times, curfews and Twelve Step meeting requirements. Also like other sober-living environments, halfway houses generally have systems in place to keep residents sober, and drugs tests are usually administered to monitor for any substance use. They also often come with additional mental health, medical, recovery or educational services that help people get accustomed to their new lives. If you struggle with substance abuse, getting sober may be one of the hardest things you ever do. Many alcoholics and drug addicts start recovery by entering a medical facility to safely detox from their drug of choice.

SLHs have their origins in the state of California and most continue to be located there (Polcin & Henderson, 2008). 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. Over 24 agencies affiliated with CAARR offer clean and sober living services.

What does Desert Cove offer AFTER my initial treatment program is complete?

Peer support is always necessary for recovery, but the first few weeks, months, and years of sobriety are often the most vulnerable. It’s not uncommon to wonder how long you should stay at a sober living home, especially if this is your first recovery experience. However, instead of focusing on the length of your stay, it’s more important to take note of the benefits you’re receiving and how those are currently affecting your life in recovery. For those who decide to spend some time in a substance abuse halfway house, there will be plenty of benefits. To answer the question of “how do sober living homes work” doesn’t really require splitting hairs between these different types of residences, so we’ve elected to treat them as one collective type of program.

However, Residential Housing is more structured and supervised, and in addition to fostering sobriety, also provides additional resources such as counseling, therapy, and access to 12-step programs. We’ll go over the different types of people who typically benefit from a sober living situation or substance abuse halfway house in a later section. For right now, just know that if any of this sounds appealing, look into it. If you’re interested in a substance abuse halfway house, you should ask the professionals working with you about them.

Length of Stay in a Transitional Sober Living Home

Second is to expand on these findings by considering potential implications of our research for inpatient and outpatient treatment and for criminal justice systems. We also describe plans to conduct studies of resident subgroups, such as individuals referred from the criminal justice system. One difference between sober house and halfway house is that halfway houses host individuals that have just been released from prison or jail that also likely are in recovery from substance addictions. Sober houses on the other hand only host individuals that are newly recovered from substance addictions. There are several similarities between halfway houses and sober living homes.

If you’re on the fence about which direction to go, we’re here to share some of the benefits that sober living homes have to offer you after treatment. After completing detox and residential treatment in a facility, most people feel excited to get back to the comfort of their own homes. They want to be surrounded by the familiar, including family and friends. Some residents might find that they are prepared to leave after just a few months.

Difference Between Sober House and Halfway House

There are many sober living residents who have graduated from the program, but they are from different parts of the US. Today, the majority of sober living homes in Los Angeles make use of the peer support that Oxford Houses pioneered, while managers exercise leadership to support residents’ journeys toward long-term sobriety. Our mission is to foster long-term sobriety by creating a supportive environment where house members participate in each other’s recovery. We encourage everyone to reinforce positive lifestyle changes through adventure, support, and peer feedback. 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. These became the first sober houses in California – some of which are still operating today.

You will re-build important life skills – from something as simple as doing laundry, to more difficult obligations like finding employment – and re-establish personal responsibility. Another benefit of attending a sober house is that sober houses don’t specify the amount of time that their patients can reside there. This is different from halfway houses which often court-order their residents to live there for designated amounts of time.

If you’re receiving formal treatment, like partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient, you’ll attend your sessions at a treatment center and return to your recovery home at night. If you’re not in a treatment program through a treatment facility, you may Selecting the Most Suitable Sober House for Addiction Recovery be attending 12-step meetings in the community or another group. Sober living homes offer a looser structure than a residential treatment program. This allows residents to come and go as they please so they can maintain their jobs and other obligations.