Do Sober Houses Ever Work With Outpatient Centers?

Individuals living in sober houses can easily attend outpatient treatment while doing so, and in fact, certain outpatient centers and sober homes work together to ensure recovering individuals have access to beneficial and effective treatment as well as safe and affordable housing in a drug- and alcohol-free environment.

Options, Recovery Services and Other Programs

According to a study in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, the Options Recover Services or ORS “is an outpatient substance abuse treatment program located in Berkeley, California that treats approximately 800 clients per year.” This program mostly treats individuals from low-income areas with little to no financial stability. Many of the patients, in fact, were homeless, until the program created sober living homes where patients could stay during treatment. “The houses are different from freestanding sober living homes… because all residents must be involved in the outpatient program.”

This is the kind of hand-in-hand work that can be done between sober houses and outpatient programs. Patients attend treatment in the outpatient center, able to receive the kind of professional care that doctors, nurses, licensed counselors, and other healthcare workers can provide, but they do not need to incur the costs usually associated with inpatient programs. In addition, they can stay in a facility that provides drug-free accommodations among other recovering addicts.

Is This a Common Situation?

Unfortunately, outpatient centers rarely work hand in hand with sober houses.

Unfortunately, not as many programs exist that have the kind of connection that ORS and its sober homes have. For the most part, these two types of facilities do not work together as directly as those discussed above to ensure that residents and/or patients are able to receive the benefit of the other type of facility.

According to another study from the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, “Only 12% of residents [of Clean and Sober Transitional Living facilities, another affiliation that operates sober houses] reported attending outpatient psychotherapy sessions,” and “attendance in formal outpatient addiction treatment programs was also low, with 80% reporting no alcohol or drug treatment during the first 6 month assessment period.”

Can I Find a Facility that Does Provide This Kind of Help?

Even though most sober homes do not work directly with outpatient centers in their areas, the call for this type of treatment is becoming stronger. Because many people use sober houses as an alternative to traditional treatment, it has become a higher priority for these facilities to provide some sort of interaction with medical professionals for residents and to help them receive the best treatment for their needs.

You can find some sober living homes that work with outpatient centers and, if you cannot find a particular facility that works with these programs directly, most will at least refer you to a program that can benefit you. Call 1-888-460-6556 today to find sober homes in your area or to find out more about how these facilities can be helpful to your recovery. Especially if you are looking to attend outpatient care, a sober living home may be the right step for you, allowing you to receive recovery help on an outpatient and a residential level in a different way.

Can I get Medical Care in a Sober House?