Sober Living Environment

When people think of sober living houses, they often think of run down houses with strung out addicts lying around in filth. However, this is the complete opposite picture of a sober living environment. A sober living house is a place where people come to live for a period of time before trying to step back into their every day hectic lives. These houses have their own rules and require their residents to pay rent and perform chores.

What Are Sober Living Environments Like?

For those imagining a sober living house to be a run down mess, they will be pleasantly surprised. Sober living homes provide a drug free environment with cared for and clean facilities. Residents are expected to perform daily chores to keep the residence clean- from cleaning up the kitchen after use to scrubbing down the communal bathroom. In all sober living environments, residents are expected to keep their rooms clean. They are also expected to keep themselves clean: clean clothing and showers are required.

If you are imagining a dormitory with single rooms, you would also be incorrect. All sober living facilities require the residents to have at least one roommate. This includes sober living homes for executives and celebrities. Many sober living homes are not co-ed, so the environment will be made up of all women or all men except for the rare few facilities.

What Are the Rules in a Sober Living House?

If you’re thinking about entering a sober living environment, you need to be aware of the standard rules of many sober living houses, as well as the penalties that are attached. Nearly all sober houses have the same three major rules:

• Zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol
• Zero tolerance for late or missed rental payments
• Zero tolerance for fighting, harassment, theft and / or sexual conduct between residents

If a resident should break any of these rules, they can be evicted from the sober house that same day since they do not have a renter’s contract in place. These three strict rules help make the sober living environment both a safe and successful place for those trying to complete the last steps of their recovery process.

What Else Can I Expect?

Sober living environments are meant to encourage residents to get involved in normal daily activities. Besides daily chores, residents are expected to hold down a full time job, unless they are attending school. Should the resident be disabled, they are expected to join a club or committee. Residents are expected to be helpful and friendly to other residents so as to encourage a healthy support system.

Residents are also expected to attend weekly house meetings, as well as any weekly meetings associated with their recovery programs. These programs are usually 12 step programs found in other programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous to name a few.

For those who want to take a firm step on the road to sobriety and healthy living, sober living environments found in sober houses are the best way to go. By providing a structured environment with gentle submersion in every day life, residents will be given a paced exposure that will help them stay on their road to recovery.