5 Reasons to Choose a Sober Living Environment

Research shows that there is an important role for social support during recovery in establishing sustained abstinence and a critical aspect of one’s social network is their living environment. Even for highly motivated individuals, a destructive or instable living environment can derail their recovery. Sober living houses (SLHs), provide stable, alcohol and drug free environments where an individual’s recovery is supported by peers outside of formal treatment programs.

The normal philosophy encourages involvement in 12-step mutual help groups. According to National Center for Biotechnology Information, some sober living environments will allow other types of activities that can substitute for 12 step groups, provided they constitute a strategy for maintaining ongoing abstinence. Sober living houses (SLHs) are not funded by any state or local government but, receive their financial support from donations, communities, charities, or the residents who live there.

Halfway houses are sober living environments that a person attends immediately after participating in an outpatient or inpatient rehab program for alcohol or substance abuse. They may have limits on how long a person can stay, usually a period of months. Halfway houses require residents to have completed or be involved in some type of formal treatment program.

5 Reasons to Choose a Sober Living Environment:

Sober living helps people get back on their feet after rehab.

1. Acclimate

Halfway houses are intended to be an interim environment for the individual to acclimate themselves to practiced sober living before returning to their old environments. It takes time to recover from addiction and unless a person is strong and ready to resume independent living, doing so, may put their sobriety at risk.

2. Peer Support

Remaining sober after rehab is challenging. Peer support and 12-Step programs available in Sober Living Environments, have been proven to reinforce and improve the resident’s chances of retaining sobriety when they return to their normal environments.

3. Affordable

Sober Living Environments are often less costly than a formal inpatient or outpatient rehab program, although they rely on the residents to share in responsibilities, give back to the community, and fulfill their financial obligations as a contingency to staying there.

4.   Requirement for Reduced Sentence

For many people, entering a sober living environment is a necessity in order to avoid complications that have arisen from their substance abuse. Arrests, domestic violence, employment relations, and legal issues, are some of these reasons.

5. Safety

Destructive living environments that encouraged substance use, such as homelessness, are a major reason people choose to enter a sober living environment. They make commitments to remain sober and are willing to do the work needed to get out of the “rut” that they are in. They want to create new social support systems for themselves and reenter society with integrity.