Sober Living Near Me

You are nearing the end of your inpatient rehab program. It was intense. You feel vulnerable and not quite ready to partake in the life that is waiting for you on the outside. Your family has been understanding, but they were also extremely frustrated with you before you were admitted. Yes, they attended the family counseling sessions and there was progress, but you are not quite ready to trust them with your emotional state. You fear the triggers that are out there and how you will handle them. Your sobriety is in its infant stages. Your facility helps plan your aftercare and maintenance, and you collectively determine that a sober living home would be the best option when you leave.

What is a sober living home?

Group homes are locations where people live together with shared circumstances. Sober living homes are essentially group homes for addicts in recovery. Once a previous user successfully completes a rehab program, they may find it overwhelming to try to return to a normal living routine without relying on the substance that once helped them deal with all the stressors. They can benefit from of the support and acceptance they will find in the right sober living home. It helps its residents learn how to apply their coping skills that they learned through intense counseling in rehab. The length of each person’s stay depends on their ability to use their new skills to stay sober.

In residential rehab facilities, patients have round the clock monitoring and are usually not permitted to leave the premises. Sober living facilities allow them to come and go as they please. There are still have restrictions, but the structure helps them to gradually participate in life again while being able to go back to the necessary support when they have the urge to cave to the cravings. Some of the advantages of staying in a sober living home before returning back home include being accountable to peers, structure, and support from those in the same position as them. More often than not, stipulations to residing there include the following:

• No drugs, alcohol, violence, or overnight guests
• Mandatory meeting attendance
• Random drug and alcohol tests
• General acceptance by those who live there
• Participation in an outpatient program, a job, or school
• Curfew observance

In addition to the combination of freedom and structure, other services offered by sober living homes that help with the transition include:

• Job location services
• Housing location services
• Help reestablishing relationships that were damaged by the abuse

What are the stages of recovery?

When someone realizes that they have a substance use disorder (SUD), they usually attempt to quit using and stay sober on their own. This is a tenuous and not usually successful process. The stigma attached to being an addict in modern society hinders people from feeling free to seek the treatment that would benefit them. Treatment programs specialize in helping people successfully find the life of which they originally dreamed when they were young and hopeful, before life gave them problems that they felt they could not handle. Each stage of recovery offers a its own benefit and helps the person in recovery move onto the next phase. They all work in conjunction with each other. A typical program includes:

• Detox from alcohol and other substances
• Rehabilitation facilities
• Methadone and suboxone clinics
• Sober living homes and halfway houses
• 12-step programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), and many others.

Who would do best in a Sober Living Home?

Individuals who would do best choosing a sober living home are those in the early stages of recovery. It offers the tools and support necessary for them to maintain sobriety. It can help someone develop their skills and positive thought processes while building a new circle of friends. Some functional strategies worked on include:

• Personal finance organization – including the importance of paying bills on time, adhering to a budget, building savings, and more.
• Healthy nutrition – learning to cook and be in control of your own meals helps save money and eat so that the body consumes all the nutrients necessary.
• Basic house cleaning and home projects – how to effectively maintain the interior and exterior of a home. The more chaos and disorganization that is in someone’s home, the more disorganized the mind is and can lead to relapse.

One of the biggest issues of remaining sober is the desire to feel the euphoric effect of the drug and escape anxiety and stress. Getting rid of your yearning for the drug does not just go away when you rid the body of the substance. The majority of the fight is mental, and there is a great deal of therapy involved in staying sober. Past traumas must be faced, and coping skills developed in order to remain in the life of someone who is sober and wants to remain happy and functional in life. Some of the thought processes that can be worked on include:

• Setting personal goals and achieving them by breaking them into smaller parts and meeting each one of those. This is carried forward into the rest of your life to help deal with issues as they arise.
• Learning how to face the negative thoughts and behaviors that were controlling your life and your desire to use drugs.
• Examples of the actions established will include empathy, respect for other human beliefs and their lives, conflict resolution, self-control, and willpower. Resolving issues in a healthy way helps lessen the stress and anxiety that comes from living life.
• Tools for self-improvement involve assessing oneself and reflecting on your own thoughts and behaviors. The insightfulness of this process will also help someone determine where they are in their progress. This can also help them stop damaging words and actions before they occur and cause problems.

How much do sober living homes cost?

There is no set price involved in a sober living home. It varies depending on location and is similar to paying for an average apartment. It tends to be much less expensive than if choosing an inpatient recovery program, as well as offers more freedom. When someone decides to seek addiction treatment, they have usually already put their finances through substantial strain. Figuring out how to pay for it can be a dealbreaker for someone who wants to avoid putting their family under monetary pressure or to experience money difficulties when they get out of treatment months down the road.

Some sober living homes offer discounts when someone is also attending therapy with a price tag as low as $600 each month. The cost can also run around $1,500 a month on average without counseling and up to $2,450 in a more well-known program. That is not even a luxury rehab program, which can make a significant impact on someone’s finances.

Many want to give up with the challenge of being able to pay for it, but it is an investment in a future that will not be possible without this effort. Some common payment methods include:

• Health insurance is one of the most common ways to cover treatment, but some people have gotten to the point where they no longer have insurance due to job loss. A great deal of the companies have the coverage for at least a short stay — like Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, and many others.
• Loans from friends or family
• Money from the sale of assets, such as cars or RVs
• Retirement accounts, like IRAs and 401ks
• Employee assistance programs
• Monthly payments customized to each person’s income level
• Federal grants from the Resident Run Housing Program.

How do I pick a Sober Living Home?

Just because people are in recovery, it does not mean that they are doing well in the process. Choosing a facility with residents that complement your lifestyle and thought processes is important to remaining sober. Choosing the right sober living home is just as important as choosing an in- or outpatient facility. When researching, some of the signs that a home may be unsafe or ineffective include:

• No rules to follow
• High resident turnover
• They want you to attend church instead of 12-step meetings
• The house is not sanitary
• Lack of personal hygiene amongst the residents
• No house meetings
• Disrespectful house managers
• Residents allowed to stay who are not sober
• No sense of community

Many people use drugs to cover pain and anxiety, and when they are trying to stay sober, they need to learn to handle life without the effects of drugs. This means that they must go through the pain and handle whatever is thrown their way. Relapse is a normal part of recovery but must be quickly dealt with if it occurs. Having a plan in place will be the quickest way to get your life back on track. Living with so many others that are trying to transition back into life can be a highly educational experience. With that many people, it would be impossible to not have any disagreements. This provides the perfect opportunity for people to work on their healthy skills of problems resolution. Relationships exist to provide opportunities for personal growth, and there is no better time than when you have recently learned how to face issues in a healthy way. Those who wish to fight their addiction while trying to live as stress free a life as possible may find that they are happily progressing when they live in a sober living home.