Sober living homes When an individual has to leave a supportive and structured home environment before they feel confident that they can maintain abstinence, it is beneficial to their long-term recovery to seek out a supportive living environment. It is inadvisable to return to an environment with high potential for access to the previously abused substance, e.g., a person with alcohol dependence should not move into a home where alcohol is within easy reach. The goal is to foster a self-sufficient recovery in a supportive environment with fewer restrictions than a therapeutic community or halfway house.
This is often an excellent intermediate step between more active aftercare and independent living forms. Steps are usually taken to involve the resident in maintaining the house’s cleanliness, order, and operation. This environment is beneficial to the individual in that it provides a place to apply the coping and life skills they have learned in treatment while still having the support of others who are in a similar situation. Typically, the resident may stay in the home for 3 to 6 months.
Continuing care plans Recovery from a substance disorder is a long-term process. The newly recovering individual will need to arrange a continuing care plan. This will usually consist of regular meetings with a counselor or therapist to assess progress and assist in learning ways to maintain a sober lifestyle. In addition, the recovering individual and the counselor will draw up a plan that entails strategies that the individual can use to keep from relapsing to drug use.
This plan may include strategies for the individual to implement and resources the counselor can provide. Types of resources might be information on the disease of addiction, methods to begin self-help group participation, alternative recovery-based activities, and solutions to address psychiatric or medical issues. When a 12-step-based self-help group is a part of the individual’s method of maintaining sobriety, the counselor can provide information on group meeting locations and assist in creating a bond with a group member who can also act as a support person. This phase usually lasts at least 90 days. An effective continuing care plan generally leads to a lifetime of abstinence from the specific substance. Continuing care activities are designed to prevent a relapse to old patterns of substance abuse. During this phase, the counselor and the individual are closely monitoring the re-emergence of any symptoms that can be a precursor to relapse. A strong, sustained recovery minimizes the potential for further involvement with the criminal justice system.
9.1. Continuing Care Plans
A continuing care plan is a formal agreement specifying the types of aftercare the patient will receive. Recovery from substance abuse usually involves making significant changes in many areas of an individual’s life. In addition to stopping substance abuse, the individual will develop new behavior patterns, thinking, social networks, and general lifestyle. It stands to reason that significant change will require considerable time. The time will vary, usually from a few months to a year. Continuing care is intended to provide support and services that help the patient initiate and maintain these changes to remain abstinent and develop a new, positive lifestyle.
This is done by working on the two general goals: helping the patient stay clean and helping the patient develop a better lifestyle. Most of these plans are personalized to fit the individual, but some are standard plans for specific populations. These populations usually consist of adolescents, criminal justice clients, medical impaired individuals, impaired professionals, or those of a particular culture. The specific continuing care services a patient will receive will vary but generally consist of one or more: telephone monitoring, substance-free residence/housing, self-help groups, etc. These services are put into place by the continuing care provider. The continuing care provider is responsible for linking the patient to the appropriate services, monitoring the patient’s attendance and participation, and assessing the patient’s response to the services. Although these plans are put into place by the patient’s primary counselor, another member of the treatment staff, an aftercare professional, or a volunteer who has been trained may act as the continuing care provider.
Sober Living Homes
Step Twelve of the twelve-step program involves giving back to others. In this spirit, many residents and alums of sober living homes become involved with community service and twelve-step work at the home and local meetings. This type of involvement is an essential part of maintaining a happy and sober lifestyle. Sober living homes are a launching pad for recovery and a promising future. They are a practical aftercare approach, and they continually help large numbers of addicts and alcoholics make a lifestyle change.
Sober living homes are safe, supportive, drug-and-alcohol-free living environments for individuals in recovery. They are generally a follow-up step after completing an inpatient rehabilitation program. Recovery is a long process, and it often takes several tries before an individual is finally able to stay clean and sober. Therefore, the extra support and time at a place away from using triggers can make a difference during early recovery. The environment at a sober living home encourages abstinence, responsibility, and healthy living. House rules are strictly enforced and geared towards structure and a healthy lifestyle. These rules include compliance with the no drugs and alcohol policy, participation in household chores and upkeep, maintaining steady employment and involvement in school, and adherence to curfews. The atmosphere at such homes is conducive to changing for the better. Clients get a fresh start at living without the substances or behaviors that have negatively influenced their lives. Coming home to a place where others are going through the same transition can be very reassuring to recovering people with an addiction. The camaraderie that develops between housemates and the support they can give one another due to understanding each other is invaluable. Often, an individual will stay at a sober living home after completing a treatment program. Extended aftercare is usually recommended to increase the chance of long-term recovery.
Recovering patients often have difficulty readjusting to life after completing intensive addiction treatment. They usually find that the same environmental problems, social and familial relationships, and work issues remain. Consequently, aftercare is designed to ease the patient back into society with minimal risk of relapse. There are various approaches to aftercare: individual therapy, group therapy, drug education sessions, and self-help groups are all effective methods.
Therapy and Counseling
Therapy and counseling are also vital for family members because the client’s addiction has typically caused dysfunction within the family system. Family therapy is an avenue by which the family can learn about the nature of addiction and its effects on the family unit. Therapists help family members communicate effectively and work through the issues of trust, codependency, anger, and guilt. The family is encouraged to develop its recovery plan, which may include individual therapy for the spouse and behavior change programs for the children. The family must have a safe and neutral place for this process, so counseling sessions are sometimes held at the therapist’s private practice.
Counseling provides individuals recovering from substance abuse with the opportunity to address the issues that led to and resulted from their addictive behaviors. In counseling, clients explore the motivations and attitudes behind their substance use, learn to express their thoughts and feelings more effectively, examine alternative behaviors to drug use, and increase their coping skills. A counselor helps the client develop a plan of action and set attainable goals. The client gains a greater sense of self-awareness and self-worth throughout this process. Variables that can present obstacles to recovery, such as vocational and legal problems, are also addressed in counseling sessions.