After completing your stint in rehab, you will hopefully be walking out of the treatment center with a new lease on life. Your mind and body will be free from the chains of drugs or alcohol.
As you contemplate your next move, you must remember to protect your newfound sobriety at all costs. If you are feeling strong and confident about your ability to resume total control over your own life, that’s a positive sign you have a fighting chance of maintaining a lasting recovery. If you don’t feel 100% confident about returning to your life, you might want to consider participating in one or more aftercare options. Some popular options include:
- Participation in 12 Step meetings (AA or NA)
- Continutation of treatment through outpatient services
- Participation in rehab facility sponsored alumni programs and events
- Living in a sober living home
All of these options should be available to help you stay on the road to recovery. At this point, we want to focus on the sober living option. Of all the available options, this is the one you would want to consider if you are feeling a little unsure about the idea of returning home to the issues that likely drove you to addiction in the first place. It could be you just need a little more healing time before you face your life and responsibilities. That’s exactly the reason sober living homes exist.
Does Sober Living Have to Come After Treatment?
To answer the titled question, it depends on how serious you are about your recovery. If you are dead serious about staying clean for the rest of your life, you should be willing to take on any resources that can help you develop better ways to stay away from drugs or alcohol. If you have concerns about sober living, it might be that you just need to know a little more about what sober living is all about.
Sober living exists to help you develop more structure in your life. While taking drugs or alcohol, it’s highly likely your life became a disorganized mess. You didn’t take care of yourself or your responsibilities. You likely created problems at work/school and in your relationships. There is a lot of fixing you need to do.
Sober living can help you learn how to live a proper sober life. The house manager will require you to follow some very strict rules while taking on certain responsibilities for yourself and the house. To give you an idea of what kind of structure you will have to live within, here are some of the rules you would likely have to live under:
- Random drug testing with zero tolerance for a fail
- No sexual fraternization with other residents or staff
- Attendance at multiple 12 step meetings or counseling sessions each week
- Pay rent on time
- Share in household chores
- Make good progress towards moving out on your own
Remember, this is not prison unless you are in sober living by court order. You can leave whenever you want. Of course, you can also stay as long as it takes you to feel good about maintaining your sobriety. If you decide to stay, you will have ample opportunity to get yourself on stable ground before you return home and work if possible.
The best thing you will get from sober living is access to people who can help you stay sober now and in the future. You would be living with other people who know exactly what you are going through. They are going through it as well. The idea you and some of the other residents will be there for each other in the future is based in reality.
Before you worry too much about what is going to happen after treatment, you first need to get through the treatment process. That’s something we can help you with if you will call our facility at 833-820-2922. After you complete our treatment process, we would be happy to do all we can to help you find a sober living home that will meet your needs.