People who participate in both addiction care and sober living communities tend to do quite well in sobriety. Those who received this continuity of care fare particularly well in measures of both addiction and employment. Some even maintained those gains for at least 18 months. The steps after rehab are often to restart normal work and school schedules while living in sober living apartments or homes.
Finding the right addiction treatment programs with sober living housing options can be difficult, especially if you have family members who rely on you. Michael’s House in Palm Springs, California, offers residential rehab and sober living options that can help you start the road to recovery on the right foot. Learn more by calling 760.548.4032 today.
The Sober Living Apartment Concept
Unlike sober living homes that emphasize a communal style of living, sober living apartments often provide individualized units made for just one or two residents. While there are often shared spaces for recreation, the significant difference is that each person has a specific place to call home. Shared meals, chores, and shared rooms are uncommon in a sober living apartment model—but they are a staple in communal sober living homes.
Another advantage of many sober living apartments is the frequency of support group meetings within the complex. In an effort to provide healthy opportunities for socializing, many apartment complexes offer recreational opportunities, such as game nights. Sober living apartments may also have on-site directors available to help residents access community resources that could assist with education, employment, and legal issues.
Common Rules in Sober Living Apartment Complexes
With strict adherence to sobriety in these complexes, residents might be required to demonstrate their compliance with this rule by:
- Providing proof of prior treatment
- Submitting to urine screenings on a periodic basis
- Signing a contract that states they will not bring addictive substances onto the premises
- Attending periodic support group meetings held in the complex
Breaking these rules could mean expulsion from the community, so it’s imperative for people to understand all the requirements before they choose to move in.
Benefits of Sober Living Apartments
By the time many people transition into sober living apartments, they’ve likely been invested in their sobriety for quite some time. For example, in one study of sober living homes, researchers reported that 76% of residents stayed in the community for at least five months. Assuming these residents spent at least a month prior in some kind of treatment program, this means that they would have been sober for roughly six months before moving into a sober apartment.
Even after rehab, those in recovery still need to change nearly everything about their lives, and going home to the neighborhoods that once fostered their addictions could be, quite simply, dangerous to their recovery.
They might run into influences that remind them of drugs. Or they might be forced to live in dangerous neighborhoods where substance abuse is common. Sober living arrangements could be the buffer that allows people to slowly transition out of the culture of addiction treatment into one of self-responsibility and accountability. They’ll still have a safe place to live in the interim, but they’ll also be taking on a few more responsibilities for their own sobriety. This might be just the step down from residential care that they need in order to make lasting changes.
Sober Living Options at Michael’s House
Michael’s House offers sober living options for patients in the different levels of care at our Palm Springs, California, treatment center.
To find out more about sober living at Michael’s House and to find out if this might be the right kind of intervention for you or for someone you love, please contact us at 760.548.4032.
