What are Sober Living Homes?

Our quarterly newsletter reminds you that others have gone down this path and can provide valuable support. No matter where on your journey – considering sobriety, living sober for years or months already – our newsletter is here as a guide with helpful resources, events, and more. While it can be tempting to go back to one’s normal life right away after quitting drugs and alcohol, this is usually a bad idea. Without doing the work necessary to build a strong foundation of sobriety, relapse is highly likely. In many cases, years of substance abuse can damage people’s lives to such an extent that their resources become very limited. See what a day in the life is like at at Design for Recovery sober living homes in Los Angeles, CA.

These facilities vary from low cost and low amenity accommodations to luxurious accommodations. They are also available in diverse styles, such as faith-based accommodations, 12-step accommodations, holistic residences, etc. In this article, we will cover what a sober living house and a halfway house sober house is, the difference between them, and how they can benefit you on the road to recovery. Deciding to get help for an addiction, or assisting a loved one who is getting help can be emotional and confusing. These programs, while helpful for many, have a number of limitations that sober living homes lack.

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Halfway houses usually require that residents complete a formal rehab treatment program and they limit the amount of time residents can stay to 12 months. A sober living home offers a semi-independent living environment, where people recovering from an alcohol or drug addiction can practice and expand what they’ve learned during inpatient treatment. However, addiction is a lifelong disease that requires further care and attention once you return home. If you are battling substance addiction, you likely know this firsthand.

This type of sober living is more of a steps phase that follows the continuum of care at an addiction treatment center. Clinical services are provided in-house with a strong emphasis on life skills development. Staff members are credentialed, and licensing varies from state to state. If you’re ready to take the next step in your recovery, consider attending an outpatient program while living in a sober home. This can help you continue your recovery in a supportive environment while living in a substance-free home.

Clean and Sober Transitional Living (CSTL)

However, recovering addicts in outpatient programs do not live at those treatment facilities and may return home at the end of each day’s scheduled sessions. While sober living houses share much in common, there are also varying levels of structure for the residents in the home. Sober living homes commonly rely on the social support of living with like-minded peers as inspiration and comradery during recovery. In fact, some sober living homes use peer-led programming and focus on mutual accountability, while others have staff members who lead programming.

• Ethos Structured Sober Living is an all male community in recovery located in the heart of West Los Angeles.
• This promotes a peaceful and harmonious environment in which residents share similar goals and get along.
• Back then, sober living homes acted as “dry” hotels that didn’t allow their residents to consume alcohol.

By Julia Childs Heyl, MSW

Julia Childs Heyl, MSW, is a clinical social worker and writer. As a writer, she focuses on mental health disparities and uses critical race theory as her preferred theoretical framework. In her clinical work, she specializes in treating people of color experiencing anxiety, depression, and trauma through depth therapy and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) trauma therapy.

How Long Can You Stay in a Sober-Living House?

If you and your medical professionals agree that you’re still benefiting from the program, then you should be able to continue on without issue. While you may want to live on your own right away, you might not be ready to manage total freedom at first. Sober living offers a balance between living in the real world and receiving some structure and monitoring.

• It can be difficult to move directly from rehab back to the bustle of work and family commitments.
• The average stay in a sober living home is 90 days, but arrangements can be made for a longer stay.
• In the ’40s and ’50s, California began to dismantle its custodial care systems (e.g., local jails and state psychiatric hospitals), creating an even greater need for sober living houses.
• ORS is an outpatient substance abuse treatment program located in Berkeley, California that treats approximately 800 clients per year.

Peak Density is the number of days of any substance use (i.e., any alcohol or drug) during the month of highest use over the past 6 months (coded 0-31). Six-month abstinence was a dichotomous yes/no regarding any use of alcohol of drugs over the past 6 months. Sober living homes are generally privately-owned houses in quiet, residential areas. Residents usually have their own room or share a bedroom with one other roommate, and shared areas will include bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms. The oft-cited average is between 166 and 254 days, which means about five and a half to eight and a half months. It’s less important to compare yourself to the average and more important to speak to the professionals you’re working with about what’s working for you.

Difference Between Sober House and Halfway House

The length of time depends on an individual’s unique journey and how long their treatment and recovery take. One study reports that an average stay lasts between 166 and 254 days. Lastly, halfway houses are often owned or sponsored by the state, while most sober-living houses are owned privately or by treatment facilities that want to provide continuing support for their patients. Many people in recovery find it helpful to their sobriety to move into an environment with a readily available support system. If you need help finding a sober living home or other treatment options, contact a treatment provider today.