What Is a Sober Living House? Your Complete Guide

Sober living houses started in the 1830s when temperance movements promoted “dry hotels” or sober places to live. But it wasn’t until the 20th century that they became the structured, supportive homes we see today. In the 1950s, groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) highlighted the value of group support and sober housing, leading to the growth of sober living houses across the U.S. Oxford House is a network of drug-free, self-supporting houses or apartment buildings. It was founded in 1975 as the next step in substance use recovery, focusing on sober community living as a way to prevent relapse. A Level I sober living home typically does not have any paid staff and relies on its residents to monitor behavior and enforce policies and procedures.

Sober Living Homes and Halfway Houses Near Me

Living in a halfway house is generally cheaper than living in a residential rehab because the staff provides fewer services. Halfway houses are often a step between prison and regular life, while sober living houses are focused recovery spaces that people choose to help them stay sober. Choosing the right one depends on each person’s stage of recovery and specific needs. Sober living houses have developed over time to provide safe, structured spaces that promote accountability and personal responsibility. This growth has created different types of sober living homes, each designed to meet specific recovery needs and levels of independence.

Steps

By Julia Childs Heyl, MSWJulia 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. Finally, a transitional housing center with a sobriety requirement could be of great help if you’re struggling with housing insecurity, mainly due to addiction struggles.

Level II (Monitored)

The goal of sober living homes is to monitor and improve health, safety and wellness using peer support. The goal of many halfway houses is to reduce recidivism among felons using supervision. However, some halfway houses are designed to reduce drug relapse rates for high-risk individuals leaving incarceration. Halfway houses are technically sober living environments, but there are many differences between halfway houses for people transitioning out of incarceration and sober homes for people in recovery from addiction. Finances can be a determining factor in deciding the best plan for your Oxford House recovery. Insurance plans do not cover most sober living homes because they do not provide treatment services.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

• Unlike inpatient facilities, sober living houses don’t have strict 24/7 medical oversight, allowing residents more freedom to build skills and independence while still having a supportive community around them.
• Remember, recovery is more than stopping substance use—it’s about building a thriving, fulfilling life.
• However, the way they work, the length of stay, and the funding options differ.
• When considering sober living options, it’s common to hear about halfway houses.

Some programs created halfway houses where clients could reside after they completed residential treatment or while they attended outpatient treatment. All sober living homes have a zero-tolerance policy regarding the use of drugs or alcohol. Usually, residents have recently completed inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment for substance use addiction.

Second, individuals self selected themselves into the houses and a priori characteristics of these individuals may have at least in part accounted for the longitudinal improvements. Although self selection can be viewed as a weakness of the research designs, it can also be conceived as a strength, especially for studying residential recovery programs. Our study design had characteristics that DeLeon, Inciardi and Martin (1995) suggested were critical to studies of residential recovery programs. They argued that self selection of participants to the interventions being studies was an advantage because it mirrored the way individuals typically choose to enter treatment. Thus, self selection was integral to the intervention being studied and without self selection it was difficult to argue that a valid examination of the invention had been conducted. In their view, random assignment of participants to conditions was often appropriate for medication studies but often inappropriately applied when used to study residential services for recovery from addiction.

Level IV services include in-house clinical services and programming and life skill development. Level IV recovery homes tend to have a more institutional building framework. Going to a sober living house has been proven to support sobriety efforts, with results ranging from a decreased amount of relapses to long-term sobriety. Most Sober House residents of these homes have recently completed an inpatient or outpatient treatment program. Read on to learn about what a sober living house is, the history of sober living homes, types, who should go to one, and how you can find a sober living house. If you or someone you know has recently quit drinking alcohol and is now sober—congratulations, quitting alcohol can be a long and difficult process.

• Recovery residences are less expensive than living at a rehabilitation facility or detox center because fewer services are offered.
• Sober living homes are group homes for those recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.
• For many people, a sober living house offers this support in a safe, drug-free setting.
• Sober living centers are usually considered to be a form of aftercare – the phase of treatment that is focused on maintaining sobriety.

The truth is that Delray Beach offers a large =https://ecosoberhouse.com/ number of affordable sober living housing with more than 1,200 beds in the city. The 12 step model is a great recovery tool to help foster deep and beneficial peer relationships. For many, the thought of returning home after addiction treatment can be daunting. Substance abuse can affect all aspects of a person’s life, including how they function in their family, work, and community. This effect can cause ongoing problems and make someone reluctant to return home after addiction treatment. Try to determine their optimism, willingness to offer support and motivation for remaining sober.