A Clean and Sober Place to Live: Philosophy, Structure, and Purported Therapeutic Factors in Sober Living Houses PMC

Interviews were conducted at entry into the houses and at 6-month follow-up. We expected residents entering SLH’s who had established sobriety would maintain that sobriety, while those with recent substance use would show significant improvement. Both addiction researchers and treatment providers are increasingly calling for more evidence based practices (EBP) (McCarty, September 6, 2006; Mee Lee, September 6, 2006; Miller, Zweben & Johnson, 2006).

A sober life requires a person to change their attitudes and actions, transforming bad habits into positive and healthy behaviors. The phrase “live one day at a time” is often used in 12-step programs as an encouragement for those in recovery. It derives from the original concept of AA, which is that each individual has 24 hours of sobriety. https://accountingcoaching.online/how-long-can-you-live-with-cirrhosis/ A sober living home provides a safe and supportive environment for the addict or alcoholic to gradually readjust to life in the real world. They will have the structure, accountability, and sense of community that they had in residential treatment while also being able to work or go to school and experience the freedom of a normal life.

What Is a Sober Living House?

Join the thousands of people that have called a treatment provider for rehab information. Get professional help from an online addiction and mental health counselor from BetterHelp. Getting support doesn’t have to mean going to rehab, although that is an option.

An important exception to the decline of SLH’s during the 1970’s was the development of Oxford Houses (O’Neill, 1990). When a halfway house for substance abusers in Montgomery County Maryland closed, the clients continued their residence by paying rent and utilities themselves and implementing a shared, democratic style of managing the house. The residents were apparently satisfied with this new arrangement and the model rapidly expanded.

What Amenities Do Sober Living Homes Offer?

This paper attempts to broaden the view of recovery beyond EBP’s by describing the potential role of sober living houses (SLH’s). The paper begins with a depiction of the history of SLH’s along with a description of how the sober living philosophy of recovery evolved over time. Our 5-year longitudinal study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism titled, “An Evaluation of Sober Living Houses” is then described. Particular attention is paid to the structure, operations, and purported therapeutic factors of SLH’s. Finally, baseline findings from our research that describe the characteristics of individuals entering the houses and 6-month outcomes on 130 residents are presented.

Residents aren’t bound to the sober living home’s campus and can come and go as they please. This allows individuals in recovery to feel like they are easing back into normal life and can start going back to their daily tasks and responsibilities. Although sober living homes are less restrictive than inpatient facilities, they still have rules that residents must abide by, including curfews and group meeting attendance. First, if you’re recently leaving a rehab stay or have just wrapped up an outpatient program, a sober living facility may provide you with the structure you need. Let’s say you or a loved one has almost completed an alcohol or other drug addiction treatment program. Or maybe you’re going to start an outpatient program, but living at home isn’t a sober, supportive environment for you.

Benefits of Sober Living Homes

Recovery Residences (RRs) are organized into four categories, or “levels,” by the NARR. The levels describe the intensiveness of the program and the Intermittent explosive disorder Symptoms and causes level of care provided. Along with a tighter housing market came more widespread alcohol related problems (Wittman, Biderman & Hughes, 1993).