The Rewarding Benefits of Sober Living Homes

Entering a sober living home after treatment can be challenging, especially when you don’t know what to expect. But, the bottom line is sober living homes offer several benefits you never thought of before.

One key factor to remaining sober is placing yourself in an environment, which promotes healthy living. Get ready to find out the benefits of being sober by living in a sober house.

Read on now.

Table of Contents

Reduces Feelings of Loneliness

After treatment, the last thing you need to feel is lonely. It could leave you searching for something to fill this feeling, so you don’t have to continue to be alone.

The first benefit of getting sober and living in a sober living home is you don’t have to worry about feeling alone. You’re going to be living with others who are in recovery.

You’re surrounded by people who have been where you’ve been and will understand the feelings and emotions you’re going through. If you find you need some advice with a problem you’re having, you can easily turn to one of your sober living peers and ask them for their opinion.

Are you fighting the desire to use? Someone in the sober living home will understand how you’re feeling.

Are you frustrated because your family members and close friends aren’t supporting your recovery? Someone in the sober living home understands what you’re feeling.

No matter what you’re feeling, there’s someone you’ll be living with who understands what you’re going through and can offer you advice based on their personal experiences.

Continuied Suppoert & Strucutre

In a sober living home, you have a multitude of resources and support you can tap into. Most sober living homes have certified and skilled staff to provide guidance as you continue in your recovery.

For example, the house manager may be the person who leads group meetings during your time in the house. They will also have resources if you find you need more in-depth counseling help as a part of your recovery journey.

In the early days of your sobriety journey, it’s important you continue to have structure as you begin living a new life. Sober living homes provide you with the structure you need through a set of unbudging house rules.

The first rule of the home is abstaining from all drugs and alcohol use. When you don’t abstain, not only are you putting your sobriety journey on the line, you could also be causing problems for someone else living in the home.

These rules aren’t in place to make you feel like a prisoner. They’re in a place to provide you with the structure you need to continue learning and growing before you’re confident to live on your own.

There is a strong sense of taking accountability for your actions in sober living. In the past, when you did something wrong, you ran from it and did everything you could do to escape the consequences.

However, the other residents and managers of the house will expect you to own up to the mistakes you make while living in the home. Recovery is about being honest; if you can’t be honest with yourself and others, it’s going to be a long road ahead.

Breeds Independence

During your time in active addiction, you were dependant on whatever drug you used or alcohol. There wasn’t a moment you didn’t think you needed that substance to get through your daily life.

But, another benefit of sober living homes is it teaches you to become more independent. You’ll begin to depend on yourself to do things like pay your bills and get up to go to work.

In sober living, you’ll learn key life skills you will use as you continue to live your life. Every resident within the house is responsible for pulling their own weight and completing chores they’re tasked with.

Some of the things you will have to do at some point while in a sober living house include:

Cooking a meal for everyone in the house

Cleaning the bathrooms

Doing laundry

Grocery shopping

You’ll also be expected to start looking for a job so you can begin to earn money. While it might seem challenging, your confidence will increase because it feels good to be able to support yourself and show people you’re serious about your sobriety.

Think of sober living as a test run for the real thing. The consequences you face in sober living are real, but you’re able to test the water in a safe environment.

In transitional homes, the risk of being exposed to triggers is reduced because the environment is controlled, which is useful during such a vulnerable part of your recovery.

Makes Transition Easier

We’ve mentioned testing out the waters, and the statement is true if you were to go back into regular life instead of sober living, it can be detrimental to your sobriety. Think of sober living as the bridge you need to ensure it’s safe to cross to the other side.

You will slowly transition back into daily life instead of jumping in headfirst. This process reduces the chances of you becoming overwhelmed quickly, increasing your chances of staying sober after you’ve left treatment.

Create Better Relationships

Having a solid support system is important because you need to have people to lean on when you need someone to talk to about your struggles. As you start getting sober, the last thing you might have contemplated is finding the support you need in a sober living house.

Some of the people you live with can become the people you go to meetings with or call after you’ve left the sober living house and need someone to hang out with. It’s crucial to have people outside of your family members and friend that know what it’s like to leave behind a life of addiction.

They’ll understand you on a deeper level that family can’t.

Space to Focus 100% on Sobriety

You might be wondering what it means, and it’s self-explanatory. You don’t have to focus on anything else except your sobriety and getting your life back on track in a sober living home.

When you move into transitional living, you are prohibited from having romantic relationships with other house residents. It ensures no one becomes distracted and strays from the reason they moved into the house, to begin with.

Your time in sober living should focus on your recovery journey because you’re still relearning yourself and identifying the things you need to be successful in your recovery.

When you begin romantic relationships, it can be a downfall and could breed dependency when you’re attempting to learn how to rely on yourself and no one else.

Most homes will have rules against having outside visitors as well until you’ve earned those privileges. This is a way of protecting you from continuing to associate with people who could cause you to relapse.

It also reduces the chances of you interacting with someone you might consider one of your triggers. Remember, during treatment, you worked with a therapist on identifying your triggers and how to spot them and avoid them.

After determining what your triggers were, you created a plan to cope with them if there’s no way to avoid them. In sober living, you don’t want to put yourself in a position to be triggered purposefully.

Give Yourself More Time

There are some people waiting for you to finish treatment so you can get back to doing things such as paying bills and taking care of children. Sober living homes give you the extra time you need to continue forging your sobriety path.

Instead of having several tasks coming your way at once, causing you to feel overwhelmed, you’re given some time to get your feet underneath you before your excepted to do other things.

But, keep in mind while you’re given more time, you will have to hit the ground running at some point.

Sober Living Homes: Understanding the Benefits

Sober living homes offer benefit after benefit for people who are looking to continue working on their recovery. Some of the benefits include they make transitioning from treatment to regular life easier.

And it gives you a place to build connections with people that have been in the same position before. No matter where you live, there’s a sober living home to provide you with the safe and sober living environment you need.