How To Thrive In A Sober Living Home

With proper treatment and commitment, you can fully recover from addiction. The treatment for substance use disorders includes various methods and levels. You can start with in-patient treatment and then move to outpatient. During the outpatient phase, sober living should be your choice.

A sober home can help you continue your recovery journey as you aim for long-term recovery. These homes are alcohol- and drug-free environments with well-developed programs promoting recovery and healing. Their programs have been successful and have high retention rates compared to other addiction treatment programs.

Furthermore, sober living homes empower and equip you with tools to cope with triggers effectively. Once you go here, you’re cared for by certified counselors who can address various challenges, including detox, opioid, and heroin addiction, and alcoholism. While in these homes, you get to rebuild your life in a safe environment with adequate support and fewer triggers. Hence, the following is a comprehensive guide on how you can thrive in a sober living home:

1. Follow The Rules And Regulations Of The Home

Sober living homes have rules and regulations to keep you safe and support every member. Living in such homes is a personal choice, and you should be ready to follow the rules established. Some of these rules include the following:

• Doing your allocated chores
• Adhering to curfew
• Paying rent on time
• Regular drug tests
• No overnight guests
• Abstain from drug use
• No pets
• Cell phone policies

Sticking to these rules makes your life easier, and everything in the home runs smoother for everyone involved. Regardless of how hard following the rules may be, success can only come when you observe them. Remember, this is part of training yourself to keep to your word. Also, breaking the rules could get you kicked out of the program.

2. Follow The Treatment Plan Given

Before settling on a facility, check their website for what they offer. You can go here and look at the addictions they can treat and their typical team compositions. That’s because once you enroll in a sober living home, you get a treatment plan that outlines your goals and the timeframe you expect to return to independence. It also describes how you’ll contact your family and friends for additional support. The following are the core elements of your treatment plan:

• Withdrawal or detoxification: This is the first phase of your treatment plan, and it takes place under a doctor’s care.
• Behavioral counseling: This helps you build the positive energy you need to support your recovery. You set goals, try behavioral-changing techniques, and use self-help resources here.
• Medication: Your doctors may dispense medications to help with your sober living. Some block your cravings for drugs, while others block the excellent feelings drugs bring
• Psychological counseling: Addiction is often a symptom of other traumas. Counseling helps you reflect on your emotions and life to understand the source and causes of your addiction.
• Ongoing support: Aftercare and support group programs can motivate you toward recovery. Talking with peers or mentors helps you work through relapse, and you can easily change your lifestyle.

Sober living homes give you a specific regimen to help you build coping tools and skills. It includes a treatment plan; you can only thrive if you follow it thoroughly.

3. Develop Healthy Living Habits

Substance abuse takes a toll on your emotional and physical health. To ensure you thrive in a sober living home, you should safeguard your health by adopting a healthier lifestyle free of drugs. You can start with the following habits:

• Staying hydrated by drinking at least eight glasses of water per day
• Supplementing your meals with minerals and vitamins
• Cutting out processed foods and eating a healthy diet full of whole meals
• Having a regular sleep schedule to ensure you get high-quality and quantity rest
• Adopting a regular exercise schedule
• Taking part in relaxation techniques like yoga and mediation

With healthy living habits in place, you can efficiently work through your addiction problems.

4. Recognize Your Relapse Signs And Triggers

You can thrive in a sober living home by recognizing your triggers and signs of relapse. Knowing this can help foreshadow and avoid falling into your old behaviors. Recognizing them, you can build your confidence and self-esteem around some of these aspects. Furthermore, you can consciously remove yourself from situations and learn to cope with others. The following are some warning signs of a possible relapse:

• Irresponsible behavior
• Relying on your drug of choice to soothe disappointments and pain
• Going back to self-defeating thoughts
• Irrational and unclear thinking
• Finding people or places where drug use is ongoing

Once you recognize these signs, you can efficiently work through the living home program.

5. Respect Your Housemates

At a sober living home, you can share your room with someone and the rest of the home with others. Your housemates can be other patients, counselors, or mentors. Living with others can be complicated since you have different preferences, personalities, and schedules. Hence, you can only thrive by respecting everyone in the home. The following are some of the ways you can be respectful to your housemates:

• Cleaning after yourself
• Keeping your TV or music volume low
• Knocking on doors before opening
• Doing your things quietly during the early hours or late at night
• Listening to any concerns your housemates have
• Eating food that’s only yours unless given
• Using only your personal effects like soap and toothpaste

With respect in the home, you can all get along and live in a positive, calm, and supportive environment perfect for healing.

6. Attend Your Scheduled Therapy Sessions And Meetings

Respecting the sober living home and following its rules is essential. However, you must consider your activities when you’re out. To protect your sobriety and grow in the home, ensure you attend all your meetings and scheduled therapy sessions you have. These will support and help you cope with difficulties in and out of the sober home. Furthermore, it’ll help you stay on track with your recovery and improve your chances of success.

During your stay at the sober home, don’t let feelings of pride stop you from asking for support when needed. Relying on your judgment can jeopardize your sobriety since it can trigger your need to use drugs again. Reaching out to counselors is a good idea. They can give tips on managing addiction based on personal or professional experience.

7. Save Money Regularly

A significant aspect of getting a sober living experience is to help yourself find a solid financial footing. To succeed in your recovery journey, you should be able to take care of your bills, rent, groceries, and any other financial needs. Monetary worries are among the everyday stressors that can plague your recovery.

Getting into sober living isn’t solely focused on sobriety but also on getting your affairs in order. Going into a sober living home is common because you have bad credit, no house to live in, or need supportive housing. But you can’t live there forever.

Hence, once you’re settled, you should take steps to secure your financial future. You can use the resources available in the home to write a better resume and learn job interview techniques. Then you can secure a job. Also, learn money management skills, so your money can work for you. Set aside money for future investment and housing when your paycheck comes in. Sober living homes are cheaper than private housing; use this chance to cushion your savings.

8. Connect With Others

Apart from respecting your roommates, you should befriend them. Find hobbies, interests, and other things you have in common and use them to connect. Living with people who are your friends is more manageable, and the relationship can grow into a healthier support system. Communicating with others in the house is an excellent way to share your addiction experience. Also, it provides a learning avenue, and you can learn about approaching sobriety.

Additionally, you can form meaningful connections with the home’s counselors and ‘parents.’ Having good relations with them will help you stay out of conflict and have a comfortable stay. Also, they can advise you on adapting to the sober home, building a routine, preparing for life from home, and managing triggers and cravings.

9. Take Part In Productive Activities

You can easily thrive in a sober living home if you have productive activities you can occupy your mind with. It’d help to have hobbies and healthy activities to keep you focused on attaining your lifelong sobriety. Productive activities can help you clear your mind and get in the right mood, ready for a seamless healing process.

Your sober living home can have activities like golfing, hiking, biking, pottery, and other sports. Also, you may decide to concentrate on developing new skills like programming or learning a new language.

You should also consider volunteering which is a great way to help others while gaining from it. Such activities will make your free time in the sober home productive. This way, you can avoid falling back into your bad habits.

10. Set Goals For Each Day

You should have your own action plan for recovery. During your journey at the sober living home, have a to-do list to help your recovery. However, you shouldn’t settle for just having the list but rather working on it and accomplishing one goal after the other.

Completing the activities you set for every day is an excellent secret to thriving in a sober living home. To make it easier:

• Start with smaller tasks and work your way up the list.
• Ensure the tasks are dynamic, and you can learn different aspects from each.
• Revise the goals on the list regularly so you can track your progress.
• Ensure you complete the goals you set for every day.
• Get Adequate Sleep

You can thrive in a sober living home when your psychological being is healthy. And that could be through getting enough sleep during your recovery. You can feel quality sleep’s positive effects on your mental health and attitude toward succeeding in your recovery.

Furthermore, having a regular sleep schedule helps you build resilience to unexpected emotions, stressors, and triggers. You should get about eight hours of sleep every night as an adult. Sufficient sleep improves your mental health and prepares you to tackle your everyday duties well.

11. Have An Exercise Plan

Staying in a sober living home is a perfect time to get back in shape. You should have an exercise plan you can use during your stay. Not only is this an opportunity to create a lifestyle for yourself,

but it also has the following benefits:

• Reduces your stress level
• Overcomes common sleep issues like feeling sluggish during the day
• Increases your energy levels
• Stabilizes and improves your mood
• Reduces your cravings for drugs by focusing your mind elsewhere

Combining exercise with your treatment plan makes your recovery more effective.

12. Find A Mentor Or Sponsor

Different people handle situations in varying ways. You can flourish in one area and perform poorly in another based on your strengths and shortcomings. Staying sober can be exhausting, but remember that you aren’t alone in your sobriety journey.

Fighting drug addiction might be challenging, and it’d help if you had a mentor or sponsor who could guide and help you stay on the recovery journey. This can be a family member you trust, a friend, or anyone you can call when you need help. You’re encouraged to have such a person who can help you during tough times.

13. Take Accountability

During your stay at a sober living home, you should always hold yourself accountable for your actions. Accountability is a significant part of thriving in recovery. Learn honesty and transparency with yourself and those around you. If you fall short in your recovery journey, practice humility to admit your mistake and move forward. Being open and candid enables you to learn from mistakes and improve in recovery.

Avoid deflecting or blaming others. Train yourself to accept blame without having it derail your efforts. Realize that recovery is a journey full of missteps; you should see them as lessons learned to strengthen yourself.

Conclusion 

Addiction is a chronic disease, and there’s a high probability of you relapsing, especially during the early stages, if you don’t take drastic steps. Sober living homes are an excellent way to transition into a sober lifestyle. They help you smoothly move from active addiction toward long-term recovery and abstinence. Once you’re enrolled, the tips above should help you flourish and succeed in your recovery.