For many, overcoming a substance use disorder will be the biggest challenge they ever face. Addiction is ruthless and cruel. It’s also persistent. Successful recovery calls for not only the grit to get through drug and alcohol treatment, but staying power. 

While addiction treatment is a critical part of the equation, many people underestimate just how important the sober living experience can be to building recovery that can stand the test of time. 

In this article from A Friend’s Place, we look at the critical role that sober living plays in recovery success.

 

What is Sober Living or Recovery Housing?

Sober living, also known as recovery housing in New Jersey, are supportive, substance-free living quarters where people can focus on recovery during or after addiction treatment. 

Sober housing is often hosted in residential areas, sometimes in townhouses or single-family homes that look much like any other house on the block. But, of course they aren’t just another house on the block. Rather, they are recovery sanctuaries with a mission and a purpose. 

Some of what makes sober living homes unique:

• Residents stay sober—no substance use allowed
• Strong sense of community and mutual support
• Focus on ongoing recovery and personal growth
• Most attend outpatient programs like PHP or IOP
• Structure includes curfews and clear house rules
• Accountability reinforced through regular meetings
• Everyone pitches in with chores and meals

 

What Recovery Housing Does That a Rehab Can’t

Some people ask, “Why do I need sober living if I’m already in treatment? Isn’t treatment enough to fix me?” 

The best way to answer questions like these is to highlight the key differences between treatment and recovery housing. Once people see how communal living in a sober home adds structure, accountability, and fellowship that’s difficult to find in any other way, the value of that experience becomes clear. 

What a recovery house can do that rehab cant:

• Demonstrate the importance of fellowship in recovery. 
• Give you a safe real-world environment to practice new skills.
• Provide you with opportunities to build a sober support network.
• Teach you how to have fun in sobriety (we can and we do!)

This is not to say that sober living is a substitute for addiction treatment. It is not. But sober living is, without question, a valuable complement to treatment. Think of it as the kiln where you fire the clay that you shaped while in drug and alcohol treatment. 

 

How Sober Living Helps Build Enduring Recovery

Look at it this way:  Treatment helps reshape your thinking and behavior. Sober living helps “bake” that change in and makes recovery more durable. It does this, in part, by testing new recovery with interpersonal dynamics. Sharing a house with 6-8 other men or women will be a new experience for most people. Even if it’s not, doing it in a recovery context often will be. 

Sober Living and Outpatient Treatment Compliment One Another

At the same time, you’re attending a partial care or intensive outpatient treatment program. This is prompting you to challenge your own thoughts and behaviors and remodel them. Eschew those which aren’t in your best interest. Learn new ways to think and act. 

Sober living gives you a unique opportunity to hone and refine the changes you are making. Conversely, when you’re in outpatient treatment, you have the opportunity to bring real-world scenarios and challenges from sober living into the therapeutic environment to discuss and process. In fact, research shows that sober living improves your odds of staying sober longer.

A Sober House Prepares You for a Lifetime of Recovery 

At the end of the day, you return to a communal living space where everyone else is in the midst of a similar personal transformation. You’re surrounded by people who understand how you feel. They have many of the same hopes, fears and dreams. 

Early recovery can be a vulnerable time, but living in a supportive environment with people who truly understand what you’re going through can make all the difference. It’s not uncommon for people to make life-long friends in recovery housing. At the bare minimum, when the time comes for them to move out, they will be far more prepared to live sober out in the world. 

 

How sober living helps recovery last:

• It teaches you how to share and get along with others. 
• You learn how to communicate your feelings appropriately.
• It helps you establish good habits in an environment with accountability. 
• It reinforces the idea of fellowship, which is critical to long-term recovery. 

 

Welcome to A Friend’s Place

Tucked away in the charming Raritan Valley township of Flemington, A Friend’s Place is a New

Jersey sober living home unlike any other. Founded by a small group of professionals with a passion for nurturing new recovery, A Friend’s Place pays attention to the subtle details that make a house, a home.

Interested in learning more about A Friend’s Place? 

• Give us a call at (848) 347-2646
• Or, visit our Contact Page to submit an inquiry.