Is Sober Living Required After Completing a Drug Rehab?

Many people often ask if recovery or transitional housing is required after addiction treatment in order to best ensure success in sobriety

Is a transitional period in a recovery home following drug rehab a requirement in order to best ensure success in sobriety? That is a great question. Here are the short answers: Is it a requirement? No. Is it recommended? Yes, in fact, definitely yes. You can ask any experienced therapist or counselor working in the field of substance abuse whether transitioning to sober living following drug treatment is a good idea, and you will get a resounding “Yes” pretty much across the board.

Sobriety is a lifestyle change

Generally speaking, leading a sober lifestyle, in other words, actively involved in the recovery process on a daily basis, involves a total overhaul in how one lives. Living in sobriety means no more immediate gratification. It means no more making decisions on a whim. It means giving of yourself without expectation of anything in return. It means rigorous honesty, and owning your mistakes, and more.*

When someone puts their life on hold for 30 days in order to check into an addiction treatment center, that brief period serves as nothing more than a safety net from drugs & alcohol, and a quick introduction to the recovery process. In fact, it’s barely even an introduction because the majority of the time you’re focusing on the past and present, with exception to groups like “Relapse Prevention.”

When a person completes a residential or inpatient addiction treatment program and immediately returns home, this enormous change in lifestyle gets placed entirely on their shoulders alone. No guidance, no support, no insight, etc. Not to diminish the difficulty many endure when attempting to lose weight, but getting sober from drugs & alcohol isn’t like going on some willy-nilly diet.**

SOBER LIVING: A Transitioning Tool for Building A Foundation

One of the key elements to success in early recovery is the willingness to take small, well-planned transitioning steps from stage to stage. Going from the 24/7 protective bubble of residential drug treatment back to your own home with zero onsite guidance & oversight, accountability, and general peer support is all too often a recipe for relapse. The thoughts and actions that drug addicts and alcoholics have employed throughout their addictions are not only deeply ingrained, but cunning, manipulative and calculating. Worse yet, these perverted, underhanded behaviors are subtle, and are usually disguised as either a supportive presence, or as something seemingly inert and inconsequential.

Why is transitioning into sober living housing after rehab so important? Because, while his or her fellow sober peers will be able to recognize these old damaging behaviors cropping up, the newly sober individual in question, almost surely will not. There are many reasons why transitional housing is important. It keeps one accountable. It promotes consistency. It serves as a constant reminder. It helps one to build sober friendships. And more…

Going Straight Home Following Treatment

So what ordinarily happens when we bypass any type of transitional steps following a residential treatment program, and instead return directly home or whatever living situation we were in prior to treatment? Just to name a few…

• • Since we haven’t had the chance to create new sober friendships, we inevitably end up hanging out with our old friends and acquaintances – the same people we likely used to drink and use with (staying sober without these influencers is difficult enough as it is. With them it’s nearly impossible).
• We may start strong with things like going to recovery meetings, working with a sponsor, etc., and then so often they slowly lose their sense of priority.
• We go to our old hang out spots, which were usually in some way connected to our drinking and using.
• Without the many ongoing reminders and associations, we end up forgetting much of what we learned while in treatment, as well as the importance of maintaining the priority and focus of recovery.

In Conclusion

Simply put, remaining sober involves engaging in thoughts and actions that do not come naturally to most of us. We have had the luxury of escaping from reality for so long through drugs & alcohol, and now we don’t, and that means having to deal head on with all those things we were previously escaping from.

So, no, sober living is not a requirement after treatment in order to remain sober, but it sure does improve the odds.