Sober Living Chicago
Living in a safe environment with access to support and structure is an important step on the road to complete recovery. There are a number of factors that recovering addicts should consider when looking for the perfect sober living house.
Four Tips for Choosing a Sober Living House
Each of these factors plays a tremendous role in the success of a sober living house, so as you navigate your options, make sure to ask plenty of questions about each of the following:
#1 Accountability
The only way anybody ever is going to really get back to an independent, substance-free existence after rehab is to take accountability for their actions. A sober living house should help former addicts adjust to this way of thinking and living, which means drug tests, breathalyzers, and even curfews all should be set up as safeguards to ensure you are remaining honest in your sobriety and moving safely toward life after the halfway house.
#2 Support
Ideally, most of this accountability would come from within, but no individual can navigate this process alone, which is why a strong support system also is important. The best support in the journey toward sobriety comes from people who genuinely are sympathetic, yet still tough and honest. Compassion is a key part of this process, too, so finding a staff that understands and appreciates what you’re going through, while still holding you to that accountability piece that is so important is essential in selecting an ideal sober living facility.
#3 Structure
Something else recovering addicts need in their daily lives is plenty of structure, and honestly the more mundane that daily routine, the better. While a curfew is one way to enact this structure, other routines are equally helpful. Essentially, there should be a number of set-in-stone rules and regulations that exist to supplement the spiritual and therapeutic work a person does throughout the course of the day, and good sober living facilities have solid rules and a predictable routine, all of which works to create a zero-tolerance drug-free environment for people in recovery.
#4 Location
There are all sorts of different halfway houses available to those leaving rehab, but with so many other things to stress about in recovery, personal safety shouldn’t be among them. Choosing a sober living facility in a safe neighborhood is important, because while it’s impossible to avoid temptation completely in the real world, it is possible to move as far away from temptation as possible when true, long-lasting sobriety is still a work in progress.
Recovering from any sort of substance abuse isn’t easy, even upon completion of rehab, when it feels like the worst of things is in the rearview mirror. A supportive sober living facility is the next pit stop on the road to true recovery, and here at Stairway to Freedom (a halfway house and recovery facility in Chicago), we would love to be that destination.
Take the next step in your recovery; start a consultation today.