For an individual with newly acquired sobriety, living in a rehabilitation center and living independently in society are two different things. The former provides a safer and stricter environment. You can say, it is more of a controlled environment that inculcates discipline, responsibility, and routine in an individual. The latter is more about self-motivation, which is hard to sustain, especially in a freshly recovered person.
That’s why a halfway house can be a boon for such people. They provide a transitional environment that is not as strict as rehab and not as lax as independent living can be.
Key rule
Every house has a set of rules. Each individual must abide by it. If not, you are out of the house.
No house accepts even a single use of drugs or alcohol. Round-the-clock sobriety is the number one rule of a halfway house.
With such rules in place, a freshly recovered addict gets an environment similar to that of a rehab, yet a place where he/she can restart their life.
Finding life
In a rehab center, you are more focused on cleaning up the mess, i.e., detoxifying your body system, dealing with withdrawal symptoms, addressing your mental and physical health issues, and likewise.
In a sober facility, you are already clean but must learn to stay clean and find out what is the next best thing you can do with your newly sober life.
The one big advantage
The one big advantage of staying in a halfway house in California is that you are away from the usual triggers back home.
You don’t simply sit idle in a house. You keep yourselves busy. There are plenty of things to do. In fact, you must follow a routine that starts early in the morning. Every activity has a fixed time; for example, you get meals at a fixed time, and you must attend sessions, meetings, counseling, therapies, educational classes, and so on. You also get free time.
Some houses encourage inmates to find a job to start life afresh and to achieve financial stability.
Staying in a house can be the beginning of a new chapter in your life. Depending on how you take it, you can carve a successful path for yourselves.
The basic objective of a halfway house
As mentioned earlier, a house offers a transitional environment. This means when people come out of a rehab facility and are not yet confident enough to head home, they can stay in the house. This is the “transitional” phase of their life, from being an addict to being a sober person. They are “halfway” on the road to being sober.
A sober facility in California offers much-needed aftercare to freshly recovered addicts.
How does the house work?
The eligibility to enter a house is that you must have already undergone a recovery program. The place is not for active addicts or those requiring de-addiction. The place is for recovering addicts who want to stay in a “rehab-like’ environment for a while before they go back to society.
Once you are away from drugs or alcohol, what you need is to set a routine in life and find out your purpose or vision for the future. People living in a house get the necessary atmosphere and guidance to build a new life. They are surrounded by like-minded people 24×7 with little time for useless or destructive things like doing drugs. This re-wires their brain and helps them become constructive.
A typical routine of a halfway house goes as follows:
Wake up time: 6:00 am
Meditation/exercise: 7:00 am
Breakfast: 8:00 am
Chores: 9:00 am
Therapy sessions/counseling/meetings: 10:00 to 1:00
Lunch: 1:00 pm
Free time: 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Meetings/educational classes/sessions: 4:00 to 6:00pm
Music session/art therapy/hobbies: 6:00 to 7:00pm
Dinner: 8:00 pm
Curfew: 10:00 pm
Lights off: 11:00 pm
Timings vary from house to house. However, every house has a set routine like the above. You cannot do just anything at any time. Residents who are employed may have a different routine for therapy sessions and classes; say, they may attend sessions on weekends.
Rules of a halfway house are strict, and every resident must adhere to them.
The secret behind the success rate of houses lies in their strict rules and routine. Drugs and alcohol addiction often make people’s lives haywire. They lose their sense of timing, lose their appetite, and even lose interest in their hobbies and personal appearance.
It takes three things to restore your life back to normal:
- Time
- Patience
- Routine
A sober facility provides all three. Depending on the type of house you find through the online Halfway House Directory, a person can live in a house for as long as one year or for a few months, depending on fast he/she restores normalcy.
It is said that time heals, but you ought to give yourself that time.
Patience is important. You cannot hurry in recovery. Your body and mind must adjust to a life without drugs/alcohol, which has become such an indispensable part of your existence.
Routine may sound boring to some, but it is one of the most effective ways to create discipline and habit in your life.
A sober facility is a great place where inmates change their thinking patterns through motivational sessions and therapies. They watch their words, as they are not allowed to fight with each other. They must respect every inmate and are also encouraged into positive affirmations. They must stay sober 24×7 and adhere to a routine. Sooner or later, they form good habits, which strengthen their character and, as a result, their destiny changes.
So, if you or anybody you know is on the road halfway towards recovery, find a good house to help yourself or them in this transition. Visit the Halfway House Directory for more information.
