What is Long Island Sober Housing?
Sober living residences on Long Island are a safe and carefully structured living environment geared towards helping men and women who are new to recovery maintain sobriety and successfully reintegrate back into the community as productive and addiction-free members of society.
Sober living residences on Long Island are a safe and carefully structured living environment geared towards helping men and women who are new to recovery maintain sobriety and successfully reintegrate back into the community as productive and addiction-free members of society.
What Are The Benefits of Living in a Sober Home?
There are many benefits that go hand-in-hand with sober living housing. We’ve put together a list that expains how Long Island Sober Living can help you or your loved one in the crucial early recovey period.
- Sober living housing provides men and women who are new to recovery with a built-in support system. They are among like-minded peers, usually of the same gender and of around the same age. Support systems are essentially to long-term recovery.
- Sober living homes ensure a high level of personal accountability. Returning home to a drug and alcohol-free environment every evening helps residents stay accountable and stay sober - rates of relapse are significantly diminished.
- Living with like-minded peers helps bolster healthy communication skills and conflict resolution skills. Residents learn to offer and receive advice and encouragement, and they learn to calmly work through any potential discrepancies.
- Most reputable sober homes offer vocational training and education placement services. This means that they help residents find an appropriate career or return to school.
- Many support staff members have been through early recovery themselves, allowing them the opportunity to offer unique insight and a high level of compassion. Residents feel comfortable going to support staff members with any challenges they are facing, and asking for advice or insight whenever they need to. They form bonds over time, and learn to trust men and women that could be considered their superiors.
- Sober living requires residents to uphold a specific set of rules, which facilitates the development of crucial life skills. The more commonly enforced rules are listed below.
What to Expect from Sober Living on Long Island - Rules and Guidelines
All reputable sober homes enforce a strict set of rules and guidelines, geared towards helping residents maintain personal accountability while successfully navigating early sobriety.
Some examples of rules and guidelines that are typically enforced in transitional homes such as Long Island Sober Living include:
- Waking up by a certain time every morning and returning home by the same time every evening. Every reputable sober home will enforce a strict curfew - usually around 10pm on the weekdays and 11pm on the weekends, unless a resident works later.
- Either working full or part-time, being enrolled in school full or part-time or participating in regular community service or volunteer work. Sober living homes require that residents stick to a productive schedule - they must be engaged in work, school or volunteer work.
- Residents must respect one another at all times, and always show a high level of respect to support staff members. If any conflict breaks out between residents it must be resolved in a timely and rational manner. Residents must also respect one another’s personal property, and avoid borrowing personal items in order to avoid potential damage.
- Of course, residents must all remain completely abstinent from all drugs, alcohol and mood or mind altering substances of all kinds.
- Residents are required to attend at least one 12 step meeting every day (either Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous) and actively work through the 12 steps with a sponsor of their choosing. The sponsor must be the same gender, and visitations to the residence must be approved beforehand.
- Drug and alcohol tests can be conducted at random, or if there is any suspicion that drugs or alcohol were used they can be conducted by support staff members at any time.
Is Long Island Sober Living The Right Place?
Sober living is an ideal option for men and women who have recently completed a higher level of clinical care and are looking for ongoing support as they navigate early sobriety. Sober living housing for any of these reasons:
- You have just completed medical detox and inpatient treatment for the first time
- You have a history of chronic relapsing and you require a high level of accountability
- You have a difficult time maintaining daily structure and sticking to a routine
- You lack a built-in support system - one that might be provided by friends who are supportive of your sobriety, or a functional family unit
- You are not in a good financial situation, and you need assistance working towards financial independence
- You feel like you have a good grip on your sobriety, but you want an added level of support in order to ensure that you avoid a preventable relapse