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A halfway house is a residential facility serving multiple groups of people who need rehab or want to remain sober. Some are meant for people transitioning from prison life or jail, others use it for individuals with a chronic mental illness, and others are house individuals who aim towards sober living. Sober living homes and halfway houses are frequently confused and for good reason.

Their ability to cope is influenced by how and where they were raised, as well as what they were exposed to during their childhood. Without a healthy foundation to approach what life throws their way, many people abuse drugs and alcohol as a way of adapting. Those suffering from addiction are advised not to return to the same environment where their unhealthy habits began.

What to Expect in a Halfway House

They are typically run under the direction of clinical or medical staff, and in some cases, the staff may be on-site on a 24-hour basis. Many people use the terms sober house and halfway house interchangeably, but they are actually quite different. Sober living homes also make it a point to offer their residents addiction therapy services. This is because such services help sober living residents learn how to manage their addiction triggers while in the real world.

Leading St. Louis drug rehab center Harris House offers two levels of transitional housing designed to provide ongoing and progressive alcohol and substance dependency skills. Unlike halfway homes, sober living homes don’t typically require that residents have been incarcerated. They also may not require that housemates be enrolled in treatment plans while living there. Here’s a closer look at these two different resources for people in addiction recovery. This is because such activities help former inmates repair the relationships that they had before they were arrested.

Mental Health Treatment at The Ranch PA

Over time, the United States adopted the English idea of halfway housing. The halfway houses in the U.S. host individuals that have just been released from prison. The very first days or weeks are especially hard for patients who have just completed an inpatient detox program. Recovering addicts will experience multiple triggers and cravings, eventually leading to relapse. They usually choose to live in either a halfway house or a sober living home. Let’s say you or a loved one has almost completed an alcohol or other drug addiction treatment program.

It’s easy to confuse the differences between sober living homes and halfway houses. They appear to be the same based on context and—in a sense—their purpose https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/what-difference-between-a-sober-house-and-a-halfway-house/ is pretty similar. Both institutions exist in the transitional phase of a person’s life but there are some very important distinctions between the two.

Benefits of Living in a Sober House

If you are ready to pursue a life in sobriety but aren’t quite ready to transition to life at home, halfway houses are a wonderful option. As well, residents of sober living homes may stay as long as they need to, as long as they adhere to the house rules, such as attendance at a certain number of weekly meetings. The primary focus of halfway houses is to help reformed convicts gain self-sufficiency and to treat those with mental disorders. Many halfway houses offer drug or alcohol addiction treatment, and it is also common for those who have already received addiction treatment to be accepted into a halfway house. Halfway house residents must also comply with random drug testing, as well as maintaining a job, and doing chores at the shared home. The benefits of sober living homes over halfway houses depend on an individual’s specific needs and circumstances.

Sober living staff may help connect residents with services such as educational and career training. Halfway houses, like other recovery and sober-living houses, are intended to gently reintroduce tenants back into society, free from the pressures and triggers of a potentially dangerous home environment. Halfway houses are very similar to other sober-living residences, and it’s no surprise that people often confuse them. It might also be helpful to look at crime reports or police data from the neighborhood to ensure that the sober living home does not have a history of calls or arrests for drug-related offenses. This could be a sign that a home is condoning drug use or not properly enforcing rules. Not only did Kelley put the lives of 3 people at risk, but also gave a lethal batch of heroin to someone in recovery.

Sometimes, a person may be court-ordered to stay in a halfway house for a specified time. Sober living refers to residences where people stay, either after completing rehab or while enrolled in an outpatient program, to help them stay in recovery. People living in a sober home commit to staying drug and alcohol-free and may even submit to drug tests to ensure their compliance with house rules. Residents are encouraged to support each other and participate in services like counseling and support groups. Unlike inpatient treatment, residents in sober living have the flexibility to determine what they want to do in their free time and even get a job. At Boardwalk Recovery Center, our sober living residents are encouraged to find work to set up a strong foundation where they can provide a positive lifestyle for themselves in the future.

A lot of sober living homes incorporate therapy into their treatment programs to better serve the needs of newly sober individuals. Another difference between sober house and halfway house is that many people that enter halfway houses are required to receive addiction treatment while living there. Sober houses, on the other hand, don’t require their residents to receive addiction treatment since they’ve already recently completed rehab. Instead, sober living homes offer their patients additional addiction therapy services.