If you are considering a residential program or you know someone who is currently in a residential program, you might wonder about your or their next steps. What is transitional living? Is transitional living different from a sober living environment? How do they work?
What is Transitional Living?
A transitional living program can go by many names like:
- Sober house
- Sober living
- Transitional living
- Halfway house
No matter the name, these are opportunities to transition from an inpatient or residential treatment plan to a supportive home environment before returning to your regular life.
It is not uncommon for people in recovery to struggle with adjusting immediately after treatment ends. Treatment is often a full-time commitment, something that is completed in an environment that is nothing but supportive and caring. The home stress, triggers, and people who don’t necessarily know how to support someone in recovery.
That is why many residential treatment centers will encourage clients to consider a safe living environment where the lessons acquired during residential care can be reinforced while clients can ease themselves back into taking care of themselves full-time and figuring out what their next steps are.
What to Expect from Transitional Living
When you participate in a residential treatment program, you are completely extricated from your daily life. You get to live in a therapeutic environment where you have a team of professionals on hand at all times and where your entire focus is recovery.
Transitional living can offer many benefits:
- Structure: For those who don’t want to leave the completely structured environment of an inpatient program to the unstructured environment of their home, transitional living can still offer a smaller level of structure.
- Safe Space: For those who aren’t yet ready to transition entirely from the supportive environment of a treatment program to a world full of triggers, a transitional living location can provide a safe space where relapse prevention can be encouraged and monitored.
- Relapse Prevention: For those who are concerned about the isolation and difficulty of transitioning, sober living facilities can replicate everyday life while still giving you a place to practice relapse prevention habits Like attending support groups, not bringing drugs or alcohol, and socializing with others in a healthy, sober way.
When you transition to a sober living environment, you have more freedom and you are able to come and go as you please. There will be rules and requirements like a curfew and an agreement not to have drugs or alcohol on the premises but the goal is to help you ease back into your daily activities, set your own schedule, and find new direction and purpose while still receiving a modicum of support.
Skill Building
Women who stay in a sober living home have a higher chance of long-term success through continued skill building. This can include:
- NA or AA meetings
- Support groups
- Ongoing therapy
- Educational opportunities
- Employment searches
The right type of transitional living facility will help women avoid painful isolation, which is all too common in individuals who transition directly from an inpatient treatment program to their regular lives. During that transitional phase, women have a chance to get assistance with life skills, build toward new educational achievements or job opportunities, and receive continued support through ongoing therapy and support group meetings.
Trigger Avoidance
Many women who are in the early stages of recovery need to be able to distance themselves from the potential triggers associated with friends and family.
These early stages in recovery are when an individual is most vulnerable and at the highest risk of relapse.
By living at a sober living facility, women are given a place to call home without risking isolation and with increased social support.
Casa Serena’s Transitional Living for Women
At Casa Serena, we help our clients connect with transitional living homes. Sober living in Santa Barbara can help clients transition from their addiction treatment programs to long-term recovery.
With Millie’s House, our clients can gain access to a safe, supportive, and comfortable environment that they get to call home while they transition from full residential care to recovery from mental health and substance abuse. Here, transitional living offers a collaborative home environment that is structured to best support ongoing recovery and help women maintain strong mental health while continuing to build tools needed for sustained sobriety.
We know how important it is for women to find sober living environments that support the family, and that’s why we extend our options to housing that allows women to live with their children so that the entire family unit can start to rebuild together.
Call our team today to learn more about our transitional living programs.