You have many options when seeking help for recovery. A sober living community is one of those options and a highly worthwhile one at that. A sober living community prides itself on creating a road to recovery for its members, which centers on your reintegration within society and your achievement of personal security and stability.
Unlike at-home recovery options, sober living communities provide a homestead that allows you to maintain some agency over your life while still receiving crucial accountability every day. Learn more to decide whether joining a sober living community is right for you.
What Is a Sober Living Home?
A sober living home provides a safe, stable environment and community for those seeking recovery for alcohol or substance use disorder recovery. The environment and community provided by a sober living home help tenants adjust from a life of substance and alcohol abuse back into the real world.
Sober living homes offer a solid foundation for recovery. They are not, however, medical treatment centers for those suffering from alcohol or substance use disorder. Rather, they act as a transitory stage. By definition, sober living homes are aftercare facilities.
Although sober living homes do not act as medical treatment centers, they provide a program of accountability and community support. Both are essential for long-term sobriety. These recovery homes supply a program for residents to work. At Real Recovery, we believe in the effectiveness of 12-Step programs; thus, we work side-by-side with you through the process.
Ideally, a sober living home supplies you with a structured, supportive, transitional home.
Who Are Sober Living Homes For?
Sober living homes are for those who acknowledge their alcohol or substance use disorder and have previously worked with a medical treatment center to achieve newfound sobriety. Sober living homes are transitory, as we stated above.
At Real Recovery Sober Living, we are a men’s only sober living home. Whether a father, brother, or son, we accept all sober men as part of our community, so long as you are willing to strive to remain sober and work our program. We want real positive change for your lives.
A sober living home should hold no spite or conflict with how you arrived at where you are now, whether due to family intervention, the court system, or your desire for sobriety. By admitting to yourself and working our program, you do not need to hit rock-bottom to rid yourself of your alcohol or substance use disorder.
Your future is bright, and sober living homes provide the unique aspect of camaraderie that other recovery programs do not. Residents are encouraged to build strong bonds together to fight these diseases head-on with backup support. Those who admit their humility, knowing that the disease of alcohol or substances is greater than them, make up a sober living home community. These people share long-term life goals, are willing to provide one another personalized support, tools to achieve sobriety, and show compassion for each other.
Sober living homes are for recovered alumni who help newcomers in their transition period of sobriety. They were open and willing to learn how to form strong social networks, as well as develop healthy relationships in and outside of their recovery circles. Although you are not expected to return and help once you leave a sober living home, we highly encourage it. Doing so can serve as a bonus for your own recovery, creating the opportunity to give back to both the program and others that now stand where you once did.
A sober living home is right for you if you:
● Are at risk for relapse or have a history of relapse
● Live in an environment that triggers alcohol or substance use
● Need a support system
● Would like to learn new coping skills for relapse prevention and managing triggers
What Are the Benefits of a Sober Living Home?
The benefits that come along with joining a sober living home lie within the community, support, and environment. Real Recovery’s sober living home program graduates say it best that following a 12-Step program helps build a strong foundation for your sobriety, including a support network, the tools, the resources, and the knowledge needed for remaining sober. These are the essential components that will enable you to grow in all areas of your life during recovery.
Real Recovery’s Sober Living Home prides itself on establishing a community of men who care about their physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health. It also offers the kind of program that benefits those most in need of support during the early stages of their recovery. Learn how to live in the real world by improving vastly upon both your personal and professional life with the help of a sober living home.
A holistic approach is key when looking to get the most out of a sober living home’s program. Working alongside other residents, families, mental health professionals, and out-patient care facilities makes that approach possible.
How to Find a Sober Living Home in Florida
They are few and far between in Florida. Finding the right location for your recovery is important regarding the culture and the program at stake. How and where, though, do you start looking? Well, you stumbled across this blog. That’s a good start.
Finding a safe place that enables your long-term recovery depends upon the structure of the program offered as well as the condition of the facility. Only the best sober living homes in Florida offer both elements. At Real Recovery, we founded ourselves on the idea that broken-down halfway houses and lackluster programs are not enough.
If you have not yet already, speak to your primary care physician or therapist about recommendations and if you feel our kind of program meets your needs. Similarly, if you admit yourself into a medical treatment facility, such as an in-patient program, talk to them regarding the best options for your future sobriety.
A sober living home must deliver on its promise of a safe environment and supportive community in which you can prosper.
What to Expect from Real Recovery’s Florida Sober Living Homes
Imagine you gain admission to one of Real Recovery’s homes. What can you expect going into the experience? What are the homes like? What is the community like – our goals, attitudes, and habits?
Real Recovery communities offers affordable, modern, and fully furnished apartment-style living homes at six separate facilities located in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. Specifically, these locations are:
● Bradenton
● Brandon
● Clearwater
● North Tampa
● St. Petersburg
● Tampa
Real Recovery’s communities were established for men in their transition from rehabilitation treatment facilities and men who relapsed. We provide support through safe, structured, drug-free environments and offer the possibility to make friends on a similar journey. Come together to form constructive, positive habits that positively affect your future livelihood and overcome everyday challenges.
The sober living homes at Real Recovery were built on the idea of affordability, that seeking the help you need during your recovery should not be bogged down by price. Additionally, we built the realistic structure of our program around the 12-Step recovery system to embrace every resident with a safe, supportive, drug-free environment, combined with treatment plans to achieve your long-term goals and sobriety.
We know that seeking sobriety in an environment that fails to provide you the tools to stay sober can prove detrimental. This is why we provide, alongside our low-cost program, well-maintained facilities, including electricity, high-speed internet, trash collection, and water. Furthermore, each apartment is fully furnished, including modern appliances, décor, and furniture.
The first 30 days of your stay with us, we believe, are the most crucial to long-lasting sobriety. During this time, we help you identify your goals, whether recovery-based, personal, professional, or educational. Additionally, we require you to attend five 12-Step program meetings per week, acquire a sponsor, and begin working the 12-Step program.
During this first month of sobriety is when the feeling of intoxication normally starts to fade. Your behavior typically changes for the positive. It provides you with a short boost of confidence, a feeling that you are in the clear, which is commonly referred to as the pink cloud.
This, however, is an effect to be wary of, considering that confidence could plummet you back into old behaviors, including the notion that one drink or one use won’t hurt. Surrounding yourself with a community that enables you to fall back on when dealing with these emotions is the goal of a sober living community. We give you a space to feel safe, process these emotions, and avoid relapse.
Rules of Sober Homes
When admitted to a home, there is an expectation that you will remain sober for the duration of the stay. Rules exist to hold you accountable for your progress while at a facility. At Real Recovery Sober Living, we hold high expectations regarding you and your seriousness about your sobriety. We want you to find and maintain sobriety and experience a life of joy, happiness, and freedom. Through our care for you, your lasting sobriety is within reach.
Some basic rules that we make every new member aware of include:
● No drinking or using
● Curfews that change depending on how long you have stayed with us
● Going to 12-Step programs a specific number of times per week and month
● Obtaining a sponsor
● Attending house meetings
● Become an active pillar within Real Recovery’s community once you gain seniority in the program
● Gain stable employment, financial security, and self-sufficiency
Real Recovery Homes is Florida’s largest provider of beds for those seeking post-treatment help for early sobriety. The diverse background of our community allows our experienced staff to work with you in building a unique recovery plan tailored to your needs. Sober living homes are designed as transitional recovery facilities in which you can succeed in the early stages of your continued sobriety. Combined with regular check-ins and 12-Step oriented meetings, you are in a position for success.
Your choice to stay with us, coupled with how you work the program we provide, the more progress you will see. Our goal is for you to live a happy, healthy, and successful life when it is time to leave our doors. For this reason, we do our best to provide you with the tools, resources, and strategies for success. Please, do not wait to seek sobriety. It is never too early. Call us today at (727) 290-9156. Or talk to some people at your local AA meeting and see what they have to say.
