Is Sober Living Right for You?

You have many options when seeking help in early recovery. If you recently completed rehab at an inpatient or outpatient treatment center and find yourself at home battling the temptations of old people, places, and things — the alluring parts of your old lifestyle. It’s time to consider if sober living is right choice for you to build a stronger foundation in early recovery and prevent a relapse.

A sober living home gives newly sober addicts and alcoholics like yourself the best fighting chance to achieve long-term sobriety by providing the structure, accountability, and support you need to get you’re their recovery on track.

What Is a Sober Living Home?

Sober living homes provide a safe, drug-free environment in which individuals can live away from the temptations and stresses of everyday life. Residents typically have access to all the amenities of home — including a fully furnished room, kitchen, laundry facilities, resource centers, high-speed internet, and modern living accommodations.

A sober living home provides a safe, stable environment and community for those seeking recovery for alcohol or substance use disorder. Aside from regular alcohol and drug testing to keep residents accountable, a sober living home helps individuals in early recovery network and build a powerful social support network with other men who are serious about staying clean. 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 designed for individuals who acknowledge their alcohol or substance use disorder and have previously worked with a medical treatment center to achieve newfound sobriety. Most sober living programs are gender-specific, to avoid distractions like relationships that far too often derail a newcomer’s recovery.

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.

Sober living homes don’t care about what you did, the connections you had or didn’t have, and the events that brought you to their doorstep. Whether you received a nudge from the judge through your local court system, had a family intervention, or simply became tired of the destructive lifestyle addiction creates — you can feel at ease knowing your support staff only genuinely care about helping you build a better, more successful life in recovery.

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 also provide service opportunities for recovered alumni that want to continue helping newcomers. 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

Florida is one of the top destinations for addiction treatment and sober living, aside from our beautiful beaches and laidback lifestyle, you’ll find an active and vibrant community of people in recovery. But that doesn’t mean it’s always easy finding a quality sober living program with a solid track record of long-term sobriety among graduates. While location does matter, we recommend choosing a sober living home that requires regular 12-step meetings, has a strong community of men, and the alumni statistics to back up the effectiveness of their program. How and where, though, do you start looking? Well, you stumbled across this blog. That’s a good start.

Finding a sober living home 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 about sober living home 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 sober living 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 Sober Living communities offers affordable, modern, and fully furnished apartment-style sober 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, we believe the cost of high-quality accommodations and support shouldn’t be a barrier to those who are serious about staying sober. 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, decor, 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 lead 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.

What Rules Do Sober Living Homes Have?

When admitted to a sober living 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 Sober Living 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 that enable you to succeed in the early stages of your continued sobriety. 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.