La Frontera Center East Clinic

Sober living homes, sometimes called sober living apartments and sober living centers, are residential facilities that offer structured, safe living conditions and supportive, residential living environments for individuals exiting drug rehab programs. An SLH may be used in conjunction with other programs in a drug rehabilitation program or it may be used as its own detoxification unit. Some types of SLHs, such as the sober living apartment models, have all of the amenities of a traditional apartment living such as kitchens and bathrooms, although some have added features such as laundry rooms. Most residential drug treatment programs require a minimum of eight months to achieve sobriety. SLHs can be used in place of traditional long-term care facilities in outpatient rehab programs that offer long-term support for an individual undergoing treatment.

Some of the sobriety-oriented residential homes provide individualized, one-on-one counseling and therapy. A detox program will typically use one of two approaches to detoxification – a short-term program or a longer term program. Short-term detox programs usually last from a few weeks to several months, and they may be administered through outpatient rehabilitation clinics or private detoxification centers. Long-term detox programs may be administered in more traditional outpatient centers or in a residential setting such as a residential drug treatment center or residential drug addiction treatment center. Detox programs, in combination with counseling and therapy, form a complete detoxification plan that can last up to a year. The duration of a detox program is based on the type of treatment chosen, the severity of an individual’s dependents and the amount of medication used by the patient.

During detoxification, the individual undergoing treatment usually remains in the residential drug addiction treatment center under the supervision of a mental health specialist or a professional medical team. While at home, the individual undergoes self-help programs, social skills training, and physical exercise to recover from the withdrawal symptoms associated with drug addiction. One or more medications may also be prescribed by the doctor and monitored by the family physician. An individual may also participate in support groups and participate in recreational activities during the recovery process. The duration of the detoxification program depends on the intensity of the addiction and the extent of the withdrawal symptoms. The length of a residential drug addiction treatment program may be six months or three years. In the case of individuals who have already completed an outpatient treatment program, detoxification may be continued on an outpatient basis during the transition period.