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Thursday, 17 October 2013

Exploring Sober Living Asheville, North Carolina

By Billie Mays


Studies show that there is a very high rate of relapse when recovering alcoholics and addicts are forced to use outpatient resources and live in non-supportive atmospheres during the infancy of their recovery. One concept of sober living Asheville has taken the form of alcohol and drug free housing facilities. These houses cater to persons who want to build a strong foundation for their sobriety.

Sober living houses are not live in half-way houses that offer treatment. There is no program design that leads one through the traditional steps to sobriety. You may experience peer counseling from fellow residents but the main theme is being able to live in a house free of alcohol and drugs. Typical house rules may include continued sobriety and attendance at alcohol Anonymous meetings. These houses also are self supporting so they do not rely on public funding to operate.

When entering a half way house you will receive treatment, counseling and transportation for up to ninety days. In a group home you can stay as long as necessary so long as you follow the rules and pay your rent. Half way houses have the added advantage of medical insurance paying for covered individuals.

Here you will also be given lessons on how to make your bed every day, follow through with obligations, go to work each day and all of the rules for rejoining society and becoming a productive citizen. These lessons will seem like no-brainers for most people but those who have substance abuse issues often ignore these activities in their day to day lives. It is believed that one of the key factors to continued sobriety is learning to live in the real world.

Including a holistic approach to sobriety has proven helpful to many. The act of involving treatment for the physical addiction with spiritual, mental and social aspects of a persons life has been effective. Holistic treatments combined with traditional actions are a good combination for recovery.

One of the things commonly found upon returning home from a half way house is that the friends that you drank with will avoid you. They are not comfortable with the new person you may have become. Counselors will tell you that this is caused by a feeling that you are judging them for their drinking habits or because they may have to look at their own behaviors in a new light. The returning addict or alcoholic is not the same person who left the group three months previously.

The life you knew when you left will be changed. You cannot start doing things that you were doing and expect to stay sober. You may want to begin an educational class or volunteer at a rehab facility when you return home. AA meetings will take a large part of your time and you will make new friends and acquire new hobbies to occupy your time.

Sober living Asheville takes on many faces. All of these programs offer comprehensive care in their own way. Some are more successful than others but the main theme is change. People who cannot accept change also cannot attain the level of sobriety that lasts and makes them happy to be who they are. The key element for attaining this goal is willingness to do what it takes to remain drug and alcohol free.




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