sober living Archives - Transcend Texas

Getting Into a Sober Mindset

Posted on June 22, 2018 by JohnAdmin

For many people who struggle with addiction, and are transitioning into sobriety, the sober lifestyle does not come naturally. The idea that you can have fun while sober – that life is far more enjoyable while sober – is usually quite distant for many in their first few months of recovery. A sober mindset will translate to a fulfilling sober life.

Staying committed to being sober is something you warm up to. As relationships go, however, it can be something of a rocky start for most. Quitting an addiction usually means going through withdrawal symptoms, followed by emotional turmoil during the early recovery period. Even after the first few weeks, it can be difficult to feel comfortable when sober.

This is because, for the most part, there is an adjustment period everyone must go through, from the very first day of quitting and going sober, to the end of the initial treatment process.

Getting used to the sober lifestyle is a big part of successful recovery – it is not enough to quit using and/or drinking. You must enjoy life while sober to stay sober – and it may surprise you just how enjoyable life can be when you are clear minded and aware.

What Sobriety Gets You

Unfortunately, sobriety is not magic. It will not automatically change your life for the better, provide you with good fortune or grant you happiness. Sobriety is a moment in time when your mind is clear, your body is free from drugs, and you’re bearing the full sensory brunt of living.

By being sober, you’re already giving your body and your brain a much-needed rest from the abuse that substance use puts them through. This is a good first step toward better long-term health and longevity.

Give it a few weeks, and you will begin to see massive changes in both mood and thinking. Drug use and alcohol misuse can cause mental impairment, changing and limiting your cognitive abilities, and your ability to reason and remember things. Only time can heal that.

Speaking of time, being sober means having a lot more of it. Addiction can be extremely time consuming, and it can be very expensive. Going sober and staying sober means cutting addiction out of your life, giving you time to:

Sleep more.
Focus on your passions.
Work and achieve your goals.
Spend time with family and friends.
Make treasured memories.

Sobriety also gives you the chance to redeem broken bonds and hurt relationships. You can use your regained time to make amends and seek forgiveness or forgive others. Or, you can find new friends and create new bonds.

Overcoming the Fear of Relapse

Once you begin to get used to being sober, the fear that it all might go away grows stronger. That fear, ironically, increases your risk of relapse.

To some, relapse is part of the recovery process. It acts to further understand what triggers the person’s cravings, and it teaches them how to navigate early recovery without relapsing again. To others, a single relapse can be enough to lose all hope of recovery.

Relapsing does not spell failure for your recovery. It is best to think of it as a nasty bump on a long road. Relapses are significant – but only insofar that you should figure out why it occurred and understand how to prevent it from happening again in the future. Having a sober mindset can reduce chances of a relapse by helping change your lifestyle and needs alongside, although it takes a good amount of time and commitment.

The only way to fail at addiction treatment is to give up. But if you simply decide to get back on the horse, resume your treatment and recommit to recovery, then there’s hope yet.

Enjoying Your Sober Mindset

The sober mindset is one where sobriety is not a chore or a challenge, but a fact of life – one you embrace and feel grateful for. It’s not normal for most people who struggle with addiction to easily adopt a sober mindset and lifestyle– but shifting your mindset to seeing it as a new, fresh perspective on life rather than an indomitable challenge can help you better commit to sobriety.

How you go about reframing your sober life into something enjoyable is entirely up to you. Addiction, in a way, tears choices away from you and replaces them with compulsion and self-destructive behavior. But having a sober mindset, you slowly bring back the ability to shape and mold your own life and make your own choices. At first, it will be overwhelming and difficult to manage. Sober living communities exist specifically to help people deal with choice, by slowly introducing it into their lives through structured schedules and events.

Rather than seeing sobriety as an obstacle, see it as an opportunity. Rather than seeing choice as something to be anxious about, see it as a source of freedom. How you choose to see things can drastically affect your sober mindset – and thus, your recovery process.

Staying Sober

Getting physically sober is not difficult – all it takes is a little bit of time. The hard part is staying sober long enough to make a meaningful difference in your life, giving your body and brain time to heal and gain a sober mindset, and taking the time to get your life in order as well.

Learning to enjoy your sobriety is an important step in that journey – but be careful not to “burn yourself out” on life. Remember that life is not just all about experiencing, but it is also important to take time and reflect. Take things slow for a while. Find a pace you are comfortable with, rather than racing from one event to the next to keep yourself busy.

To enjoy you sober mindset, you must find something you are passionate about, and pursue it, rather than finding things to distract yourself from the cravings. That might work for a while at first, but lasting sobriety is more involved – as time passes, stress can accumulate in ways we cannot anticipate. Your life may even reach a boiling point, or some unforeseen event might push you over the edge.

We all have moments we could never account for – which is why after treatment, it is important to look towards your support group as a cornerstone to a sober life.
Friends, family, and those you care for the most can help you through difficult situations, keeping you company through troubled times, and making sure you don’t stray from your sober path. Aside from regularly going to group therapy and helping others figure out their own way towards staying sober, remember that the people closest to you are ultimately those whose support you need the most.

Advantages of the Houston Sober Living Community

Posted on June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 by JohnAdmin

As a major metropolis near the southern border of the United States, Houston faces drug problems. Amidst a nationwide epidemic of opioid abuse and a newly reignited war on drugs, the fight to find solutions to addiction has never been this dire. Yet, while as a society we don’t hold all the answers on solving the addiction problem, sober living has come very far in helping individuals face their demons and overcome substance abuse.

Addiction treatment in America goes back a long way, through various psychiatric methods and outdated techniques, up to the modern-day approach. Although treatment modalities have made significant changes over the decades, it’s the fundamental approach that has changed the most.

Modern addiction treatment involves a more complete understanding of addiction, including its current model as a brain disease. Addiction treatment today tackles addiction as both a disease of physical dependence (through symptoms such as withdrawal and tolerance), and a matter of emotional dependence (where psychiatric treatment can help a patient overcome their dependency on drugs to avoid pain).

Yet as helpful as treatment can be, many Americans continue to relapse soon after their rehab/outpatient program is complete. In many cases, a relapse can be part of the learning experience. At other times, it leads to discouragement and loss of hope. This is where sober living communities can come in to help patients drastically cut down their risk of relapse and build a stronger base off which to kickstart their long-term sober life.

What is Sober Living?

Sober living communities first emerged and grew in the 70s and 80s, as a way to come up with new alternatives to residential treatment programs, although the concept goes back to the 1830s. During the 70s, there was a movement away from dedicated residential treatment and towards outpatient programs that allowed patients to continue contributing to the family through work.

Sober living communities present a place for people with substance abuse issues to stay, while enforcing an environment built around normal living: including obligatory chores and community involvement, as well as the need to continue your studies or seek stable work.

Today, sober living communities are not necessarily presented as alternatives to residential treatment. While you can sign into a sober living home instead of going through rehab, many facilities work together with rehab clinics to provide better comprehensive care, rather than recommending patients to commit to one type of treatment over the other. In fact, many transition from residential or outpatient care to sober living, and then into normal living.

Why Sober Living Works

Sober living communities are built on tenets that emphasize community and self-reliance. These are important values for people struggling with addiction.

It’s not to say that values help “beat” addiction, but that by combining modern addiction treatment with a drug-free environment where patients are free to build themselves up and gain a sense of independence and self-discipline by becoming productive members of a community, you can help people who are essentially lost find their way in a normal, sober lifestyle.

What to Look for in a Sober Community

Sober living communities exist to help tenants transition into normal life, but just like with residential treatment facilities, there are noticeable differences from community to community. It’s important to settle on a community you enjoy, and here are a few factors you should take into consideration when choosing a sober living community to settle into.

1. Is the Staff Friendly?

There’s a general rule that if you don’t like your therapist, your therapy won’t be very effective. In much the same way, getting along with the staff and employees at a sober living community is important. You need to be able to get comfortable within a sober living environment, so you can make good progress.

Of course, good relationships can remain good while being strained. There are times when therapists are at odds with their patients, and tensions rise. There may be times when you feel angry or upset during your treatment, either out of frustration at a lack of progress or because of a specific rule or policy. But part of the process is learning to cope with these frustrations, seek out solutions, and resolve the issue without turning to drugs or other ineffective distractions.

Pick a sober living environment with a friendly and knowledgeable staff.

2. Does it Have a Good Reputation?

Reputation is important, even if some sentiments are to be taken with a grain of salt. While the internet is a wondrous tool full of possibilities – including the ability to rate and review services and businesses – be sure to go through several sources and read through several reviews to form an opinion on any prospective sober living home.

A bad reputation is a bad sign, obviously – relying solely on the marketing and the tour of a facility to judge the full experience is flawed, but reviews from former tenants can give you a much more accurate and in-depth look at what you’re potentially getting yourself into.

3. Location

Houston may be a city, but Space City and its greater area features a remarkably varied number of sights, sounds and smells. Known for being dotted by several beautiful national parks, and home to some of the best urban nature integration in the country, it’s not hard to find a great sober living location in Houston. But it’s not about finding a good place to stay, but about finding the best place to stay. Take time to visit your favorite prospects and tour the surrounding area to see whether you like it.

If you already have a stable job, then location becomes much more important. Picking a sober living community near your workplace can save you a lot of time and money on commuting or transportation.

Sober living homes teach people how to live without drugs, through strict schedules, rules, and social interaction. By promoting group therapy and group activities, sober living homes also encourage tenants to find out more about addiction through the experiences of other tenants and encourage them to make new friends and pursue common interests.

How to Determine the Best Sober Living for You

Posted on June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 by JohnAdmin

The best sober living homes are communities designed to provide a drug-free environment for individuals struggling with addiction. Unlike residential treatment, sober living homes are structured similarly to the outside world, necessitating social participation, housework, and the fulfillment of certain responsibilities – from finishing school to seeking employment – in order to help tenants build a good work ethic, find self-discipline, and take control of their lives. Sober living homes also often work with residential clinics and other facilities, to provide a better and more comprehensive recovery plan.

Yet sober living homes share different philosophies, amenities, programs, and facilities. Finding the right one will take some time, and a lot of reflection.

Shop Around For The Best Sober Living

There are hundreds of sober living homes around the country, catering to individuals from all walks of life, struggling with all manner of addiction. However, some specialize, or set themselves apart with specific rules and philosophies. Some are stricter than others, abiding by principles that are not universally shared.

Don’t be afraid to look around, compare, and figure out what kind of structure you need in your life and which is the best sober living for you.

Gender-Specific or Co-Ed?

Men and women face different challenges in addiction, and addiction treatment. Men are more likely to struggle with addiction in general and consume more drugs. But women are more susceptible to addiction after beginning drug use, and they struggle more with mental health issues, as well as symptoms of depression and self-harm. While a substantial amount of men struggle with addiction due to a history of risk-taking and experimentation, many women begin their drug use as a way to cope emotionally with pain.

For women, addiction can also be one of many consequences from a long life of violence and loss, and treatment for them is best sought among other women. For men, living in an environment separate from women can help them focus entirely on their recovery and develop a brotherly bond with other men, fostering a kind of encouraging environment not always found in co-ed sober living facilities. By catering to a specific gender, certain facilities and communities can focus on the unique differences between male and female cases of addiction, while addressing each individual.

It’s important to note, however, that statistics don’t determine a person. There are women who first got addicted not because of violence or pain, but risk-taking. And there are men with deep histories of trauma, suicidal tendencies, and depression, for whom addiction had been a way to cope with terrible loss and sorrow. People come from all walks of life, and all sober living homes realize that on top of treating an entire community as a single unit, they have to cater to each person and their unique issues.

Co-ed environments provide the benefit of a more realistic mixed experience, where men and women can go about their day together, returning to split living quarters afterwards. Some might suggest that transitioning from a single-gender community to the outside world is harder than a co-ed environment, but all sober communities focus on teaching their tenants how to cope with the challenges of living a sober life out in the real world, regardless of what kind of gender structure the community follows. Determining the best sober living for you is about your needs in a recovery community.

How Supportive is the Staff?

A knowledgeable, caring, and experienced staff is crucial in the best sober living option for you. If you cannot trust the people working for the community, and cannot trust in their ability and know how, then you won’t be able to make any progress.

Part of recovery is finding someone who can guide you through the hoops to come to the conclusions you need to commit to your sobriety – but if you feel conflicted by the staff’s philosophy or commitment to tenant care, then you’ll be uncomfortable, and not in the right state of mind for recovery.

Being uncomfortable with certain stages of recovery is normal. But there’s a difference between being uncomfortable with the message and its implication and being uncomfortable and anxious about the person conveying the message.

It’s important to like your therapist. There will be times when you will be told things you may not want to hear, and your mind will search for ways to discard these things, by attacking the person’s credibility and eroding their trustworthiness in your eyes. But if you can trust in them, then you will be able to overcome these initial feelings and come to see that they have your best interests at heart.

Best Sober Living: Keeping Reputation in Mind

At the end of the day, a medical practitioner, tax attorney and artist all have one thing in common – no matter how passionate or skilled they are, they are running a business, and offering a service. It’s important to feel comfortable with the prospect of your sober living home, and excited at the idea of giving it a go – but be sure to do your research. If you’re looking for the best sober living environment for yourself or your loved one as your next step in recovery, be sure to sniff around.

In the past, doing so was not exactly the easiest thing in the world. You could ask around and hope to get lucky, but it’s only with the information age and the beginning of social content and communication like forums and instant messaging services that people began to realize how the ability to publicly share and compile data could push businesses to be more honest, transparent, and consumer-friendly. This goes for all businesses across all industries presenting themselves online – and a poor online reputation is often a red flag.

Dig into any sober living homes and see just what former tenants have to say. Tempering your expectations and hype with real reviews from real people can give you a better insight into what to expect. Remember that there will always be people looking to malign others through the internet, so take in several reviews and make a judgment call on which reviews are most likely to be genuine.

Ultimately, moving into a sober living facility for the first time can be scary – so it helps tremendously to set your worries aside by hearing first-hand what others thought about the staff and scheduling. While horror stories do exist, the best sober living homes are renown for outstanding facilities and amenities, solid treatment, a strong and forward-thinking philosophy, and a long list of former tenants whose lives have changed considerably and for the better after staying at a sober living facility.

This will be your new home for a while, so choose wisely. With the tips above and some help from friends and family, you’ll be sure to find the best sober living for your recovery journey.

The First Steps After A Relapse

Posted on May 25, 2018May 25, 2018 by JohnAdmin

You finally check into a treatment facility and take the first steps towards a new kind of living after a relapse. You have come to terms with the reality of your condition, gone through the program to get better, and you know the road ahead and have a taste of its many possibilities. Sometimes the future looks bleak, and sometimes it looks promising – but you know that, at the end of the day, there is a future.

But then a relapse kicks in. It happens to many people in recovery, and it’s always a painful experience. More than just the physical trauma of going through withdrawal again and reaching that same point that previously took you months to achieve, a relapse feels like a failure to most people, an inability to stick to recovery and a confirmation of all your worst fears and biggest worries.

But it is not. To take an analogy out of sports, people see relapses as bone-breaking and career-ending injuries, when they are in fact just stumbles in a long and possibly fruitful journey. It’s important to remember, above all else, that it isn’t the relapse that kills a person’s chances at living a sober life – it’s giving up on sober living.

A Relapse Isn’t The End

Before we get into the how of recovering from a relapse, it’s important to understand the why. Relapses can be demoralizing and the idea of going through it all again just to potentially face another one can cripple anyone’s motivation to stay strong and keep going. But it’s important to realize that a relapse isn’t just a forced reboot – it can be a chance to learn, and more importantly, you can turn it into something positive for your long-term sobriety, rather than a painful setback.

Perspective is important in life, and in recovery. The way you approach problems determines how you handle them, and if you handle them effectively. By understanding that a relapse is an opportunity to learn and grow, rather than a waste of time and effort, you can prepare yourself for a new kind of recovery, one marked by an experience that helps you better understand yourself and your addiction, rather than being stuck in a cycle that feels inescapable.

Learning From Our Mistakes

Relapses are triggered. Sometimes the trigger is internal, and most of the time, it’s external. People in early recovery will always be plagued by temptations from old memories, places, and people. Learning to live with these temptations and shut them out is central to permanently overcoming addiction.

The first step is to remove yourself from potential triggers as much as humanly possible. For most people, the idea of completely uprooting just isn’t feasible – but there is a lot you can do to change the way you live, from taking a different route to work, to taking the necessary steps to remove yourself from relationships that you know are harmful to your recovery and your long-term sobriety.

Beyond that, however, it’s also important to learn to manage your stress. Relapses are not just triggered by memories, but they can also be triggered by a need to self-medicate under extreme stress. If you find yourself needing an outlet and immediately think of release through drugs, then you’re on a bad path. Get help, call someone, and learn to cope with difficult times and stressful situations by adapting healthy and constructive coping mechanisms, such as exercise and art.

When relapses do happen, they’re an opportunity for you to think back and reflect on what caused them to begin with. Was it a particularly stressful episode in your life? Was it someone, or something? Think back to what exactly pushed you over the edge and made you think that everything you had done prior to that point was worth erasing over the ecstasy of another hit.

Sometimes, it does not have to be particularly profound. Addiction can affect thinking and decision-making, thus leading people who struggle with their sobriety to be prone to risk-taking. However, thinking back to what led you into a state of mind where relapsing became possible can help you identify how to change your recovery.

Following the exact same treatment and changing nothing about your recovery plan is not the correct response to a relapse. Instead, analyzing where things went wrong and adjusting can help you fortify yourself from that same mindset, and better prepare yourself for temptations and stressful situations in the future.

Recommitting And Moving On

The hardest thing to do after a relapse is accept what just happened and decide to soldier on. Even if you manage to point out to yourself that this can be a learning experience with which you can further build your sober life, it’s impossible not to feel a little bit compromised. However, life is not about guarantees. It’s about chances, choices, and circumstances. If you’re struggling with addiction and are fighting to live a sober life, then your circumstances have many odds stacked against you. But through your treatment, you’ve got the chance and you’ve made the choice to get better.

After a relapse, embracing your newfound ability to choose outside of addiction and recommit to staying sober for yourself and your loved ones means embracing that life has no guarantees, and it’s on you to lead your life in the right direction. You made a mistake, because you’re only human. But it doesn’t make you a bad human, or a failure. Instead, it’s another pivotal moment where life gave you the choice to give up or keep moving forward – and as long as you keep moving forward, you’re on the right track.

Overcoming Your Fears

The fear of relapse is a very real thing. Fear as a psychological concept can be a tool or a hindrance. The fear of death can drive us to live in the direst of circumstances, to survive even against terrible odds. However, fear can also paralyze us and keep us from living. If you fear something excessively, then it keeps you from moving past it.

The fear of death kicks in when your life is truly in danger. But the fear of a relapse only keeps you fixated on the possibility of relapsing again, instead of allowing you to embrace the confidence you need to put relapses behind you and focus instead on living each day committed to sobriety and your own happiness.

Relapses are painful and can be difficult to overcome. It’s not easy to get clean again and recommit. But it’s possible – and if you want to get sober, it’s necessary. It will get easier to resist temptations and ignore cravings with time, and with a little help from friends and family, you can keep on the right track even on the bad days.

Sober Fun In Houston

Posted on March 29, 2018July 18, 2018 by JohnAdmin

Houston is a big city, with 180 years of history and heritage. As a metropolis, and the largest city in American South, it’s a melting pot of cultures and traditions with over 2 million inhabitants. As far as places to live go, being sober in Houston is great as it’s one of the most interesting cities in the United States, and there’s more to do here than most people would suspect.

Sure, there’s sports bars, a busy nightlife, and a slew of breweries and beer markets. Yet when going through recovery, many recovering addicts share the fear that they won’t know what to do with their free time without the temptations of addiction, especially alcohol. But you don’t need to drink to have a good time in Houston – and you don’t need to be anywhere near a drink to enjoy yourself, even at night, and party well into the next morning.

Learning to have fun while sober is one of the most important lessons during addiction. You can’t stay determined and committed to your sobriety if you don’t know how to enjoy yourself – and in a massive city like Houston, there are plenty of ways to have fun.

Head To The Theater

This can go both ways – you could take in a piece of classical stage play or experience a more modern twist in any one of Houston’s historic theaters. It’s an easy way to kill some time on an uneventful afternoon, and you might be surprised as Houston’s theater scene.

Head downtown to the theater district and take in the glamour and sophistication. Even if you’re not necessarily a patron of the arts, you might find a play you’ll really connect with.

Take In Real History

Houston is a city with a rich history, from Texan traditions to revolutionary milestones in space travel. Yet there’s much more history than that in Houston’s zoos and museums, scattered throughout the museum district. While being sober in Houston there are

If you’re up for a day of learning, wonder, and culture, there’s bound to be something that’ll catch your attention among the 300,000 sq.-ft. of museum space.

You don’t have to be big on trivia or science to enjoy wandering the halls of a museum. Houston’s museums offer an insight into ancient cultures, with textiles, paintings, artifacts and photographs giving you a glimpse into a world that no longer exists today, an enriching escape that will leave you amazed at human ingenuity and the many stories embedded in each installation.

Fill Your Evening With Laughter

They say laughter is the best medicine – and there’s more truth to that than you might think. Comedy can be a great path not only to a happier self and better state of mind, but it can help remind you of a form of joy you might not have had in a while as you pursue sobriety in Houston.

Many comedians have had their fair share of battles with addiction, and sober comedians are especially skilled at turning their own demons into opportunities for laughter, and a light-hearted insight into something deeper, and quite meaningful – a personal perspective on an incredibly painful subject.

Have a go at local comedy clubs, check out comedians on tour, or spend the night at home binge-watching your favorite comics on Netflix. No matter which way you get your laughs, comedy can be a great help in getting a new, positive perspective on your struggles and triumphs while sober in Houston.

Skip The Booze, Get Some Coffee

Coffee is traditionally a drink had during the day, but there’s nothing to stop you from visiting a coffee shop at night and enjoying a smooth cup of decaf to the sounds of mellow music, and the invigorating aroma of roasted beans.

Plenty of coffee shops throughout Houston offer an amazing nighttime ambience, making them the perfect locale for when you just want a place to retreat to, while still out in public, enjoying a book or just people-watching. Shops like Agora and Black Hole Coffee House come to mind, but there are many more. Enjoying time out in cafe’s is a great way to spend time sober in Houston.

No one says you must go out to get a cup of your favorite brew. But you might find that getting out of the house and ordering a cup at a café of your choice is about more than just taking in the coffee and the music. Then there’s the prospect of going to each and every one, just to see which suits your tastes best.

Enjoy The Outdoors While Sober In Houston

While Houston is a city, it also has some of the most beautiful parks of any urban center in America, with several nature centers, sanctuaries, a city arboretum, and countless trails and outdoor activities not far from the city outskirts. If you’re looking for a stroll through nature, you will have a hard time choosing.

Houston Audubon, for example, manages 17 sanctuaries throughout the Gulf Coast region, and concerns itself with the conservation of several local species of birds and other wildlife. If you want to take in the calm and zen of a forest without leaving town, there’s no better place to head to than the arboretum.

Just beyond the city, Houston offers a slew of outdoor activities, parks and trails. These can be good options for hose who are sober in Houston to spend some time appreciating nature and the outdoors.

Indulge Your Inner Foodie

Sobriety is all about not giving in to dangerous and harmful temptations and falling in love with sobriety instead – and one of the key factors to enjoying being sober in Houston is enjoying a good meal.

Houston, being one of the most populous cities in the country, is no stranger to good cooking in a variety of cuisines, and the city is outfitted with countless top-notch restaurants, bistros, bakeries, and chocolatiers. If it’s a good culinary experience you’re after, Houston has its fair share to offer.

Volunteer At An Animal Shelter

Perhaps one of the most fulfilling ways of spending your time in recovery is through helping others – especially those who can’t help themselves. Houston has several shelters that dedicate themselves to rescuing animals off the streets and getting them out of abusive homes, giving them the love and treatment, they deserve so they can get adopted into a caring home.

However, the process from A to B is complicated, and filled with challenges. Volunteers are much appreciated, and any help – from buying food, to sponsoring medical care, to helping with other tasks and reaching out to families for awareness – can go a long way.

Addiction is incredibly expensive, and time-consuming. Individuals can bring themselves to the brink of financial ruin and beyond in search of the next high. And as an addiction worsens, more and more time is spent thinking about or craving the drug. The idea of sobriety being boring couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, what sobriety brings you is a healthier wallet, a healthier body, and a treasure trove of time better spent doing half a million other things.

Dedicating yourself to sobriety does not just mean you’re staying drug-free. People have this misconception that you’re sacrificing something to stay sober. Instead, being sober gives you the opportunity to truly live. It gives you the opportunity to seek out adventure, have new positive experiences, and make memories that you will actually remember the next day.

This list is just the tip of the iceberg. What awaits you living sober in Houston is not just a list of “sober things” to do in your city. It’s life, the way it’s meant to be lived, free from the chains of addiction and the unhealthy and destructive obsession your old habit forced on you. Embrace this new life, and everything it has to offer.

Why Sober Housing Is Effective at Preventing Relapse

Posted on March 20, 2018March 23, 2018 by JohnAdmin

Sober housing effectively provides a haven for recovering addicts, but with a harsher ruleset than most residential treatment facilities. The onus in sober housing is not to transition into recovery, but to transition into real life without fear of relapse.

Residential treatment and other similar treatments exist to help people transition from addiction into recovery. That means surviving withdrawal, fighting against the cravings, and figuring out what to do with your day without falling back onto old habits.

With time, staying sober gets easier. But stress, tragedy and loss can still affect you heavily, compounding over time without proper coping skills. With addiction fresh on your mind, the possibility of relapsing remains high in early recovery. Yet even years later, people can still slip back, sometimes with fatal consequences. Sober housing can help many people better manage these challenges and develop stronger defenses against relapse.

What Is Sober Housing?

Sober housing provides a sober living environment for people struggling with addiction, looking for a treatment program to help them transition into real life after recovery. Sober housing allows tenants to life in a drug-free environment, and gives them the freedom to pursue their hobbies, if they follow the rules of the house as a template for their own responsibilities after recovery.

Often, sober housing tenants will be asked to seek/have a job, participate in certain events, perform mandatory drug testing, perform chores, and obey house curfews.

Most sober housing environments are built on a similar ruleset, with certain rules changing from group to group. In general, sober housing:

Does not allow drugs on the facility and will have regular drug testing.
Requires that all tenants pay rent on time.
Has a curfew, and limits on allowing guests onto the premises.
Makes it mandatory to seek work/education while going through the program.
Has no limits on how long a tenant may stay.

How Sober Living Prepares People

The established rules in sober living communities allow individuals to follow a guideline for living life without drugs – they provide structure, the kind tenants can take with them anywhere and everywhere.

But sober living is more than just a set of rules binding people together. Sober living means living in a community, coexisting with various people struggling to stay sober, each with their own methods and preferences, all sharing their desire to stay clean but with wildly different backgrounds and futures.

Just like real life, sober living is often about living in a diverse environment and becoming part of the group. You maintain your unique individuality, your approach to sobriety and treatment – but the ability to interact with others, support them in their quest, and seek support from them allows people to develop meaningful friendships, gain and give trust, and work together as a community. The community is central to combatting addiction outside of the context of recovery. We must stick together to support one another, be empathic towards each other’s struggles, and offer a helping hand when the odds are too great to face alone.

A united community is important to avoiding addiction in society. It is often the isolated and the ostracized that struggle the most with mental illness and addiction, because being unaccepted or discriminated against fosters negative thinking, low self-esteem, and can even lead to trauma.

In sober living communities, everyone can find a place to be with others, in a group, making friends and sharing notes. It is about more than just discipline and responsibility in a temptation-free environment. It is about the benefits of a tightly-knit community oriented towards compassion and support.

Transitioning Into Real Life After Treatment

Sober living environments mimic real life, with an added enforcing factor. Anyone with addiction issues can join into a sober living program, but they must follow the rules to stay in the program. In real life, all rules are optional. You must force yourself to follow certain rules and structures, for your own good. In the same way, relapse is always a danger no matter how long you have been sober – but you still have the power to continuously and consciously refuse to use ever again.

When transitioning into real life, you will find that you have the freedom to do anything – and the power to choose to do the right things. By transitioning into real life too early, that temptation to steer off the right path can be very powerful, and highly attractive. Sober living can help you steel yourself and maintain your sobriety, finding alternative ways to deal with stress, cope with the cravings, and manage your struggles and challenges without opting for old habits.

The freedom to do anything, and the power to do the right thing. No matter how bad things get, sober living treatment gives you the ability to choose sobriety every time, even if it is the harder choice to make at first.

Learning To Live with Relapse

In addiction recovery, a relapse is defined as a deviation from the program, when someone who was previously clean uses again. Relapses occur for many reasons, from specific triggers that cause extreme urges and cravings, to emotional distress too great for someone in early recovery to handle.

Relapses are most common in early recovery, when a person is still learning about their sobriety. However, it is not only the relapse that deals damage to your recovery – your perception of it affects how you act going forward. Many people relapse once or twice and give up, seeing it as a sign of emotional and mental weakness, and choosing a life of addiction as their only option.

This is terrible thinking. Relapses are not failures, they are setbacks. And life is full of them. Very rarely does someone do something perfectly. We all make mistakes, and have crude, difficult beginnings. Relapses are not a sign that you are incapable of getting better, they are a sign that you still have much to learn about your own addiction and what keeps you sober.

In other words, a relapse can be a teaching moment, and it always should. It should teach you to be mindful of certain triggers and avoid certain stimuli until you are more capable of confronting it, until you have a more solid foundation under your sobriety.

When you relapse, the best course of action is to get back on the horse, so to speak. Most people will hit a snag at some point in their early recovery, and the key to overcoming it and letting it not happen again is to simply not give up and be mindful.

If you let mistakes and misfortune turn into reasons to give up, then your recovery will be short lived. But if you turn them into learning opportunities to keep going, you are going to get through this addiction no matter what.

What Makes Sobriety Great?

Posted on March 9, 2018 by JohnAdmin

Sobriety is boring. Sobriety is hard. Sobriety isn’t worth it. These are just a few of the statements commonly made to ridicule people who have gone through the tremendous effort to resist all temptation and pledge a vow to sobriety – with or without addiction.

Yet sobriety is more than just the absence of addiction. Sobriety is the presence of clarity – it does not represent an absence of anything, past the technical definition of being sober and clean. Sobriety means seeing life in its true colors, and in broad daylight, with none of the tint or taint that alcohol or drugs bring to the table.

But that alone is not why sobriety is great. What makes sobriety great is what all that clarity affords you. It makes way for you to see and understand things you might never have seen or understood without being sober.

A Clear Mind In Sobriety

The first and clearest benefit to sobriety is that you get a clear head. Some people seem to erroneously think that clarity is a bad thing. It is neither good nor bad, inherently – instead, it’s true. It gives you the chance to see things for what they are and make an informed decision – to see through to the bones of your own situation, and take the steps to change it, rather than ignoring your problems, or burying them under distractions.

More bluntly, addiction gives you the state of mind you need to truly explore yourself. Consider your thoughts and actions. Find a way to make peace with yourself. Think back to the mistakes you’ve made, and find ways to reflect on them, and be mindful of your actions in the future. To have a clear mind is a great strength – but it’s not an immediate change. It takes time – even after you’re sober, you’ll be emotionally clouded, struggling with old buried feelings and powerful emotions like anger and shame.

Facing that is difficult, and it is why many people relapse. Overcoming the internal conflict while coping with the outside world can be too much stress for one person, which is why continuing treatment after rehab in places like a sober living facility can help many who still struggle emotionally after going sober.

Time For Other Passions

Addiction robs us of so much time. For one, many addictions can damage a person’s health, shaving years off their life-expectancy and dramatically raising the risk for major heart issues, strokes and more. Yet it also takes time in a more direct and literal sense – it takes time to think about drugs, get drugs, get high, recover, and repeat the cycle. You lose time, and as an addiction progresses, more and more of your time is lost. Time you used to spend attending to your studies or working or pursuing your hobbies gradually goes towards getting high or figuring out how to get high.

Sobriety gives you the chance to take all that wasted time and make a change – using it for the better. It gives you time to get back to work, to make new friendships, and to pursue new passions.

Real Relationships

Much like time, relationships are important to people. Although we can survive alone for a time, we don’t do very well in isolation and struggle immensely with loneliness, even if only emotionally. Addiction and drug use in general might gain you superficial friendships, but it is hard to trust an addict, even as a fellow addict, because the addiction is steering the person, not them.

Sobriety gives you a shot at real friendship, opening up a whole world of communication and honesty, allowing you to create a new tight social circle to hang around with, while restoring old relationships, friendships, and family ties.

Through sobriety, you have the chance to connect with people and be a person again – someone who can be there for others and be a contributing part of a community.

Dependability And Honesty

Being honest and dependable is not a guarantee – it is something you have to work for, and for some people, it is much harder than others. On one hand, it’s quite simple. Do as you say you will do, and be honest about your feelings, intentions, and actions. But it takes strong character to stand by one’s words.

Character, however, isn’t an inborn trait. It’s trained – and overcoming an addiction shows incredible character. By staying true to your sobriety and your promise to abstinence, you can prove yourself to be dependable and honest – as long as you work through your programs and get help when you feel you need it.

There is no such thing as a smooth path to recovery – every journey after addiction is one paved with a very bumpy road, and you will need all the help you can get if you want to stick to that road.

Financial Stability

Being addicted to drugs costs an immense amount of money. Some people spend far more than others, but the general rule is that no matter what your income is, you will spend a significant percentage of it on getting high as the addiction progresses.

The simple fact that an addiction will constantly push itself to grow larger and larger means that no matter how financially stable you are, drug abuse can be catastrophic for your future – and it too often is.

Sobriety eliminates this issue by saving you a theoretical fortune. It is not necessarily easy to find work after addiction, but plenty of programs exist to help sober people find steadily paying work. After treatment, every moment spent not looking for or buying drugs is not just money saved, but time saved – and that time can be put towards making more money.

Actual Happiness

Sobriety does not guarantee happiness – there is no such thing as guaranteed happiness. Happiness is a state of mind – but it cannot really be achieved just chemically. Where a high will give you temporary happiness and leave you feeling worse than before, true happiness can be a memory that will bring you comfort for the rest of your life.

It’s times when you live in the moment and realize how blissful you feel and know that it’s one of those moments you can always hold onto and recall when you need it the most.

Without sobriety, those moments are gone forever. But by staying sober, you’re saying yes not just to uncertainty, but to moments of true happiness. You’re saying yes to life how it really is, with all its beauty and its problems. And that is the true greatness behind staying sober.

It’s Time to Get Serious About Staying Sober

Posted on March 1, 2018February 28, 2018 by JohnAdmin

The biggest advantage you have in the fight against addiction is in the power of your own will to get better. In the early days, it’s normal to feel almost powerless. The cravings and the temptations will be stronger than ever right after you stop using, and that is why many people seek help with staying sober when starting out.

But as time goes on, once the drug is out of your system and early recovery has begun, your will becomes more instrumental than ever. You must to keep staying sober – everything else comes second.

Of course, your will alone is not enough. Any temptation or memory of the past can trigger a powerful craving, one that can be incredibly hard to resist. Whenever things are not going your way – and as life goes, that can be quite often – the urge to use grows stronger, to forget your troubles and defeat the stress. Some days are worse than others, and at times, it feels like life is taunting you.

But the longer you stay clean, the rarer the bad days get, and the more you feel happy about yourself and your life. To get to that tipping point, however, you may need every ounce of help you can get your hands on. Thankfully, there are more than enough resources out there to get you started and keep you on the right path. Here are a few essentials for getting serious about staying sober.

Find A Hobby While Staying Sober

A big part of successful addiction treatment is finding the ability to enjoy yourself without drugs. Life is meant to be lived, but addiction often robs us of the joy of living. It will not come back easily, but finding a hobby that draws you in can be a great first step in staying sober. For many, it is something related to exercise.

Getting active causes your body to release endorphins, allowing you to feel good without any external substance. What is often referred to as the “runner’s high” is not exclusive to running and applies to a wide variety of sports and activities.

Other sports and hobbies that do not necessarily involve physical prowess can also be a great introduction into sober living. Take chess and reading, for example, or painting. Regardless of your talent, activities like painting and writing allow you to express yourself and your emotions in ways you might not be able to in conversation or everyday living.

Journaling is a common way to relieve stress and tension at the end of the day, and reflect on the day, thus improving mindfulness – an important factor in addiction treatment. It also allows you to hone your focus and keep your cognition sharp – these are both important, because long-term drug use often diminishes your ability to think critically and be focused while staying sober.

Another important part of picking out a hobby is to be social again. Making new friends related either to your sobriety or to a hobby you really enjoy is an important part of staying sober. By building connections and creating casual relationships, we begin to build a life that allows us to be accountable to others as a friend or acquaintance and gives us time to look forward to outside of time spent alone, in the company of your own thoughts and temptations.

That, and the people around you can become major cornerstones in your long-term battle against addiction, by providing vital support while you are staying sober.

Surround Yourself With Support

Addiction is not a disease best fought alone – in fact, it may be impossible to fight addiction alone. People who get sober without treatment do so more often out of their connection with others, rather than their own will. This because addiction often erodes people’s self-esteem and causes you to be more likely to feel shame or fear, rather than be motivated by your odds of success.

But when we see sobriety not only as something that can benefit us, but as a way to fulfill our obligations to others and be someone we can feel good about, it becomes much more powerful.

That is the power behind accountability. By surrounding ourselves with people who care about us, we can be accountable to them in the fight against addiction.

Support is more than just that, of course. By making new friends in circles of sobriety, such as group meetings and sober living communities, you can help motivate others to work on staying sober and be motivated by them and their struggles. Creating a network and relying on a trustworthy social circle can greatly improve your motivation to keep on fighting, day after day.

Get With The Program

Addiction programs exist of reason: many of them work. We have come a long way since the early days of addiction treatment – from medication to help combat some of the most addictive and powerful drugs in the world, to therapeutic treatments that help patients completely change the way they think and act with hard work and dedication, to treatment programs that cater themselves entirely to a client’s circumstances and needs.

If you can afford to take time away from work, or need to be in a safe, temptation-less environment, then facilities such as residential treatment clinics and sober living communities can make a huge impact and set you on your way towards long-term sobriety. For those who cannot afford such a commitment, outpatient programs of all shapes and sizes exist to fit to your schedule.

Get Professional Help

Friends and family are integral to better overall health – having a solid support system and a trustworthy social circle in your life is important regardless of your mental health. But when it comes to addiction, it probably is not enough to only look towards your friends and family. While they are important and will be a cornerstone for your continued sobriety long after initial treatment, a professional therapist, and other experts with an assortment of skills and tools can help you tailor a very specific and highly effective treatment to combat your addiction and equip you with the skills you need to continue fighting addiction long after any program typically ends.

Addiction is not defeated in rehab – but rehab, or other related treatment options such as sober living, can teach you more about yourself and your relationship with drugs. That knowledge will be instrumental to avoiding relapses, dealing with difficult and tense situations, surviving the fallout from broken relationships or other losses and tragedies, and generally learning how to enjoy life after addiction, and continue to avoid falling back into it.

Benefits Of A Luxury Rehab In Houston

Posted on February 9, 2018September 28, 2018 by JohnAdmin

Inpatient residential treatment, also known as rehab, is one of several options for early addiction treatment and can be seen as one of the best choices for people who really want to get better but need all the help they can get to work their way through the first few weeks of treatment. There is no doubt that addictions can ruin lives – and for many, especially people with a certain public image or an appearance to keep up, there is an onus placed on taking care of the problem discretely and effectively. Luxury rehab options might produce the illusion of taking a trip to paradise under the guise of treatment, but getting clean and staying clean is never easy, no matter how nice the view is. That said, it can still be extremely effective and a luxury rehab provides many benefits to those trying to get clean.

If you are considering a live-in residential treatment option and need the best, then luxury rehab is for you. Here is why.

Confidentiality & Privacy

Above all else, luxury rehab providers understand that the vast majority of their clientele want an environment in which they can feel comfortable being themselves, an environment for healing where they do not have to worry about publicity or responsibility. For just a little while, these places of treatment are meant to help clients focus entirely on getting better in every way possible.

Of course, like with every addiction treatment, progress is impossible if the client does not want to get better. But a standard for luxury rehab is that they facilitate your recovery without you having to worry about the outside world for just a little while, keeping your information and treatment details confidential so you can focus on recovery to the best of your abilities.

Excellent Facilities & Amenities

There is something to be said for a treatment center with good facilities – primarily that they help give you something to do when you feel like you need something to keep you busy. After a certain point, an addiction becomes more than self-medication or a social activity, and it turns into a personal habit, something to do with your hands when you are bored and need something to fill in the gaps between the moments.

Boredom can be a killer – and with how severely and quickly addiction pushes many other habits and activities out of your life, pretty quickly it will be normal for you to think of lighting up, snorting, or getting ready to shoot up just because you have some time to kill, and nowhere in particular to be.

Rehab is meant to act as a reboot for life itself after addiction, first helping you with your initial sobriety and withdrawal, and then helping you figure out what you should actually be doing with all the time you are spending sober.

Golf, swimming, lifting, writing, painting, crafting, singing, or building. There are a million hobbies out there, from writing limericks or journal entries, to deeply enjoying and taking pride in your passion for avian photography.

You could even sit at a desk once a day, listen to some of your favorite music, and produce a few lines of unrelated poetry, just letting your mind flow in places it has not flowed in for years, drinking in the love and passion for your personal art in ways that was not possible when you were getting high.

Luxury rehab is designed to make you fall in love with sobriety – providing the facilities to help make that happen. You are here to learn how to live with yourself again, be happy in your own shell, and find a reason for living and loving life outside of the context of addiction. It is not easy, and it will be easier for some than it might be for others. But it is an approach that always works, varying only in the time it takes to find and discover that one habit that captures you and sets you on a permanent path away from addiction.

Take your time to explore all your options. Do things you would have never done before. Pick up old habits and hobbies and see how they suit the new you. Rediscover yourself as a person and take some pleasure in the curious journey of figuring out just what it is that brings you joy and happiness after years of artificial joy and artificial happiness in drug form.

Programs Beyond Luxury Rehab

Luxury rehab is one of many first treatment options for those in addiction recovery. Some people opt for it, others do not – but at the end, there has a lot more to do after rehab is over, and hopefully many more years of sobriety ahead of you.

Figuring out how not to be scared of that, and not to be scared of relapse, can take a while. Addiction and the way it conditions people to the pain it causes others has a way of producing cynical and anxious thoughts. Getting away from that line of thinking and into another takes practice, and time – like any other habit, only more intense.

That is why a quality rehab program should also do its best to prepare you for the next step and provide the tools and abilities to seamlessly transition you from your current treatment into the next. There are other options of course, but they do not provide the same benefit as a luxury rehab when it comes to recovery.

Things to Consider

Luxury rehab centers put you in a world completely unlike the one you know. The biggest difference is a lack of drugs – but there is more than just that. It is an isolated environment, a little community built around health and wellness.

It is an environment you cannot rely on, and one that exists solely to be made obsolete in a client’s mind – you are meant to grow past rehab, rather than get used to it and the lifestyle it provides you.

That includes moving past the fear of addiction, to a point in your life where you feel confident enough to face the world and its temptations without reverting to the past.

If you or someone you know needs help managing the recovery process, contact us today to see how we can help: 877-394-8810

What Are the Advantages to a Houston Sober Living Community?

Posted on November 16, 2017 by JohnAdmin

It’s hard to overcome drug addiction. Regardless of the exact nature of your addiction – the emotional factors, the physical dependence and withdrawal, the lack of support or constant temptations – everyone who struggles to stay clean struggles for a reason. It’s one of those things that can’t really be compared. Everyone has their own challenges to overcome – and as such, a single unified treatment is nearly impossible. That’s when a Houston sober living community can come in handy.

Drug addiction treatment is all about matching someone to the best fitting treatment model. It’s not so much that therapists are looking for a perfect fit – they’re looking for the best fit. Perfect isn’t how life works, and it’s the same in addiction treatment.

Talk therapy like CBT and DBT, group therapies, art therapy and medications are just a few of the many possible tools used by mental health experts and treatment facility coordinators in the treatment of drug addiction. But sometimes, therapy isn’t quite enough. Drug addiction can change the way we think and feel, and it can affect our perception for quite some time. As it takes a while for the brain to readjust and repair after an addiction, cravings can last for weeks and months.

Therefore treatment options like a Houston sober living community have seen a lot of success. “Rewiring the brain”, so to speak, is a challenge. But with living environments that simulate the responsibilities of real life without any of the temptations, patients can more easily confront their cravings, overcome them, and move on to living healthy lives.

What a Houston Sober Living Community Means

A Houston sober living community is an apartment, home or communal property of some other kind maintained and used for tenants who want to stay sober. It’s typically advised as a post-rehab alternative to jumping straight into living “in the real world” or to replace other outpatient programs.

Rules at a Houston sober living community change from one community to the next, but typically there are a few ground rules that never change.

The biggest and most important rule is that sobriety is paramount in a Houston sober living community. This means that, no matter what, drugs and alcohol are not allowed on the premises. Some places go so far as to ban any products that are commonly used as alcohol alternatives, such as mouthwash, or even bath soap. They will also have unscheduled drug tests to determine whether the rules were broken, and to uncover the possibility of drug use at the facility.

There are also strict visitation rules in place, to prevent any behavior that might enable drug use. This means no sleepovers, and curfews. These curfews are also meant to help people struggling with sleeping cycles and concrete schedules get used to going to bed and waking up at consistent times.

On top of sleeping right, many Houston sober living communities put an emphasis on eating right, moving often, and finding work. Most Houston sober living communities make it mandatory to look for a job, keep a job, or go to school.

Sober communities aren’t just glorified prisons. They’re communities with systems in place to help people stay strict with themselves – but they also put an emphasis on activities that help tenants bond with one another, find common interests, and work on themselves in their free time.

A Houston sober living community doesn’t just stay in one place – they often plan events, frequently outdoors, to foster new interests and ignite a passion for old hobbies. Interests and hobbies are important for drug recovery – they provide an emotional and creative outlet, and help people measure their own post-addiction progress through their measured progress in other skills.

Why People Choose Houston Sober Living Communities

Life is tough – even the day-by-day can take a while to get used to straight out of the rehab environment. A Houston sober living community or home tries to emulate the responsibilities and necessities of life as closely as possible, while still providing a safe environment that offers therapy, and takes away temptations in stressful times.

Through men and women’s Houston sober living communities, people can learn to cope and master life outside of rehab, completely drug-free.

Recovery Goes On

Ultimately, frequency and consistency will never stop being important in long-term recovery. If you want to stay sober, then discipline is necessary. Of course, ideally, you’re never alone in this: friends, family, loved ones, no matter who you have on your side, if they believe in your ability to recover and support you when things get tough, you should have the motivation and inspiration to stay clean.

Life has a bit of habit of throwing curveballs at you; curveballs that will test you in every way. While Houston sober living communities can help you get used to living without drugs, and even teach you how to enjoy a sober life, nothing can really prepare you for days when it feels like your world is falling apart. From divorce, to death and injury, it’s these problems that pose the biggest risk to years and years of recovery being interrupted with a relapse.

This is where the support networks of Houston sober living communities and other walks of life become central to your ability to remain strong and stay clean. No matter how bad things get, there’s always a way back to normalcy, a way back to happiness and a good life. It’s never easy, but every tragedy has an end, and a new beginning afterwards.