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For many people with opioid use disorder, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) such as Suboxone or Vivitrol is a lifeline to long-term sobriety. While MAT is not the best option for everyone, thousands of people across America have used it in one form or another to help put distance between themselves and their last use of illicit drugs.
MAT is considered an important tool for people with opioid use disorder. The recovery community has not necessarily embraced it as the go-to tool for addiction recovery, mainly due to worries about its safety. Many people who got sober without the aid of MAT may have reservations about its use. However, the FDA has recently recommended the use of agonist or partial agonist medications (methadone, buprenorphine) to support abstinence. Through this endorsement, more treatment centers have decided to add MAT as a tool for people new to recovery.
Like all treatment tools, MAT is an option, but it’s not the only way people can get and stay sober. We’re fighting a deepening opioid crisis, and treatment providers, as well as their clients, deserve to have as many tools at their disposal as possible. MAT definitely can provide a life-saving function for people who suffer from opioid dependence and addiction.
It is the role of the treatment providers and medical professionals to learn the facts about how medications work and find ways to support long-term recovery for individuals using these medications. This education on MAT includes those who run sober homes and housing programs for people in recovery.
According to data from 2018 gathered by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 128 people in the United States die from opioid overdoses every day. Medication-Assisted Treatment has helped thousands of people beat those odds by reducing cravings and assisting individuals to put more time between themselves and their drug of choice.
New guidance has been released by NIDA to help addiction treatment providers understand the ins and outs of prescribing and helping people use MAT as a part of their overall treatment plan.
While all treatment providers and sober housing professionals have their own programs that help them build a safe community, this information is vital to assisting professionals to make the right choice for their clients to begin their journey in recovery.
The guidelines brief attached can help sober living homes and other providers understand where MAT fits into an overall treatment plan. While MAT is still new to the sober housing community, it has been safely used in treatment facilities for a number of years. Understanding what role it can play will help housing communities draft their own policies based on science and information on treatment outcomes.
NARR's mission, according to their website, is "to support persons in recovery from addiction by improving their access to quality recovery residences through standards, support services, placement, education, research, and advocacy."
Now, more than ever, it’s important to have people in your life who support your recovery. Sober living situations are a great way to rebuild your life and adjust to working on your new goals. Learn more about how our sober home can help you in your recovery. Call us at 760-216-2077 to learn about housing options.
Many people go to detox, then to long-term treatment, and return to their home once they have completed their treatment program. This may work for some people. For other people new to recovery, living in an environment full of new challenges, stressors, and old triggers sounds overwhelming. This is why so many people in recovery decide to transition from treatment to sober living.
If you’ve been away at an inpatient treatment center, the “outside world” can feel foreign to you. For months, you lived in a supportive network where everyone was working towards the same goals. You probably felt safer, saner, and more supported in treatment. It becomes an extended family for many people!
The truth of the matter is that people in recovery are your extended family. When you go to 12-step meetings, you find a sponsor, make friends, and share intimate details of your life.
Adapting to everyday life will be much different than living in a treatment center, of course. You’ll have to deal with people at work that aren’t in recovery. You’ll also have to learn to cope with triggers, new feelings, and other challenges.
It’s not surprising that many people choose to “take it slow” and transition back into their communities through a sober housing.
People in sober housing are in recovery, just like you. They all have their own lives and goals they are working towards.
Living with others in a sober environment keeps you away from temptation. You’ll also have the security of knowing that everyone in the environment is clean and sober and working a recovery program. You’ll still be able to focus on yourself and your own goals while you’re getting back on your feet.
Sober housing is a place to help you explore your new life in recovery. While living in the sober home, you’ll be able to work, go to meetings, therapy, family time, etc. but you’ll also have rules to abide by, such as curfews.
If you’re interested in learning more about sober housing, give us a call at 760-216-2077 to learn more about your options.
When you finish a treatment program, you’re working towards changing your way of life. Staying clean and sober is the top goal, and many people feel anxiety about returning to their “old life” or place of residence. Aftercare can help you with the transition from treatment to life in the “real world”. Some people, however, think it’s better to try and do the “hard work” of staying sober on their own. You may wonder why you should go back to treatment after you’ve finished your inpatient program.
Here are four reasons why aftercare can benefit you as a person in recovery:
Recovery is a journey, not a destination. Some people decide that in addition to aftercare, they’d feel most comfortable living in a setting with structure and the support of their peers. Sober living homes can help provide a go-between treatment and independent living.
You can learn more about sober living options by giving us a call at 1-760-216-2077 to learn more about your options.
Everyone in recovery has triggers, which are small or large things that cause them to want to get high, drunk, or act poorly. These are things like situations or emotions (sometimes subtle) that caused you to use in the past. Because drinking or using drugs was your reaction in the past, when these situations happen to you as a newly sober person, you may feel triggered.
Here’s how triggers work. Sally is a newly recovering alcoholic. She might feel a desire to drink when she passes the bar she used to go to every Friday night. She may be triggered on payday, when she used to spend part of her paycheck on a trip to the liquor store. When Sally gets in an argument with her spouse, her first reaction used to be to take a drink to “calm her nerves”.
Now that Sally is sober, she has to learn to understand and cope with her triggers.
These are three big triggers for people who are new to recovery. Don’t let boredom, loneliness, or complacency grab ahold of you. Instead, share with others where you’re at in life. Go to as many 12-step meetings as you’re capable, and don’t pick up a drink or a drug. Take it a day at a time.
Some people know they need some extra support when they have finished treatment. Are you looking for a supportive, therapeutic sober housing arrangement as you transition back to the community? We can help you learn about your options. Contact us at 1-760-216-2077 for more information.
Active addiction can derail your life, no matter who you are or where you come from. Getting clean and sober is a welcome relief to anyone who has struggled with the extreme ups and downs of a substance use disorder. For most people, however, the problems of addiction aren’t left behind. As the saying goes, “Wherever you go, there you are.” Just because you’ve removed the substance abuse from your life doesn’t mean that you’re completely healed and done with recovery. Much work will remain when you leave your treatment center, and it’s up to you to get that work done.
Above all else, your recovery must come first when you’ve graduated from treatment. This means that as soon as you leave treatment, it’s up to you to create a support network. This could mean starting an aftercare program, seeing a therapist, or going to groups for your substance use disorder.
You will also need to build support from the 12-step meetings you go to. Finding a sponsor that you like and trust is an important step that you hopefully completed while in treatment. Once out, this person can be a lifeline to meetings, events, and coping tools you need when you first get clean and sober. If you don’t feel comfortable with your sponsor at first, give it some time. There’s nothing wrong with getting a new sponsor if the one you initially chose isn’t a perfect fit.
Not everyone is ready to go to their old home when they get sober. Some people just feel safer around others in recovery, and others may not want to go home to a household full of triggers where people drink and use drugs.
It’s time for you to do what helps YOU stay sober. If this means taking time to transition to your new life, then consider a sober housing situation. Sober housing is a great way to test your wings in recovery but still have discipline and accountability to others who understand what you’re going through.
If you’re interested in your sober living options, you’re in the right place. We also have aftercare programs to help you if you need them. Take the time to relax and settle down in a structured environment that still makes time for fun. Our sober living environment was built to give you a solid foundation as well as teaching you how to enjoy life in your newfound recovery. Give us a call to learn more about your options at 760-216-2077.
The supreme court said no. It will not review nor follow up on Newport wishing to regulate sober living homes. Its interesting however that there has to be standards and a mechanism for control, for a situation like the one in Florida, mixing insurance and treatment, may cross fine lines and be pushing the terms of treatment and recovery housing. Where to place a line? Where to say 'this is discriminatory'? While arguments from both sides are afloat, NAARR and CAARR continue to be the overseeing bodies of sober living homes and the 'standard' of todays recovery housing. The cities will continue to be scared: some rightly so, others in outright stigma-ridden fear. The recovery community needs to come together and self regulate, at the level of cities, not ignoring educating and supporting the city by collecting data, implementing best practices or evidence based research, and continue to being open to feedback and change. The sober housing field is in its adolescent stage: shouts of independence are being heard yet there is no real evidence of independence. How can we support both sides of growth and regulation?
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-640726-case-ordinance.html
