How to Create a Supportive Sober Environment at Home

Research indicates that those who have family involvement in the recovery are more likely to complete their inpatient programs and achieve long-term success in sobriety. A big part of this is creating a supportive and sober environment at home.

The Importance of a Supportive Environment at Home

Not everyone has a supportive and sober environment.

• Some people have roommates who like to binge drink on the weekends
• Some people have spouses who are also addicted but haven't gotten treatment
• Some people live alone and don't have an accountability partner

All of these situations and many more circumstances could easily lead to a relapse after you have completed your residential or inpatient program. That is why it's important that you learn how to create a sober living environment to maintain your health and sobriety in recovery.

Research indicates that your environment plays a significant role in preventing relapse. Stress cues, exposure to drugs, and other triggers can commonly take place in your home environment, detracting from the gains you have made during treatment.

How to Build a Supportive Home Environment

A sober and supportive living environment is not just one that's free from drugs and alcohol but one that supports your mental health and recovery goals.

Support Mental Health

Your supportive and sober home environment needs to be something that supports your mental health. This will look different for everyone and might include:

• Avoiding triggers at home
• Offering a place of reprieve for mental health breaks
• Participating in yoga or meditation 

Have Rules

Creating a supportive sober environment at home might include having rules that relate to other members of the family. If, for example, you are recovering from alcoholism, some of the rules might include not consuming alcohol at home for any other member of the family. All alcohol-related paraphernalia, mixers, or bottles might be removed from the house as well.

Choose Words Wisely 

A supportive sober environment at home is one that supports your mental health. A big part of this might extend to the words that are used.

For example, you might decide that in your home, certain words are not used because of the negative stigma associated with them, like "addict," for which you might replace "someone with addiction."

By choosing ways that you can prioritize a supportive living environment, you will have improved physical and mental well-being. A healthy environment provides an opportunity to focus on your recovery and allows you to invest time and resources in things like:

• Sleep hygiene
• Daily schedules and structures
• Meeting small goals
• Finding hobbies
• Connecting socially with others

Creating a Supportive Sober Environment at Home with Ava Recovery

Those who participate in treatment with our drug rehab in Austin benefit from programs that offer things like family therapy, where family members can learn how to choose their words wisely or what rules matter most in a sober environment. Similarly, therapy can offer coping mechanisms that support mental health, things that you can use when you go home and continue in your recovery.

At our drug detox center in Austin, we offer comprehensive detox and inpatient programs. Clients benefit from therapies like individual and group therapy, CBT, DBT, and family therapy. Located five minutes from the beach, clients can enjoy activities like beach trips, surfing, and meditation alongside traditional therapy. 

Our family therapy programs are an important part of helping clients create a supportive, sober environment at home. Many loved ones have to watch as addiction transforms those closest to them in destructive ways. Family members and friends can feel like they don't understand where someone is coming from, that communication is strained, and that they don't know how to help, especially when someone returns from inpatient treatment.

At our facility family therapy programs aim to validate the experience every family member has while helping to repair communication and improve interactions between family members. This plays an essential role in creating a supportive sober environment at home by providing family members with a deeper understanding of addiction, relapse, and how they can offer support.