Continuing Care
After making the first call, completing assessments, undergoing evaluations, detox, and then spending a considerable amount of time in residential inpatient treatment, many recovering addicts feel they’ve completed the process. After all, that’s the point of rehab! However, the professional staff at His and Her House, some of whom are recovering addicts themselves and all of whom are experienced in the drug and alcohol treatment field, will tell you definitely this is not the case.
Discharge from a residential addiction treatment program is just the first step in the lifelong journey towards recovery.
What is Continuing Care?
Continuing care, or aftercare, is a program or series of programs to ease the transition from residential rehabilitation to resuming “normal” daily life. In the life of a recovering addict, triggers for relapse are everywhere. It can be very difficult to avoid using when entering social situations such as meeting friends at a bar or a BBQ; additionally, in many cases, the recovering individual’s social circle revolved around the use of a particular drug or drugs. His and Her House Continuing Care programs are there to help our alumni avoid these temptation, learn to adapt in social situations where triggers are present, and to build and rebuild healthy relationships with friends and family.
There are many continuing care treatment options for our alumni. Some examples:
-
Sober Living Programs – Sober Living (sometimes known as halfway houses) is a treatment program for those who have finished residential inpatient treatment but still need a strictly controlled living environment. We offer Sober Living at our Palm House locations in Southern California. Sober Living patients live at one of our specialized houses with fellow recovering addicts and house managers while spending their days at work or school. These programs allow the patient to re-enter their lives and routines while keeping some of the structure they enjoyed at an inpatient facility.
-
Alumni Programs – His and Her House offers an extensive Alumni program. We’ve found that people in recovery tend to feel more comfortable around people who’ve navigated the same dangerous road to sobriety as they have. To this end we organize events such as BBQ, live concerts, meet-and-greets, and outdoor day trips (for example, to the beach). Alumni programs create a safe space for men and women in recovery to forge new friendships, further their journey of self-discovery, and to help their fellow recovering addicts do the same.
-
Meetings and Chapters – We strongly encourage our Alumni to engage in meetings with 12 step programs such as Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. In fact, many of our own programs are based on the tenets of the 12 step program. These meetings are proven over decades to help addicts maintain their sobriety in the long term and to help rebound from relapses when and if they occur.
The Advantages of Sober Living
Sober Living programs are proven to help patients maintain sobriety and learn important skills to improve on harmful behaviors.
A Lifelong Journey
Continuing care programs are essential for the long-term sobriety of any recovering addict or alcoholic; it’s unrealistic to think that completing an inpatient or outpatient treatment program will permanently eliminate all cravings or trigger to relapse. Whether it’s Sober Living, joining the Alumni program, or even committing to attending NA or AA meetings, your path to sobriety is smoothest when you take steps to ensure continuing care in your life.
Recovery is a journey. With any long journey, pit stops to refuel and rest are needed. Continuing care programs hive you the fuel you need to continue your journey with success.
