Are Long-Term Sobriety Homes Effective?

Long-term sobriety homes have different gauges by which they measure their success. They generally take into consideration the number of individuals that pass through their program as a measurement of their success; however does that give a clear and valid view of whether or not long-term sobriety homes are effective?
12 Step Philosophy in Long Term Sobriety

For the most part and in many respects, long-term sobriety homes adhere to a 12 step based instruction for rehab treatment which indicates that they implement the standards that are used in A. A. and N. A. programs. Long term sobriety homes also follow an ideology that drug and alcohol abuse is an incurable addiction disease as well as accept that you inherited your disease from your parents. They recognize that the only treatment is surrendering your addiction to a Higher Power as you try to maintain abstinence – which you will not be able to do because everyone will relapse sooner or later, and that you are powerless against your disease. Many people who are opposed to this manner of thinking believe that this type of ideology is dangerous because it prevents the individual with drug and alcohol abuse from accepting their responsibility of their substance abuse.

This Is Not One Size Fits All!

Long-term sobriety homes offer residential rehab treatment to individuals that are struggling from alcohol and drug addiction. These homes promote different levels or types of care from closely monitored care to transitional and independent and non-residential care. Care is promoted in stages and the idea is to gradually complete the stages to become once again self sufficient.

Everything is Under One Roof!

Long-term sobriety homes provide all the individual counseling, group therapy and 12 step meetings under one roof. Their policy of total abstinence is enforced by mandatory urine analysis and breathalyzer tests and the penalty of violating the policy is removal from the home in many cases. The opposition argues that accepting responsibility for the choices you make is important to the recovery process and in the ability to overcome the obstacles. Transferring the blame to someone else does not benefit anyone, especially you.

The Argument From the Other Side

Other groups protest that if the individual understands and accepts that their alcohol and drug abuse is a choice that they made and that it is not a result of inheriting an addiction gene from your parents, but rather it is a learned behavior; then the individual will see that they do not need counseling and therapy for the rest of their life. For alte
ative and non 12 step programs, the answer is not in a disease model, but rather in learning to make different choices.