Residential Recovery Facilities Improve Success Rates

Give yourself the gift of clean time that residential recovery offers

After an addict has detoxed, they are commonly told to go to a residential treatment facility. Studies show that long-term treatment for addiction improves success rates. People who go into residential recovery environments have a better chance of achieving long-term sobriety. There are many reasons for this statistic. Habits take an average of thirty days to break.

Remember, though, addiction comes with multiple habits. It’s not just about breaking the pattern of drinking or getting high every day. We have to break the habit of sleeping the day away, being unemployed, buying alcohol, needles, and pipes. We have to break the habit of isolation, depression, self-harm, and self-hatred. As if that weren’t enough, we also have to change how we think and view the world. While it isn’t impossible to break all those habits at home, it’s decidedly easier to break them in a group setting and with staff members who can help us to replace bad habits with healthy ones. Group dynamics are powerful, and they work. Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous prove how powerfully healing groups are.

Addicts May Balk at Attending Residential Treatment

Residential recovery lays a powerful foundation for long-term sobriety

I’m am addict. I have a crystal-clear memory of meeting Chris Jacobs for the first time.  I shook so hard that I could hardly walk or eat. Chris approached me to talk to me about long term residential treatment just after I tried and failed to eat a meal.  I was acutely aware of my predicament. Still, as Chris told me how a long-term treatment could help me, I saw it only as a loss of independence. That’s a pretty ridiculous thought from someone unable to actually EAT.

In early recovery, most of us don’t yet know how to make healthy decisions. Sometimes we balk at the very thing that we most need, which is direction, support, and a chance to get some clean time under our belt before going home.

Resist the voice in your head that says no to sober living. It is where miracles happen. If your loved one resists the idea of residential treatment, push them towards it with a loving firmness.

My father’s tough love pushed me to go with Chris Jacobs and into residential treatment for addiction. I wasn’t happy about it AT ALL, which is crazy because it laid the groundwork for every success I have achieved since.

Miracles Happen Quietly and Steadily in Residential Treatment Facilities

So much healing happens in residential recovery programs

Addicts that go to long-term residential recovery houses can make new friends that share their desire to get and stay sober. For many of us, these are the only friends we have that are not using. It’s hard to walk away from drinking or using buddies alone. Sober living helps us replace friends who use with people who understand us and care about our sobriety. These friendships are a gift.

As we plod our way through finding a sponsor, staying sober, going to meetings, and working the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, the staff members at sober living homes are quietly working miracles for future residents.

I haven’t been a resident at Chris Jacob’s house in almost 15 years. Last week, I went into the office for under a minute. As I quietly waited for someone to get something for me, I saw a staff member talking on the phone – brows furrowed. He was intently listening to the person on the other end. I heard him and realized he was on the talking with a parent of a teenager in the grip of addiction, mental illness, or both. He was talking softly and kindly and I could see him thinking about how to help the parent and the teenager (who had no idea a higher power was helping direct him into the arms of safety and sobriety.)

The people that work with addicts like me – who start out rebellious and annoyed by their presence – are unrelenting positive forces of good. They see who we can become, and they fight for THAT version of us. While the world stigmatizes us, they see an opportunity for healing.

We Who Balk at Long-Term Residential Treatment Can Succeed

Lean in and trust the process

I begrudgingly followed Chris Jacobs down Rt. 285 to treatment. I drove as slowly and tried to lose him on the highway. Chris slowed down every time I did. He refused to let me get lost. I cursed at his stubbornness.

Thirty days later, I had made friends with the women in the house. My hands shook a little less. I had a sponsor, went to meetings, and remembered what it felt like to laugh. Admittedly,  I actually loved long-term treatment. My father sent me to residential treatment for addiction for thirty days. On the 30^th day, I called and begged him to let me stay longer.

After my father agreed, I told him Chris that I would not leave residential recovery until I was confident that I could stay clean on my own. It turns out, Chris Jacobs had been right from the very start. Residential treatment could save my life, and it did.  It can save yours, too. Please give it a chance so that one day, you will look back in disbelief at the miracle of your own story.

Breakthrough Recovery Outreach Cares

If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, we will throw tou a life preserver

Getting clean and sober sounds impossible at first. It’s not. Millions of addicts have gotten sober through in twelve step programs and by going to residential treatment.

If you or a family member needs help with addiction, contact us. We’re here to help.