About ~ A Sober Living House
A Sober Living House is just like it sounds, a place to stay where you'll have a supportive community and can start your new life free from alcohol or other drugs. Residents in sober living homes commit to abstaining from substance use while participating in outpatient programs or after completing inpatient drug rehab. A Sober Living House bridges the gap between addiction treatment and returning home.
Living in a sober environment helps you develop new habits and routines, taking what you learned during drug or alcohol rehab and applying it in your daily life. This is where the next level in addiction recovery occurs.
Your House is your support net as you practice new skills, gain new insights, and shape your new life in recovery… with other people who are possibly facing the same challenges. A Sober Living House provides a strong support network and a community to help you safely navigate the tough spots and triggers you may encounter.
A Sober Living House isn’t meant to be a permanent living situation but rather a temporary transition period that allows people in recovery to find a balance between their new lives and sobriety. Residents should stay in a Sober Living House until they have established another form of safe housing where they can remain committed to recovery. An average stay is 6 to 9 months, a year or more is not uncommon.
Benefits ~ Sober Living House
Transitional living in a Sober Living House during early sobriety can increase the likelihood of long-term success in sobriety. Studies have also shown that stable, sober living environments can lead to longer periods of abstinence, higher rates of employment and fewer legal issues. Sober living means living in a place where there are no temptations or distractions from alcohol or drugs. The house manager and your peers in the house will also hold you accountable.
The on-site house manager is there to help you with any potential issues that arise in your recovery – difficult cravings, down emotions, trouble finding a job – and are simply there to talk. They know what it is like to experience substance addiction, complete a rehab program, and to live sober after treatment. They can offer you advice when you need it most.
Additional benefits of a Sober Living House include:
Mutual support among peers who are also engaged in recovery
A sense of stability and community that is absent in active addiction
Enhanced safety and security
Opportunity to develop and show personal responsibility and independence
Assistance with developing money management and other life skills
It’s a place and an opportunity to learn and apply interpersonal skills, and develop meaningful relationships
A Sober Living House has some basic rules to ensure everyone’s top priority is recovery
Linkage to resources, such as job training, education options, and support groups
Addiction treatment can set you on the pathway to sobriety, but a Sober Living House can keep you on that road. Sober living housing can be the transition you need between starting over and staying sober.
About ~ the Creators
Lindsay Leif
Lindsay is a local hero in Austin, running the award winning Leif Tax Service, raising four amazing children, and volunteering her hardworking nature to many causes.
Lindsay has been sober for three years, and understands addiction and the delight of living sober. She has found her health and her life have transformed in deep and beautiful ways since she broke through.
Her extensive experience helping others, along with her direct, encouraging manner, and naturally uplifting way of being…shines a light for the residents of the Bright Life House.
Dr. David Breitbach
Dr. David has developed understanding and experience from over 30 years of assisting the healing and transformation of people from all walks of life, and parenting three wonderful children. He brings his Bright Life concepts of transformation and alive relationship to the Bright Life House.
He has also created two fun games which help create Alive Relationship… Love Springs Game for adults and Dragon Wings Game for kids (and their adults). His book series, Make Love Alive ~ Understand Yourself, Your Lover, and Your Relationship is soon to be published. He currently runs a healing practice in Viroqua, WI.
About ~ Our House Manager
Nicole Coffee
“Born in Austin, I am the mother of an incredible 18 year old daughter. After years of addiction, circumstances imposed on me finally got me to see how my addiction was causing me to lose my daughter, my family, my friends, and most of all MYSELF! I entered the Gables residential treatment facility in Rochester where I found myself, and found the strength to overcome my addictions.
Now, two years after I broke through, this project has truly helped me find purpose again. At the Bright Life House, I can give back to my community, help women find themselves, and be a guide on their journey of healing and successful recovery from addiction.”