You have probably heard of a sober living or halfway houses, which are programs to help you recover from drug and alcohol addiction. But have you ever heard of a recovery house?
Many distinctions can be made between sober livings, halfway houses, and recovery homes, yet it’s assumed that they are the same thing. The main difference is that most halfway houses and sober living homes are merely substance-free housing environments that are a bit more independent, while recovery houses have more structure and guidance.
Recovery is more than just abstaining from the substances you are dependent on; it’s also about creating new habits and reinventing your life. This means a lot of relearning how to do everyday things, and even how to socialize, or who you are connecting with. For some, this might be a huge life change and that’s never easy to navigate alone.
It’s also important to address that you could be struggling with co-occurring mental health disorders along with addiction . When you address your mental health needs alongside your adiction, you have a better chance of long-term recovery. The chance to manage and regulate your mental health needs makes recovery not only more manageable but more effective.
Why is Mental Health Essential in Recovery?
When dealing with mental health issues, it can worsen the possibility of using substances. The initial use of substances might be to manage your symptoms. The severity of symptoms can ebb and flow, so your need for the substances can always change. This is why understanding how to manage your symptoms is important, so you don’t relapse when your mental health becomes difficult to manage on certain days.
Understanding the cause of mental health issues is beneficial so you can learn if you need medication and gain constructive coping skills.
What are the Most Common Mental Health Challenges in Recovery?
The most common mental health challenges that coincide with addiction tend to be depression and anxiety. Both of these mental health struggles present differently for everyone along with the severity of the symptoms.
With depression, you can experience persistent sadness, worthlessness, irritability, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, changes in appetite, and changes in your sleep patterns. While with anxiety you can experience increased heart rate, rapid breathing, nausea, dizziness, headaches, a sense of impending doom, difficulty making decisions, and obsessive thoughts.
Other common mental health challenges can be trauma and PTSD, which can include different symptoms. With trauma and PTSD, you might experience flashbacks, nightmares, feelings of guilt, fear, disassociation, stomach pain, avoidance, and negative thoughts.
Dealing with any of these mental health challenges can impact your identity and self-worth. You might feel like you don’t know yourself anymore, or that you feel you don’t deserve good things because of your everyday feelings. Over time this takes a huge toll on your mental health and trying to find anything to make you feel better becomes the goal, and leads to substance abuse. This is why it’s important to find proper coping techniques or medication for your mental health issues.
Related: Uncovering the Link: How Do Drugs Affect Mental Health?
How Does a Recovery House Address Both Addiction and Mental Health?
New Life House proudly offers an integrated treatment approach by not only addressing substance use disorder but also treating mental health conditions. This means being able to properly understand the underlying conditions that you may deal with.
When entering the program and using the integrated treatment approach, this further verifies why a structured environment is needed. The structure helps you adjust to this new approach to daily life while navigating sobriety and mental health conditions. You might be first realizing you have mental health concerns, which means it’s something new you are trying to overcome.
During this time, leaning on your community will be imperative throughout the transition. Your closest community will be everyone else in the recovery house and the mental health professionals you will have access to when engaging in outpatient treatment. Additionally, you’ll have family and friends that would be a great support as well.
What Professional Support is Available?
When you come to New Life House, you’ll be involved in various therapeutic techniques throughout your recovery journey. We believe that access to mental health and addiction treatment services through our relationship with Clear Behavioral Health, in addition to recovery meetings and peer support will give you the best chance at achieving long-term sobriety.
Individual Therapy & Counseling Services
Normally when you are attending individual therapy, you can get into the deep details of your substance use and mental health struggles. This way, you and your therapist can come up with a customized therapy plan for your recovery. It’s important to have one-on-one therapy so you can learn how to navigate these struggles effectively.
Group Therapy
When attending group therapy, it’s a great way to create your support system within the recovery home. It offers a safe space to share your experiences without judgment. Group therapy also offers the opportunity for you to work on your listening skills and storytelling skills. Connecting with others based on experiences, or knowing you are navigating a new path together can make you feel closer .
Related: What is Outpatient Rehab?
Psychiatrists for Medication Management
There will also be psychiatrists that you can work with through our relationship with Neuro Wellness Spa. What a psychiatrist can do is offer medication management, this can be either for your recovery, to manage your mental health issues, or both.
Case Management
In case management you are going to learn real-life coping skills, and relapse prevention tips that you’ll be able to implement immediately. These are great tools to enhance your success in sobriety.
Family Therapy Programs
Working on your familial unit is beneficial to not only strengthen your family support system but to work on any deep issues you may be facing with them. It can also create a space of vulnerability so everyone can share honestly and proactively work with you on your recovery.
Related: How Family Therapy Can Benefit the Recovery Process
The Power of Peer Support and Lived Experience
When you are at New Life House, most of our alumni members involve themselves in the recovery house. This helps foster the philosophy that staying involved helps you stay sober . The alumni’s participation also benefits how much you learn, since those who have “been there”, can relate to your current experience. They have already been through the recovery process, so providing personal insights can help you feel more comfortable.
Related: Importance of Community For Young Adults in Recovery
Beyond Basic Recovery: Pathways to Personal Growth
When you go through New Life House’s recovery program, we want to be sure you are set up for personal growth and success. Learning about what you want to do, where you want to go, and figuring out the path towards that is beneficial long-term.
We know trying to figure out the logistics of this can be overwhelming, which is why New Life House has career development and life skills development. You’ll be able to look into high school graduation, going to college, or attending a trade school, all while learning how to develop life skills like cooking and cleaning. You’ll also learn valuable information to rebuild relationships and develop your social skills.
What Makes New Life House Different?
New Life House is different than other recovery houses because of the substantial life skills you learn to be independent and the community you become a part of. This builds confidence and helps you go out into the world ready to tackle other things, instead of having to navigate the everyday of independent living.
The integration of mental health and substance abuse treatment is unique because the underlying causes are actually addressed. When you know how to manage your mental health, it can give even better guidance to staying sober.
Making sure to involve the family so those bonds strengthen, and that support network can be even more reliable is reassuring. New Life House also has a lot of long-term benefits by being part of our recovery community as an alumni. You can mentor other young men and have ongoing support from your sober community.
Related: When Every Rehab Program and Sober Living Has Let You Down, Try This
The Journey to Lasting Change
We know that trying to begin your sobriety journey is scary and can be overwhelming. New Life House offers comprehensive programming that will tackle drug and alcohol addiction while treating your mental health in Los Angeles, CA and the surrounding area. With constant care, multiple therapeutic approaches, and support from people who have experienced what you have, this could be the recovery program for you. Contact New Life House today, we’re here for you every step of the way.
References:
- Kitzinger, R. H., Gardner, J. A., Moran, M., Celkos, C., Fasano, N., Linares, E., Muthee, J., & Royzner, G. (2023). Habits and Routines of Adults in Early Recovery from Substance Use Disorder: Clinical and research implications from a mixed methodology Exploratory study. Substance Abuse Research and Treatment, 17. https://doi.org/10.1177/11782218231153843
- Malhotra, A., Mars, J. A., & Baker, J. (2024, October 29). Group therapy. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK549812/
- Treatment and Recovery | National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2025b, January 8). National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/treatment-recovery
Last Updated on March 21, 2025
