When you’ve attended multiple treatment programs, and none of them seem to work, it can become incredibly frustrating. Even the thought of getting help brings you dread because you don’t want another failed attempt added to your history. You may feel hopeless, or like treatment will never work for you. That doesn’t even include the upset you might have if your finances are struggling too. Each recovery center is not cheap, and this makes it tougher to want to keep coming back.
All of these feelings are valid. Having treatment fail can bring up feelings of defeat and rejection. Although it’s understandable to feel this way, it doesn’t mean your journey has to end. There are more treatment options available that offer different approaches that can actually work when other programs have failed.
At New Life House, we take pride in our success rate of young men who continue to stay sober even after leaving our program. Understanding New Life House’s differences compared to other recovery programs might offer some hope for a renewed future.
Why Do Most Treatment Programs Fall Short?
In many cases, formal treatment services fall short because they aren’t long enough to actually recover from drug and alcohol addiction and they do not prepare you for life after addiction treatment.
Short-Term Programs vs. Long-Term Disease
Most recovery programs tend to offer short-term stays. They can be anywhere from thirty days to ninety days. To some, that might seem like a long time, but when struggling with substance use disorder, a long-term treatment will help you acclimate to a new lifestyle .
Substance use disorder does not disappear once you’ve detoxed. Substance use disorder is a chronic condition that requires ongoing management. There’s no such thing as a quick fix for it. Instead, it’s something you need to work on for an extended amount of time.
Acclimation to a new sober lifestyle takes time too, which means being in a program with others doing the same as you makes it easier to stay on track. The short-term programs end up with high relapse rates of up to 50% from people who were in programs that lasted four to twelve weeks .
Related: Drug Rehab and Short vs. Long Term Options
The Gap Between Substance Abuse Treatment and Real Life
When these short-term programs end, it’s challenging to transition from some structure to creating your own schedule again. Reintegrating into daily life usually brings back the same triggers that you dealt with before entering the treatment program. Although you are sober, you might turn back to old coping mechanisms, as it can be overwhelming to go back to your day-to-day.
Common triggers can be work stress, outings with substances, old friends with bad habits wanting to hang out, arguments with family, and financial worries. When these issues come up, you might feel like you don’t have the coping skills or support needed to work through them. When you are in a treatment program, support is all around you, but once you exit it can feel isolating, with fewer people to call.
At New Life House, we make sure you have support services after you leave our care with our extensive alumni support group because we understand that triggers are inevitable, and support will be what you turn to.
Related: What to do After Rehab: Navigating Your New Beginning
What’s Missing in Traditional Sober Living Programs?
Most sober living houses don’t offer enough structure within their treatment models. Oftentimes, they are no more than drug-free living environments with minimal house rules other than a curfew, random drug testing, light chores, attending recovery meetings, and maintaining abstinence from psychoactive drugs or alcohol.
While these basic rules might sound like enough to keep you sober, they leave a lot of room for distractions. Whether it’s because you live in a co-ed house, get distracted by your phone, associate with old friends who still use drugs, or lack accountability, loosely structured sober living homes, and halfway houses can fall short when it comes to ensuring you stay focused on your recovery at all times.
What Makes New Life House Sober Living Different?
What sets New Life House apart from other sober living facilities is the robust programming we provide which includes structure, treating addiction as well as mental health, gender and age-specific homes, educational support, career development, family involvement, and unparalleled peer support.
New Life House is more than a drug and alcohol-free environment, we are a recovery community spread throughout Los Angeles, California, and nationwide, dedicated to helping young men and their families achieve lasting recovery from addiction.
Comprehensive Structure for Lasting Recovery
New Life House’s structured approach creates an environment where you are fully focused on your sobriety and healing. Your every day revolves around upkeeping the house with others in the program and working together on house chores, attending your therapy sessions throughout the day to build fundamental life and coping skills, having meals together, attending house meetings, and participating in support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous in the evening.
This strict schedule, coupled with not having access to your cellphone, or vehicle allows you to focus on your sobriety. This creates an atmosphere where you not only have to rely on each other but you are surrounded by people in recovery who are consistently working on themselves to change their lives for the better. Of course, there is access to a landline for phone calls, but it changes the aspect of always being on our devices, especially so you can really be present through the process.
New Life House also prides itself on the length of time for their sobriety support. We believe that a long-term program offers even greater success once you reintegrate into daily life.
Throughout the program, you will learn everyday life and coping skills so you can work towards an independent lifestyle. When it comes to independent living, learning how to be self-sufficient is often overlooked in typical halfway houses and recovery residences. Teaching young men how to upkeep their homes, cook, manage finances, find a career or educational path, develop interpersonal relationships, and create order helps lessen the stress when integrating back into everyday life.
Integrated Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment
More often than not, addiction is accompanied by mental health conditions which is referred to as a dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorders. Treating both conditions is an important part of the recovery process that may be overlooked in some programs.
We understand the impact of anxiety, depression, trauma, and other mental health struggles in addition to abusing substances and you will have access to psychiatric care as well as outpatient treatment programs that can support healing and recovery.
Dual-diagnosis outpatient programs are provided by Clear Behavioral Health where you will receive quality care from therapists, counselors, and case managers. Psychiatric care is provided by Neuro Wellness Spa where you will meet with a psychiatrist to determine if medication management could benefit your recovery.
Related: Uncovering the Link: How Do Drugs Affect Mental Health?
Age-Specific Recovery Community
New Life House is an age-specific sober living for young men, which isn’t always prioritized at other sober living programs. It’s important to have young men around the same age group in treatment together. This creates a community support system that can continue even after you have left the program. The relatability factor when going into recovery with people around the same age enhances the willingness to work on sobriety with your peers.
Educational and Career Development
When entering New Life House, we want to be sure that you stay on track to achieve your goals. You may come to our program and still be in high school, which means college preparation is vital, or making sure you complete the college term you are enrolled in.
Pursuing education or trade school adds to the belief that with the right life skills, you can thrive. Even if you have tried schooling before and it didn’t work, we always recommend trying again, especially with the support offered in our educational program, which can change the entire experience for you.
You might have already graduated from college when entering the program. We help you develop your interview and career skills to land the job you want and start building or rebuilding your career.
Family Healing and Integration
Prioritizing family healing is critical since it can enhance recovery outcomes. When families learn about substance use disorders, how to support their loved ones, and how to create a safe space to discuss the disorder’s impact in family programming, it makes a significant difference.
A lot of families don’t know how to have these conversations on their own, or they might be overwhelmed and not have the emotional wherewithal to navigate it properly. In family therapy, everyone heals by learning and each person will take away something useful for the long-term when it comes to handling difficult conversations.
Related: What is the Role of Family in Addiction Recovery?
Alumni Program and Continued Support
When you have completed the sober living program, you are not just sent on your way to adapt to everyday life without any support. New Life House has a very active alumni community that stays involved with the house and each other. This means that the support is ongoing from your peers. Additionally, we believe that continued involvement and strongly encouraged attendance to support groups strengthen recovery.
New Life House is Ready for You
At New Life House, our comprehensive approach to learning life skills, and how to live independently while attending one-on-one therapy, family therapy, and group therapy are what make our program stand out. With over 40 years of experience, we have helped thousands of young men get their life back on track. We tackle recovery from multiple angles, and we offer tangible tools so the transition to everyday life is less stressful to navigate.
Recovery is possible for you, your son, or a loved one and they deserve to have all the tools to thrive on their recovery journey. Reach out to New Life House today to learn more about our sober living programs in Los Angeles. The quicker they enter a recovery house, the better. Start gaining the independent life skills and structure you need to achieve long-term sobriety today.
References:
- Mericle, A. A., Slaymaker, V., Gliske, K., Ngo, Q., & Subbaraman, M. S. (2021). The role of recovery housing during outpatient substance use treatment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 133, 108638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108638
- Guenzel, N., & McChargue, D. (2023, July 21). Addiction relapse prevention. StatPearls – NCBI Bookshelf. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551500/#:~:text=Many%20studies%20have%20shown%20relapse,tens%20of%20thousands%20of%20dollars.
- Polcin, D. L., Korcha, R., Bond, J., & Galloway, G. (2010). What Did We Learn from Our Study on Sober Living Houses and Where Do We Go from Here? Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 42(4), 425–433. https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2010.10400705
Last Updated on March 14, 2025
