Creating a Transformed Home Environment in Outpatient Treatment

Graduating from a residential alcohol treatment program or drug recovery program and beginning a new life of sobriety outside of a treatment facility is an amazing experience. This time is filled with pride and excitement, as much as uncertainty. However, this transition can present its own challenges for those in recovery in replicating an effective and supportive home environment. 

While a person’s time in residential treatment involves thriving in a curated, sober-focused environment, environments outside of a treatment facility may not necessarily have the same atmosphere or focus on sobriety and health. Transforming each person’s home environment after treatment to best reflect newfound ideas, mentalities, and sober practices is necessary as they create a new and sober lifestyle as a recovery alumnus. 

The change in atmosphere and environment from a person’s first step into a residential treatment program can be a lot to adapt to. However, these environments are curated with a particular intention, not only to eliminate unnecessary stresses or connections to previous routines that may facilitate the use of drugs or alcohol, but also to promote a healthier lifestyle, spiritual growth, and more. 

Environments can carry massively impactful connotations for those navigating their recovery. Alumni transitioning out of residential treatment will be tasked with transforming their own home environments into a new and sober-focused atmosphere to keep best maintain their transformed efforts and focus on continued sobriety.

A person’s home environment is both impacted by and created around regular daily routines. Those overcoming addiction may harbor many habits and memories associated with their home environment. For some, memories of drinking alcohol in their own room can be tied deeply to the space, bringing feelings of shame, guilt, or doubt. Others may have had such established routines around the use of addictive substances that their use can feel normalized or even expected in certain spaces as a remnant of previous environments, compromising changes made in treatment. 

Distancing oneself from these previous lifestyles, routines, and mentalities is necessary while transitioning back to life outside of a treatment facility. Reforming a person’s home atmosphere is part of this transition to a sustainable sober life.

Changing a person’s home environment can also be a powerful testament to a person’s sober change. Adapting a person’s home environment can help an individual distance themselves from unnecessary stresses and prevent relapse by avoiding falling back into previous routines. Additionally, a changed home environment can also be used to facilitate the development of new practices and lifestyles first instilled in residential treatment. 

Making adjustments to a person’s home atmosphere and lifestyle is necessary to continue facilitating the best possible healing and sustained sober change. While one’s home may feel comfortable, it is important to identify the dangerous connotations, feelings, and routines that may be associated with particular parts of a person’s environment. Adapting spaces where one used to engage with drugs or alcohol is necessary to embrace a space that best reflects a person’s changes in sobriety.

Completely changing the purpose or decoration of a room can help a person distance themselves from past routines or expectations. Rearranging furniture or decorations, or using the space to bring new hobbies by turning the space into a comfortable area for yoga, art, reading, or any other strategies can be wholly transformational while celebrating a person’s dedication to change. 

For some, dedicating a space for effective techniques or hobbies first explored in residential treatment can make the transition to life outside of a treatment facility easier, introducing a feeling of familiarity and consistency with a person’s developing sober lifestyle. If an individual responded well to practices like meditation, creating a dedicated meditation space in a person’s own home can continue to further the practice and reinforce these changes.

The efficacy of a home atmosphere for continuing to aid in a person’s sober development is greatly influenced by both the purpose of a particular environment and the decorations that populate it. However, this does not only mean the removal of any paraphernalia or logos that may indicate alcohol or drug use. For some, pictures or reminders of a time when an individual was engaging in drugs or alcohol can be actively detrimental. These kinds of reminders can romanticize a person’s use, while not necessarily highlighting the dangers they present. Removing such reminders of a person’s previous life is necessary. 

However, it is important to replace these kinds of things to create a new feeling for a person’s home environment. Using natural imagery, such as pictures or either silk or real houseplants, can introduce natural elements to a person’s living space. Not only can these decorations help to create a calming atmosphere, but they can also be instrumental for continuing to engage in personal spiritual growth outside of the treatment facilities by replicating effective treatment environments.

Others may begin to use recent reminders of their sobriety, replacing older photographs of times past with newer memories that remind them of their sober decision. Accomplishments, newfound sober friends, and more can all be powerful reinforcements throughout recovery as an alumnus, and finding ways to incorporate these reminders into a person’s environment can keep motivation and sobriety at the forefront of their focus.  

Creating a healthy and supportive environment at home after treatment is crucial for truly establishing the basis for a sober life. At Hawaii Island Recovery, we understand that recovery does not end at our doors, and we are committed to not just helping you thrive in our dedicated residential alcohol treatment or drug treatment programs, but also helping you create the best approach to your continued sobriety outside our walls. From daily practices and an atmosphere filled with natural imagery and supportive peers and professionals to instilling the skills to transform your living space, Hawaii Island is always just one call away. For more information on how we can help you, call to speak to us today at (866) 390-5070.