Why Our Setting is Perfect - Kelly K.
Staff member Kelly K weighs in on what a special place our treatment community by the beach is.
Sober Living By The Sea has been in business since 1986. Through the years, very few things have changed as far as the "magic recipe" for the perfect treatment setting. All that is needed is to "just add clients" and a little consistent direction.
Social model recovery communities are not new to the treatment world, and are proven to be very successful. In a hospital or "closed" treatment setting, the clients go for 30 days. And then they leave the facility to re-enter the "real world."
What separates our treatment facilities from the others is the perfect combination of:
- setting
- community
- strong clinical support
- clients in treatment and alumni support
In our recovery community, clients not only make up the program, they are a critical part of the therapeutic process. Clients stay here longer and form bonds. Clients come in with a 100 forms of fear and self delusion and learn that by learning from others with more recovery time and working with those who are new to recovery that lasting change can be achieved.
Having experienced the incomprehensible demoralization of addiction is one of the are the ties that bonds us. Many of us also have issues and fears we need to work through. Some of the issues we must face in our recovery include:
- social anxiety disorder
- negative body image
- lacking in life skills (ie shopping, chores, hygiene, job skills)
- dating (relating to the opposite sex)
- 12-step meeting etiquette
- finding a sponsor
- eating disorders and cross addictions
- legal issues
- grief and loss
- developing trust and genuine friendships.
- legal issues
- grieving issues
- issues with low self esteem
Developing healthy routines take time. Treatment takes time. Relapse does not have to happen, though sometimes it does and it can actually be therapeutic if processed correctly. It is better for someone new to recovery to relapse in a controlled environment like our treatment community than at home on their own after a short stint in a "closed treatment environment."
We not only have an alcohol and drug problem we have "living problems." This is what Sober Living by the Sea stumbled upon many years ago - teaching people how to "live." Our treatment community is a perfect setting to allow people to grow in that first crucial year of sobriety. Many of the skills that people need for a lasting and happy sobriety are learned. and many of these things they learn by mirror image from each other.
Sober Living by the Sea is a safe haven. The crime rate is extremely low in the 2 mile community along the Pacific Ocean here in Newport Beach. The majority of our clients in our Beachside Extended Care Program ride beach cruisers to meetings, the store, the beac, to work, or to school.
This perfect combination of location and treatment programming is a wonderful thing for people who need help. As each year goes by, more and more people's sobriety reveals the success this model. There is no reason to try and reinvent the wheel. We just strive to remember what the fundamental ingredients are.
- Kelly K.
