Often considered a “step down” in their level of care for those who’ve finished residential addiction treatment, a transitional living program offers individuals the opportunity to continue exploring their recovery in a less structured setting. Frequently paired with a partial hospitalization program (PHP) or an intensive outpatient program (IOP), a transitional living program usually involves clinical care, recovery support, connection with others in sobriety, as well as increased flexibility to resume employment and other daily activities.
WHO IS A TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM FOR?
A transitional living program is typically intended for those wishing to continue healing and developing skills necessary for lasting addiction recovery. After attending a residential addiction treatment program, a person has generally stabilized and is beginning to understand how to live in sobriety. Rather than jumping back into normal living, most often they can benefit from additional therapeutic guidance and support from others in the recovery community, which they’ll find in a transitional living program.
WHY IS TRANSITIONAL LIVING EFFECTIVE?
In a transitional living program, individuals are able to begin rebuilding their life. They will often continue collaborating with their therapist from residential treatment, progress towards achieving their goals, integrate healthy coping strategies, and set healthy boundaries with their loved ones. They may also work with the other recovery support specialists to obtain employment, secure permanent living, and overcome any other obstacles.
During transitional living, individuals can expect to:
- Attend individual and group therapy sessions: In individual and group therapy sessions, clients dive deeper into the factors that contributed to their addiction and advance towards foundational healing.
- Become involved in the community: Transitional living clients often attend recovery meetings in the community, perform service work, and connect with the program’s alumni.
- Engage in experiential therapy sessions: Some transitional living programs involve experiential therapy, which offers a way to express oneself outside of traditional talk therapy. Experiential therapy sessions may include art and music therapy, yoga classes, boxing classes, rock climbing outings, equine therapy, and outdoor adventure excursions. Along with obtaining therapeutic benefits, individuals may even discover new passions.
- Form connections with others in recovery: Individuals live alongside others who are at similar stages in their recovery journeys. They’re able to form supportive relationships and even lasting friendships.
- Receive guidance for practical life tasks and skills: Often those in transitional living have agenda items necessary for resuming normal living. The recovery support specialists typically help transport them to appointments, submit employment applications, obtain approval for housing, and anything else that will help them recreate their lives in sobriety.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER
ATTENDING A TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM?
Depending on their needs, a person may attend a transitional living program for many months. When an individual finishes a transitional living program, they often begin outpatient therapy to help them stay on track in their recovery. They’re also typically encouraged to participate in the program’s alumni community which may involve frequent check-ins, regular meetings, social events, and service outings. They’ve usually developed the necessary skills for lasting recovery and have formed a strong support system of sober peers.
TRANSITIONAL LIVING AT WASATCH CREST
Like all of our addiction treatment programs, our Uinta transitional living programs are brimming with compassion that seeks to empower individuals to achieve lasting recovery. We offer men’s and women’s transitional living programs in spacious, welcoming mountain-style homes located in the foothills of Utah’s Wasatch Mountain Range. To learn more about our addiction treatment services in Heber, UT, reach out.
