Advantages of Halfway House Treatment The most critical advantage of “Halfway House” living is the aspect of never being alone. The “House” serves the resident as the connection between themselves and the institution that they arrived from. It is not formal treatment, usually, but often mimics some aspects of the treatment experience, most notably the camaraderie. There are other advantages that make halfway hosue living a positive experience. For instance; Residents have a higher level of accountability at a halfway house then they do at other levels of care, or independent living. This accountability to a human monitor or house manager is critical to ongoing success as it serves the function of keeping everyone honest. The House is suppose to be a drug free haven, both fro people using and stashing any drugs there. Urine screens help keep residents focused. The Halfway House is also supposed to mimic an environment and sense of “normalcy”. This has been absent for who knows how long in an addict’s life. The home like environment is conducive to ongoing recovery as it represents a place a safety and security. Some people talk about “pace” in recovery. Please do mix this with “race” as that is the last thing recovery is, a race. Since there is no finish line, a halfway house is designed for an average length of stay of 6-12 months. That is what is usually recommended, although sometimes, three months is a minimum requirement. The longer the better is the rule of thumb. The halfway house is a place designed to practice new found tools of recovery. Often, life-skills were not acquired during maturation, so, now that treatment has introduced new tools, the house is a great place to practice them in the confines of a safe, drug free environment. This safety zone is advantageous as confrontations may occur with a secure place to retreat or regroup if needed. This is where you can learn to disagree without becoming disagreeable. The one aspect of operating a house is that it allows residents to learn how to play by the rules. Yes, there are rules in the house, just like in the community. These norms are often provided at move-in and residents are asked to sign receipt for having read and agree to respect. Again, all this is preparation for the eventuality of independent living. And last of all, the advantage of halfway houses is that these enable the patients to ease the situation of addiction at a slow but steady pace. Hence the process of easing back into the normal society also happens at a slow and automatic way making it easier for the addicts to find acceptance among their estranged friends and family members.