Does you son or daughter need residential treatment, but you know that 30 days is not enough? Have they never been to treatment before? Are they not completely willing to accept help?

Length of Stay in Residential Treatment Matters

Sober College agrees with the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDH) that says that individuals are more successful in achieving and maintaining sobriety when they are in treatment for a minimum of 90 days. Therefore, Sober College requires each student to commit to a minimum of 90 days, but we are equipped to accommodate stays of up to one year depending on the individual client’s needs.

Our experience has shown that longer term residential treatment is more effective than a 30 day program. With several different phases, from freshman to senior and different treatment environments, from Primary Houses to Sober Livings, Sober College has designed a program that adapts to the client’s needs as they progress through our treatment program. When a student admits to Sober College they enter in on what we refer to as Freshman Phase, which has similar restrictions to other 30 day treatment centers. Our residential treatment program is progressive, and takes each client through the necessary steps to help prepare him/her to move towards independent living. 

Why Choose Residential Treatment at Sober College

We have created a program that provides each client with the opportunity to take the time they need to look into themselves, during this crucial time in early sobriety, with the constant support of both their peers and their staff. 

Like other residential treatment centers, Sober College has 24 hour staffing, including an awake overnight staff, random drug testing (usually 3-4 times a week), and daily individual and/or group therapy.  In addition, Sober College offers nontraditional therapies, an extensive Experiential Therapy Program, a Life Skills Infusion Program, and an academic program that gives clients the opportunity to take on-site, rolling admissions, WASC accredited college credits while in treatment. Through our partnership with Woodbury University, an over 125 year old WASC accredited institution located in Burbank California, students are able to take up to five Woodbury college courses on-site at Sober College, and earn up 15 college credits.

About Freshman Phase

Freshman Phase means that the client has minimal privileges and is required to be with a staff member at all times. This phase of the program encourages camaraderie among housemates and allows the new client to become comfortable with their new environment and staff members, while keeping them safe. Moving off Freshman Phase is done on a case by case basis and is determined based on the client’s achievement in the five core competencies of our drug treatment model, but is usually at 30 days that a client is eligible to apply to be taken off freshman phase.

Why Freshman Phase?

For any young adults, the first 30 days of sobriety are the most crucial. In Sober College’s residential treatment program this time is spent with their house mates, and getting to know their peers, their staff, and themselves. Students that have graduate from the Sober College program explain how important their housemates and staff was to them during their early sobriety. 

A young adult’s path to sustainable long-term sobriety and healthy living requires an approach that is comprehensive, specifically tailored to their age group and creates an emotional attachment to the idea of being sober. We have created a program of attraction that makes the idea of sobriety irresistible. This concept of attraction based programming is at the core of what sets us apart.

“I came to Sober College after attending an intensive  lock down 30 day program, and it helped me to apply the lessons that I learned there to life.  It eased the discomfort of readjusting to the world clean and sober.”

- Lauren K., Sober College Resident