Our Take – Job Skills Training Plays a Vital Role in Successful Transitional Living
Transitional living provides the space and time for young people in recovery to take what they’ve learned and accomplished in detox and rehab and put it into practice for an extended period of time before moving fully into independent living. It is an important next step for many newly sober individuals because it provides a safe place to engage with “everyday life,” and can serve as a buffer between the triggers, temptations, and people that can lead to relapse. But at Mare’s House, we believe that a quality transitional living program should provide more than a place to work on recovery. We believe that transitional living should also be a space for cultivating personal development. One of the ways we encourage our members’ personal development is through mandatory employment.
Through Employment Our Residents Build Confidence & Learn Important Life Skills
Communication and Money
Having a job is an important part of life at Mare’s House – so much so— that it is a requirement of residency. We take this aspect of our program very seriously because we believe being employed opens the door to acquiring and developing the vital life skills like communication and financial literacy that are necessary for successful long-term recovery.
Engaging with customers, being helpful, developing specialized knowledge, and collaborating with co-workers helps individuals learn how to effectively engage and connect with others, problem solve and become more comfortable with varying communication styles. Taking ownership of one’s work and being rewarded for a job well done helps build self-confidence and personal pride. Meanwhile, controlling a bank account and managing personal finances is both empowering, and illuminating. For many residents, employment during transitional living represents the first time they have been responsible for earning their own money and paying their own way. This gives them a better understanding of the value not only of money but also of the value of education and occupational training.
Time Management and Respect
Managing an addiction is all-consuming, and people with substance use disorders often develop behavior patterns that put their addictive needs first at all costs and often at the expense of others. Living a healthy life requires understanding boundaries and having respect for other people’s time and needs. Having a job can help our members reset these unhealthy patterns because it forces them to put the needs of others first. Showing up at a prescribed time, working when others are enjoying time off and managing daily house and therapeutic requirements around work schedules can help our members build self-regulation skills as well as set responsibility boundaries that are necessary for long-term success. Respecting other people’s time and property, and putting the needs of their employers first helps our members develop self-respect as they learn to treat people the way they want to be treated.
Rest, Relaxation and Excursion
Being unemployed has been linked to depression, and too much time on one’s hands can lead to boredom and trouble. Staying busy is an important part of the recovery process and working helps our members feel valuable, needed and worthwhile. Having a job also makes time off that much more enjoyable. Working helps our residents cultivate a deeper appreciation for free time, rest, relaxation and fun. Our objective is to help our residents cultivate balance in their lives in order to develop patterns that hopefully will deliver the perfect mix of work and play, business and downtime that lead to fulfilling, enjoyable, healthy lives.
