Sober College
Woodland Hills, CA

---

Sober College: From Residential
Treatment to Independent Living

One of the biggest challenges for young adults in a residential addiction treatment program is transitioning from treatment back into everyday life. Most treatment programs focus solely on the residents' addiction and getting them off drugs and alcohol, and then discharge them without providing the necessary tools and/or experience needed to prevent relapse. Sober College's dual-diagnosis drug treatment curriculum is different from that of these quick-fix treatment programs. The Sober College program is designed specifically for young adults and is based on the Five Core Competencies: Sobriety, Productivity, Life Skills, Physical Fitness and Emotional Intelligence. The Five Core Competencies, when practiced, ensure long term sobriety for young adults, and provide them with the tools needed to maintain sobriety long after they leave treatment.

Sober College gives young adults who struggle with substance abuse and addiction a second chance at life. Together, with the help of their peers and staff, each client at Sober College is able to identify and develop their passions, continue their education, and relearn how to live. The goal of the Sober College program is not to keep young adults in treatment, but to facilitate their success by gradually transitioning them to independent living. For over seven years, Sober College has been successfully helping young adults regain their lives and enter the world with a new found appreciation for family, friends and sobriety.

The Sober College program is progressive, and designed for lengths of stay between 90 days and one year. As a young adult moves through each phase of our program, they receive vocational and educational support, life skills for independent living, and participate in a number of Emotional Intelligence (E-IQ) Activities and experiential therapies. All of this is designed to help them better understand their emotions, practice relapse prevention, and teach them that sobriety is anything but boring.

For almost seven years, Sober College's unique and innovative young adult substance abuse treatment program has helped young adults recover from addiction and continue on to lead successful lives. The Sober College treatment curriculum is designed to teach young adults how to live life sober, and its ability to meet the changing needs of the young adult population is what allows Sober College to remain on the forefront of young adult addiction treatment.

Progressive Treatment: The Three Phases that Equal Success
Designed for lengths of stay up to one year, the Sober College program and facilities are divided into three phases: Primary, Transitional, and Sober living.

Upon admission, all students enter into a gender-specific house where they will reside for their first 90 days, or their Primary Treatment phase. Regardless of how long they have been sober prior to their arrival at Sober College, they enter in on what we refer to as "Freshman Phase". Freshman Phase generally lasts for 30 days and is designed to help new clients become comfortable with their new home and staff. During this phase they are not allowed to use their cell phone or laptop; however, limited phone and computer privileges are available to them. After 30 days, clients are evaluated by their Treatment Team in order to ensure they are achieving in the Five Core Competencies. If so, they are given their cell phone, laptop and one-to-three hour "to-and-go" passes, along with opportunities to meet with their sponsor. Clients who come from other treatment programs can have a reduced Freshman Phase but everyone is required to participate in order to help them acclimate to the Sober College community.

If a client commits to stay longer than 90 days, they have the opportunity to move into the second phase of our Program: Transitional (women) or Apartment (men) Living. During this phase, clients are still required achieve in the Five Core Competencies; however, they are able to live with fewer people and are expected to maintain a higher level of personal responsibility. If someone fails to achieve at this new level of freedom, they risk being moved back to the house, and taken off of this phase. After the Transitional/Apartment Phase, students have the opportunity to move to the Sober Living Phase. This highest level of freedom can only be achieved after completion of the first two phases of the Sober College program.

By designing a program that is progressive and slowly integrates clients back into society after residential treatment, Sober College provides a safety net that helps prevent relapse in the early stages of sobriety. The Sober College Program gives young adults the opportunity to identify, practice and fine tune what they need individually in order for them to stay sober and lead healthy and successful lives. Throughout all phases of our program, there is 24 hour supervision, including overnight staff along with random drug testing several times a week.

College and Rehab Under One Roof
Sober College is in full partnership with Woodbury University, enabling clients in treatment at Sober College to take WASC accredited courses on-site and experience sobriety in a supportive college environment. Through our partnership students who complete all five Woodbury courses with a 2.5 GPA or higher are guaranteed admission into Woodbury University regardless of high school or past college transcripts and, if students complete the courses with a 3.0 GPA or higher they also receive a $5,000.00 merit scholarship. By simulating a real life college experience, Sober College eases the transition from residential addiction treatment to an independent college setting thus preparing clients for life after treatment.

Life Skills Training Program
The Life Skills Training Program at Sober College teaches money management and scheduling, along with first-hand life skills training, such as completing chores, teamwork and communication. Life Skills training occurs throughout the day; Sober College staff continuously looks for opportunities to show students how to handle the stress of everyday life while being sober. The goal is to seamlessly integrate life skills into the students' daily activities-be it at the Learning Center or at a 12-step meeting, so they are better prepared to deal with real life situations once they leave treatment.

Sober College is a small private institution providing alcohol and alcohol and drug treatment environments for young adults age 17 to 25. The Sober College curriculum builds core competencies in life skills, employment, academics, emotional well-being and fitness.