Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Grace House treatment program?
A: A phased program for women with substance use disorder that exist in regular houses where women live together building prosocial skills and responsibility. Each member is expected to contribute to house operation through doing a chore, participating in clinical groups, learning new skills and applying them so they may employ them in their daily lives when they leave. The houses are fully staffed with clinicians and support staff. Transportation is also provided at the initial phase as well as educational, spiritual and social opportunities. Cell phone use and visits are prohibited as women focus on building inner strength, interpersonal and recovery skills and new friendships. The second phase (after 45 days) allows more autonomy, cell phone use, visits, self-reliance for getting to meetings and appointments, recovery and art events as well as volunteering and exercise. The third phase promotes regular employment, volunteering and/or school attendance and service to newer members. When treatment is complete, residents graduating have option to attend our sober living (see below).
Q: How long can women stay at Grace House?
A:
Women can receive the entire continuum of support including 45-days at first phase treatment, up to 6 months at second & third phase and then another 3-6 months at final phase sober living, totaling over a year of building recovery and communication skills and experiencing radical change.
Q: Does Grace House accept MaineCare?
A:
Grace House, owned by Mainers and for Mainers, is proud to provide services to our Maine residents with Maine Care.
Q: Is detox required before admission?
A:
Detox must be managed medically so if mental health and withdrawal symptoms are absent or stable, then a medical clearance from a doctor must be provided prior to admission in most cases.
Q: Why are the 12 steps important?
A: In additon to the obvious benefits of belonging to a large and diverse support network for social events and individual support, AA/Twelve-Step Facilitation was proven to be overall better than other empirically-supported treatments in facilitating continuous abstinence and remission and was at least as effective as other well-established treatments in reducing intensity of drinking, alcohol-related consequences and severity of alcohol addiction. This pattern of relative advantage for AA/Twelve-Step Facilitation interventions appeared to be consistent across both randomized controlled trials/quasi-experimental and non-randomized studies. AA/Twelve-Step Facilitation also reduced healthcare costs substantially more than other types of treatments. Furthermore, this report highlighted the large range of populations for which AA’s benefit has been demonstrated—young and old, racial and ethnic minorities, women and men, religious and nonreligious, people in different settings and across many different nations.
Report: Recovery Research Institute
Q: What is sober living for women?
A: A community housing model that allows people with the same experience of substance use disorder to live together as a family, building prosocial skills and responsibility. Each member is expected to contribute to house operation through doing a chore, participating in a role of leadership or membership by voting on issues that arise. The houses are typically governed by a democratic group conscience managed by an alumnus, exist in locations with easy access to jobs and transportation as well as educational and social opportunities. The term 'sober living' is being replaced with 'recovery housing' to reduce stigma around medication assisted treatment. Our houses are very low cost compared to average of houses in the Portland area.
Q: What should I bring when entering sober living?
A: Reasonable amount of seasonal clothing, toiletries, towels, food and some personal effects. Please do not bring any furniture, put holes in walls for decor or command more space than what can fit in dresser and clothing rack or closet. We do not have single occupancy rooms so it is important to respect roommates by not commanding more than your share of space.
