The Power of Place in Recovery: Why Home Matters More Than You Think

There’s a line from a Crosby, Stills & Nash song that’s stuck with me for years:

“Don’t let the past remind us of what we are not now.”

At first, I thought about this only in terms of people or choices. But as the years have gone on, I’ve realized how much this also applies to place.

Where you live—the walls that hold you, the rooms you walk through every day—carry energy, memories, and a kind of invisible frequency that can either support your recovery or silently work against it.

I’ve seen so many friends go back to their old ways, not because they lacked the will to change, but because they went back to the same places where they carried out their old activity. Sometimes the biggest relapse triggers aren’t loud or obvious.

They’re unconscious. It could be as small as walking past the couch where you used to nod off, or seeing a painting you once stared at while smoking your last joint.

Why “People, Places, and Things” Matter in Sobriety

There’s a principle in recovery that often gets thrown around: change your people, places, and things.

It’s not just a cliche; it's survival!

When I landed in an inpatient facility after my last rock-bottom, the counselors encouraged all of us to think about where we’d go after treatment. At first, I fantasized about slipping back into my own bed. except it wasn’t really a bed I had slept in. It was the room where I spent endless sleepless nights using meth, spiraling deeper into chaos.

That question hit me like a punch: How do you think it’s going to feel to try to rest in the same place you once destroyed yourself?

I knew I didn’t have another recovery in me. So I bit my tongue, humbled the hell out of myself, and did what once felt unthinkable: I secured a bed in a sober living home before I even finished rehab.

And thank every possibly heavenly lord above I did.

I stayed there for nearly 8 months, and it gave me the foundation I needed. That home was a sanctuary, not a trap.

How Old Environments Trigger Relapse in Early Recovery

Have you ever driven past your childhood home and felt an entire wave of memories surface without warning? Smells, sounds, feelings you hadn’t thought of in years suddenly flood back in.

Now imagine living inside the place where you became the sickest version of yourself. Where you lied, hurt people, hurt yourself. Where your addiction thrived.

It’s nearly impossible to move forward in a place that constantly drags you backward, which is something I unfortunately had to learn experientially, the hard way.

Early in my recovery, I visited my mom in an old home of mine (a home where I became really sick) and within days I was a wreck. The energy of the place pulled me right under, and I simply wasn’t equipped to fight it. At just 4 months sober, and halfway through the 3rd step with a sponsor, I didn’t have the foundation, tools, or coping skills full developed. The scariest part is it all happened smoothly beneath my radar, unconsciously, and I was driven into what would eventually become my last, and most violent, relapse.

Early recovery is so very fragile! You are literally an infant, and need to be cared for with the same gentleness and precaution as one. This naturally includes protecting your home environment by baby-proofing the whole damn thing. Every outlet, exposed cord, and sharp corner must be carefully evaluated.

Set and Setting: The Role of Environment in Addiction Recovery

In my teens, before recovery, I spent HOURS researching LSD. I was absolutely fascinated by any piece of psychonautic literature I could get my hands on. I uncovered very early in my research that set and setting—who you’re with and where you are—determines the tone of the entire trip.

And recovery is no different. Set and setting quite literally shape the trajectory of your healing.

Your home isn’t just a physical space, but rather an energetic container that either holds & supports your growth, or keeps you stuck in the very cycles you’re trying to escape.

Home needs to be a sanctuary. A temple. An intentional shrine of sorts! It should not only match who you are now, but also who you are becoming.

Creating a Safe and Supportive Home for Sobriety

Of course, not everyone can just pick up and move. I get that. It’s a privilege and sometimes a luxury.

But there are always small, intentional steps you can take to shift your environment:

• Ending a toxic roommate situation

• Redecorating, even in simple ways

• Swapping out reminders of your old life with symbols of your new one

• Creating a visual palette that reflects the identity you’re building

There is always some kind of workaround. I genuinely believe you can create your way out of any present roadblock.

Moving Into New Chapters of Recovery Through Place

Even after nearly six years in recovery, I still notice the power of place.

For example: when I moved abroad to Colombia, it was the fulfillment of a dream that kept me alive in early sobriety. I wanted to leave everything behind, move to a country where I didn’t know the language, and rebuild my life from scratch. And that's exactly what I did.

My first real apartment in a new foreign land became the birthplace of my new friendships, my new identity, my new language, and even held the final chapter for one of the greatest loves I will ever know in this life. But that relationship ended. And eventually, that same place also became infused with memories of heartbreak and endings. It was time to move on, not because I was running away, but because I was running toward.

Most recently, I’ve moved into a log cabin in the middle of a rainforest to start the next chapter. After a year and a half of extreme stimulation of the city, I needed to be cocooned by Mother Nature. This space is my sanctuary for this season. Will it last forever? I don’t know. But right now, it matches both who I am and who I’m becoming.

Is Your Home Helping or Hurting Your Sobriety?

Is your home conducive to your recovery?

Does it reflect the best version of you? Does it make space for the person you’re becoming? Or is it quietly holding you hostage to who you used to be?

Your home isn’t just where you live; It’s a vessel for your transformation, and you deserve one that sets you free.