Your Guide to Selecting the Best Sobriety Gifts
Choosing sober anniversary gifts can be both exciting and nerve racking. If a friend or family member has reached an important milestone in their sobriety journey, you’ll no doubt want to celebrate with them and let them know how proud you are.
Your love and support will mean the world to them but who doesn’t love a tangible gift? Coming up with the perfect present can be difficult but it’s far from impossible and you may very well enjoy the search.
If you’re looking for sober anniversary gifts or even birthday gifts for sober friends, we’ve put together a list that’s sure to help.
But First… What are Sobriety Gifts?
A sobriety gift is any gesture that recognizes the hard work a person puts into recovery. It honors the individual for the strength they showed in maintaining their sobriety.
Recovering from drug or alcohol addiction is never easy so anyone who manages it deserves to be celebrated and encouraged. Many people recognize their sobriety anniversary every year.
As with any other special occasion gift, sobriety gifts can be sentimental, practical, or even funny. It all depends on the recipient’s personality and interests and the type of relationship you have with them.
Think about the things you enjoy together and how you usually show the person you care when making your selection.
Offer an Experience
Gifts don’t always have to be physical. You may want to provide the person with an experience that they’ll always remember. This means you can take them to watch their favorite sports team or band or get tickets to a play.
If the individual love extreme sports, maybe you can give them a skydiving lesson. Of course, you also have the option of taking a cooking class together or getting them a gym membership or spa day. The range of experiences from which you can choose is almost endless.
Take A Weekend Trip
Weekend trips are excellent gifts for sober friends, particularly those who are quite far along in their sobriety journey. People at the start of their journeys need stability and a consistent routine so taking off for the weekend may not be a good idea.
However, once the individual is well enough, going away for a short time can be a great way to celebrate how far they’ve come.
If your friend or relative likes the outdoors, you can take them camping. However, if they’d rather just relax by a pool, you need to book a getaway that involves a hotel stay.
However, be sure not to book a hotel where all the activity revolves around the bar. In some cases, staying at an AirBnb or a guesthouse may be best since you’ll have more control over the environment.
Give a Meaningful Sobriety Gift
If you’re proud of your loved one’s sobriety, let them know with a handwritten letter or a beautiful card. This won’t cost a lot of money, but it will be personal and meaningful. The recipient will appreciate the time you took to motivate and encourage them.
If writing isn’t your thing but your sober friend enjoys putting pen to paper, why not give them a beautiful journal? Reflecting on one’s thoughts and behaviors is an important part of sobriety.
You can purchase a blank book that’s ideal for bullet journaling or drawing or one with lined pages, depending on what you think your loved one would like.
Choose a Book of Affirmations
Affirmations are popular because many people find them helpful. Sobriety is all about taking it one day at a time so many people in recovery use affirmations for upliftment and motivation.
A book containing daily affirmations can be a great gift for anyone celebrating sobriety. They’ll have something to turn to for guidance every day.
Have Something Engraved
Personalized keychains, picture frames, watches, and jewelry are excellent sobriety gifts. You can have them engraved with meaningful quotes, inspiring phrases, or the dates of important milestones.
Give Your Loved One a Houseplant
When people are in the grips of addiction, they find it hard to care for themselves, and taking care of a plant is the furthest thing from their minds.
However, people who have achieved sobriety and are doing well at maintaining it can resume old responsibilities or take up new ones. Therefore, houseplants are a great gift even if your friend or family member isn’t known for having a green thumb.
Having some greenery around the home can help to keep them calm and even improve their health and well-being. Many houseplants also help to purify the air.
In addition, plants help people to connect to nature so this type of sobriety gift is a lot more meaningful than it might at first appear. Caring for the plant will help to get the individual into a daily routine and when they’re able to keep the plant alive, they’ll get a confidence boost.
Ferns, succulents, and cacti are great for many first-timers. You can also give the individual books about caring for plants to make things easier for them.
Choosing Artwork or a Stunning Photograph
Do you have a photo of you and your loved one that you will always cherish? Perhaps you can have a copy made and framed to adorn their home. If the individual likes a certain artist or drawings of landscapes, you can also get a piece of art for their walls.
Maybe you just want to get a photo or painting of their favorite location. Art and photographs can bring life into a space and depending on what is chosen, it can be deeply meaningful or inspirational. Gifts for recovering alcoholics can also be simply beautiful or even amusing.
Offer Your Sober Friend a Chip Holder or Display Box
If the intended recipient is in a program that marks sober anniversaries with a chip, why not give them a safe place to store these important keepsakes?
Display boxes and chip holders are both practical and sentimental and your loved one is sure to always think of you when they look at the item.
Support Their Goals
People who are in recovery often have a lot of goals they want to accomplish. These may be personal or professional. If you can help them to achieve these goals as they celebrate a sober anniversary or even a birthday, you should do so.
Maybe the individual wants to sign up for a course so they can improve their skills or they need clothing for a job interview. Maybe their apartment is missing some appliances or furniture or they want a bike so they can get around more easily.
Whatever the case, some people will appreciate anything that helps them to get ahead now that they’re no longer in active addiction. If you can give them a head start, they are sure to love it.
Some individuals in recovery prefer this type of investment over any sentimental gift. Think carefully about what your friend or relative would love most.
Sign Them Up for a Subscription Gift Box
If you want to join someone in celebrating their sobriety but you aren’t physically close to them, you can send them a fun subscription box. No matter what their interests are, you’re sure to find a box that will make them happy on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis.
Whether you need sobriety gifts for her or sobriety gifts for him, subscription boxes make it easy. Choose from makeup, snacks, tea, shaving products, games, pet items and more!
The good thing about subscription boxes is that they allow you to continue giving over time without having to search for yet another gift.
Show Your Loved One How Much You Care with a Carefully Chosen Sobriety Gift
Overcoming drug or alcohol addiction is really difficult and it requires lots of effort. Each day, the individual has to get up and choose to fight temptation and remain sober.
Therefore, when they’ve maintained sobriety for an extended period, they’ll likely be happy with a sobriety gift no matter how large or small it is.
If they’re celebrating a birthday, they’ll also appreciate it if you take the time to offer a sober gift. Your respect, appreciation, and support will mean the world.
Reach Out to Circle of Hope for Addiction Treatment Help
Meanwhile, if you have a loved one who is struggling with addiction, and they need help, the experts at Circle of Hope are here to assist.
We have a 12-bed luxury addiction treatment facility in Southern and we take an evidence-based approach to treating drug and alcohol dependency. We always make the client a priority and we offer tailored treatment programs.
We’re ideally located to serve the Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Westlake, Santa Monica, and Woodland Hills communities.
However, we also cater to people from across the country and have clients travel to our facility nearly every day. Contact us now to learn more about how we treat people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
