LifeRing Secular Recovery (LifeRing or LSR) is a
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
,
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
organization providing peer-run
addiction recovery groups Drug addiction recovery groups are voluntary associations of people who share a common desire to overcome their drug addiction. Different groups use different methods, ranging from completely secular to explicitly spiritual. Some programs may advoca ...
. The organization provides support and assistance to people seeking to recover from
alcohol and drug addiction, and also assists partners, family members and friends of addicts or alcoholics. It is an abstinence-based recovery program with three fundamental principles:
sobriety
Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels or effects from alcohol or drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at birth. A person in a state of sobriety is considered sober. Organizations o ...
,
secularity
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
and
self-empowerment
Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
.
The motto of LifeRing is "empower your sober self."
LifeRing originated in California in 1997 as LifeRing Press, a publishing company separate from its parent organization,
Secular Organizations for Sobriety
Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), also known as Save Our Selves, is a non-profit network of autonomous addiction recovery groups. The program stresses the need to place the highest priority on sobriety and uses mutual support to assist memb ...
(SOS).
It incorporated officially in 1999 under its present name,
and is no longer affiliated with SOS.
LifeRing holds face-to-face meetings in the United States, Canada and Europe, and also supports online meetings, chat rooms, and e-mail support groups.
Although the organization is non-religious, it caters to people of all faiths or none, and around a quarter of LifeRing members say they attend some form of religious group.
Group participants are encouraged to tailor their program to their own needs and circumstances. Each member is free to incorporate ideas from any source they find useful, such as materials from other addiction recovery groups, including religious-supported approaches like that used by
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
(AA).
LifeRing has been described as "one of the major secular alternatives to AA."
History
LifeRing was founded in 1997 as LifeRing Press, a publishing company, as an outgrowth out of the northern California branch of
Secular Organizations for Sobriety
Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS), also known as Save Our Selves, is a non-profit network of autonomous addiction recovery groups. The program stresses the need to place the highest priority on sobriety and uses mutual support to assist memb ...
(SOS).
Martin Nicolaus was the founder and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
in 1997, a position he held until 2010 when Craig Whalley took over as president. The LifeRing service center is located in Hayward, California. In 1999, following a meeting of regional representatives, it became LifeRing Secular Recovery, and in 2001 it held its first constitutional congress. The organization holds an annual congress each year where board members are elected.
LifeRing is non-profit making and raises all its funds from the sale of books and merchandise, collections at meetings and by donations;
[ although remaining broadly similar in outlook, LifeRing is no longer affiliated with SOS.] LifeRing has been represented by speakers at professional conferences of organizations including the American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
, the Association of Addiction Professionals (NAADAC), the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC),[ Multiple Pathways of Recovery Conference (2015), and FtBConscience 2 (2014).
LifeRing's success rate was studied in 2016 by the Alcohol Research Group in ]Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 as o ...
, following several applications for funding over the years. The report found that members of LifeRing reported higher levels of satisfaction and cohesion compared to twelve-step participants, despite lower levels of attendance at face-to-face meetings, and concluded that there is a real need for incorporating the LifeRing methodology into existing addiction treatment networks. Further research is needed in order for it to be incorporated into a professional clinical setting, as most of the data available prior to the 2016 study was anecdotal in nature.[ In the mid-1990s, high-profile cases held that requiring individuals who have been mandated to undergo drug or alcohol rehabilitation to attend a program with religious content is impermissible coercion under the ]Establishment Clause
In United States law, the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, together with that Amendment's Free Exercise Clause, form the constitutional right of freedom of religion. The relevant constitutional text ...
of the United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
, and thus secular alternatives are needed. Consequently, it has been acknowledged that there is a pressing need for professional recognition of secular groups such as SMART and LifeRing which may encourage them to become more mainstream and widespread.
Methodology
The LifeRing philosophy is expressed in three principles, known as the 3-S philosophy: Sobriety
Sobriety is the condition of not having any measurable levels or effects from alcohol or drugs. Sobriety is also considered to be the natural state of a human being at birth. A person in a state of sobriety is considered sober. Organizations o ...
, Secularity
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
, and Self empowerment
Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...
. Sobriety is defined as abstinence from alcohol
Alcohol most commonly refers to:
* Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom
* Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks
Alcohol may also refer to:
Chemicals
* Ethanol, one of sev ...
and addictive drugs
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...
( prescription or otherwise) unless used as directed by a physician as a legitimate medical treatment.[ The principle of Self-Empowerment encourages each member to develop his or her own program of recovery. Unlike ]twelve-step program
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its members ...
s, members do not have sponsors, but are encouraged to help each other. In order to participate the ethos is summarized as
In line with the principle of Secularity, LifeRing meetings do not open with prayer
Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...
s and members are not encouraged to believe in a Higher Power
Higher Power is a term used in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other twelve-step programs. The same groups use the phrase "a power greater than ourselves" synonymously. The term sometimes refers to a supreme being or deity, or other conceptions of G ...
. There is no twelve-step program
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its members ...
and no spiritual awakening
Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably ''bodhi'', '' kensho,'' and ''satori''. Related terms from Asian religions are ''kaivalya'' and ''moksha'' (liberation) in Hinduism, '' Kevala ...
to be achieved, as with other programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
. LifeRing puts forward the idea that sobriety can be achieved through a personal recovery program and peer support. However, religious faith is not discouraged or disrespected, and a membership survey showed that around one-quarter of LifeRing members also attend some form of religious group.
LifeRing encourages each participant to tailor an approach to maintaining abstinence
Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc.
...
from addictive drugs or alcohol to his or her own needs and experiences. Members are free to incorporate ideas from any source they find useful, including other addiction recovery groups. Meetings often take place in the locations also used by twelve-step recovery groups. LifeRing encourages members to use relapse
In internal medicine, relapse or recidivism is a recurrence of a past (typically medical) condition. For example, multiple sclerosis and malaria often exhibit peaks of activity and sometimes very long periods of dormancy, followed by relapse or r ...
s as learning experiences and discourages admonishing members for relapsing. Members are encouraged to see inside them a sober self and an addict self which are fighting for dominance, one side is trying to be sober and well, the other is obsessed with the drug and wants to keep drinking or using.[ It has been reported that attending meetings (whether online, email-based, or face-to-face]) provides a good place for the sober self to learn from and be strengthened by the other sober voices there.[
Meetings are run by volunteer peers, known as 'convenors',] not led by professionals, and members are allowed to give each other feedback during them. Members are encouraged to raise their hands when appropriate to address and answer another member to offer support or comment while the meeting is in progress.[ While the meetings online and face-to-face are informal there are some basic rules: Members should be clean and sober (not under the influence of drugs or alcohol) if they want to speak at a meeting (only the desire to be sober is required for attendance), no religion, politics or demeaning others' attempts to achieve sobriety is allowed, members must stay respectful of one another, and no 'drunkalogues' (long-winded talk of past drug or alcohol use).] Despite the secular nature of LifeRing a 2013 membership survey showed that just over a quarter of members attend some form of church or other place of worship, a drop from 40% in 2005.
LifeRing's approach has been described as "a homespun, rather than an academic, product" which comes within the discipline of cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (suc ...
. It is influenced by psychologists such as Carl Rogers
Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach (and client-centered approach) in psychology. Rogers is widely considered one of the founding fathers of ps ...
and Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura (; December 4, 1925 – July 26, 2021) was a Canadian-American psychologist who was the David Starr Jordan Professor in Psychology at Stanford University.
Bandura was responsible for contributions to the field of education and to ...
, and has been compared to William Glasser
William Glasser (May 11, 1925 – August 23, 2013) was an American psychiatrist. He was the developer of W. Edwards Deming's workplace ideas, reality therapy and choice theory. His innovations for individual counseling, work environments and sc ...
's choice theory which is based on the idea that past relationships are influential on behavior and addictive behaviors are symptomatic of unconscious psychological needs, and Marsha M. Linehan
Marsha M. Linehan (born May 5, 1943) is an American psychologist and author. She is the creator of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a type of psychotherapy that combines cognitive restructuring with acceptance, mindfulness, and shaping.
Line ...
's dialectical behavior therapy which focuses on learning the triggers to certain types of destructive behavior.[
]
Meetings and support groups
LifeRing has more than 200 weekl
in-person meetings
in the U.S (most meetings are currently not meeting because of the pandemic) and some 75 weekl
online meetings
LifeRing also have in-person meetings in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Poland and the United Kingdom. Family members and friends of LifeRing members can attend meetings provided they are clean and sober at the time of the meeting. There is no requirement to call oneself an addict or an alcoholic during meetings.[- Meetings usually last an hour and are free to attend, however donations are usually solicited.] LifeRing also provides daily meetings online, using a chat-room format, and the chat-room is also available outside of scheduled meetings. There are also multiple e-mail support groups including LRSmail which has now been running over 15 years and a group for friends and relatives. There are e-mail groups which in addition to recovery issues also focus on providing support on body image, mental health, LGBTQ
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
, workbook study and convening a meeting. LifeRing hosts email groups (https://lifering.org/email-groups/), LifeRing "E-Pals"
One-to-One Sobriety Support
and has a LifeRing page o
Delphi Forum
LifeRing convenors use the book ''How Was Your Week'' The convenor will usually begin the meeting by asking "How was your week?" Individuals will contribute their experiences as they feel ready and other members are encouraged to interact and give feedback. Convenors should have a minimum of 6 months continuous sobriety in order to host a meeting and usually attend workshops where possible and keep in touch with other convenors in-person and online.[
]
Publications
''Recovery By Choice: A Workbook'' is a self-treatment workbook designed to create a personal recovery program. The book is divided into nine sections with questions to be worked through in order to build the program. It is designed to be carried with the person and reworked if necessary, and is intended to bring structure and control back to the recovering addict. Work areas include making a physical assessment of one's body and addressing any areas of concern, looking at one's environment for triggers and practicing suggested exercises to strengthen commitment, planning sober activities to fill time, learning to deal with people who can help or hinder sobriety, practicing ways to handle one's emotions, and deciding on and getting the level of outside help required from professional or self-help groups. The book can also be worked through with a reader if literacy is an issue.[
''Empowering Your Sober Self: The LifeRing Approach to Addiction Recovery'' is a book about the ethos of LifeRing and the strategies it recommends. The book describes the LifeRing approach to sobriety and is written for individuals wishing to be free of addiction, their friends and family and professionals in the field of addiction and recovery. It addresses areas in which it differs from traditional ]twelve-step
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its member ...
support groups as well as other alternative methods of achieving sobriety. It also contains anecdotal stories from LifeRing members and the methods they used to get clean or sober. The book aims to inform people that other sobriety strategies are available outside of those more well known and that the approach is working successfully for many individuals.
''How Was Your Week: Bring People Together in Recovery the Lifering Way – A Convenors' Handbook'' is a book written for LifeRing meeting convenors. The book explains how LifeRing meetings are formatted and is aimed at existing convenors and those people who want to convene or set up a new LifeRing meeting either face-to-face or online. In addition to addressing practical issues such as meeting structure, opening and closing formats, and administrative tasks, it also looks at the motivations for holding meetings, the best ways to facilitate a support group and secularity respecting people of all beliefs.
''Humanly Possible: Stories of Secular Recovery'' is about success in recovery from substance addiction. There are many such books, but what sets this one apart is its emphasis on secular recovery. This book shows that recovery without religion is not only conceivable but readily achievable. These stories come from members of LifeRing Secular Recovery, SMART Recovery, and AA Freethinkers, organizations that seek to help people free themselves from addiction without pressuring them to believe things that are foreign to their world-views. None of those speaking here were powerless over their addiction; they needed to find the needed power within themselves, drawing on the support of their peers for guidance. It is that support -- positive, empathetic and informed -- that plays the key role in helping others gain sobriety. Humanly Possible shows how effective that kind of support can be.
Effectiveness
A 2018 longitudinal study compared the self-reported success of LifeRing, SMART Recovery
SMART Recovery is an international non-profit organization that provides assistance to individuals seeking abstinence from addiction. SMART stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training. The SMART approach is secular and research-based, usin ...
, Women for Sobriety
Women for Sobriety (WFS) is a non-profit secular addiction recovery group for women with addiction problems. WFS was created by sociologist Jean Kirkpatrick in 1976 as an alternative to twelve-step addiction recovery groups like Alcoholics Anony ...
, and Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
. After normalizing for income and other demographic factors, the study saw that LifeRing had fewer members achieving total abstinence than Alcoholics Anonymous; however, after normalizing for treatment goal, LifeRing had the same abstinence rate as AA. In other words, among AA members and members of LifeRing who wanted to abstain from alcohol, both programs had the same success rate.[
*]
See also
*Addictive personality
An addictive personality refers to a hypothesized set of personality traits that make an individual predisposed to developing addictions. This hypothesis states that there may be common personality traits observable in people suffering from addicti ...
*Addiction recovery groups Drug addiction recovery groups are voluntary associations of people who share a common desire to overcome their drug addiction. Different groups use different methods, ranging from completely secular to explicitly spiritual. Some programs may advoca ...
*Alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
*CAGE questionnaire
The CAGE questionnaire, the name of which is an acronym of its four questions, is a widely used screening test for problem drinking and potential alcohol problems. The questionnaire takes less than one minute to administer, and is often used in ...
*Cognitive behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression and anxiety disorders. CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (suc ...
*Drug addiction
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...
*Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is an active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy, the aim of which is to resolve emotional and behavioral prob ...
*Rational Recovery Rational Recovery was a commercial vendor of material related to counseling, guidance, and direct instruction for wiktionary:addiction, addiction designed as a direct counterpoint to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and twelve-step programs.
Rational Reco ...
*SMART Recovery
SMART Recovery is an international non-profit organization that provides assistance to individuals seeking abstinence from addiction. SMART stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training. The SMART approach is secular and research-based, usin ...
*Substance abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
*Substance use disorder
Substance use disorder (SUD) is the persistent use of drugs (including alcohol) despite substantial harm and adverse consequences as a result of their use. Substance use disorders are characterized by an array of mental/emotional, physical, and ...
*Women for Sobriety
Women for Sobriety (WFS) is a non-profit secular addiction recovery group for women with addiction problems. WFS was created by sociologist Jean Kirkpatrick in 1976 as an alternative to twelve-step addiction recovery groups like Alcoholics Anony ...
References
External links
LifeRing Secular Recovery
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifering Secular Recovery
Addiction organizations in the United States
1997 establishments in California
Psychiatric rehabilitation
Organizations based in Oakland, California
Mental health organizations in California