Women for Sobriety (WFS) is a
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 ...
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 ...
addiction recovery group 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 ...
for women with addiction problems. WFS was created by
sociologist Jean Kirkpatrick in 1976 as an alternative to
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 ...
addiction recovery groups like
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). As of 1998 there were more than 200 WFS groups worldwide.
Only women are allowed to attend the organization's meetings as the groups focus specifically on women's issues. WFS is not a
radical feminist
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a Political radicalism, radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are al ...
, anti-male, or anti-AA organization.
History
Jean Kirkpatrick attended AA meetings for three years and was unable to maintain sobriety. The methods of what is now the "New Life" program of Women for Sobriety empowered Kirkpatrick to quit drinking. Discovered through
trial and error
Trial and error is a fundamental method of problem-solving characterized by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success, or until the practicer stops trying.
According to W.H. Thorpe, the term was devised by C. Lloyd Morgan (1 ...
, the New Life methods are based largely on the writings of
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
(particularly his essay, "
Self-Reliance
"Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes: the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false con ...
") and the
Unity Movement of New Thought in addition to Kirkpatrick's personal experience, knowledge of
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
, and experience in AA.
In her design, as in AA, WFS encourages the open and hosting sharing but focuses on improving self-esteem and reducing guilt rather than admitting powerlessness. While Kirkpatrick's program stresses spirituality as the "fundamental object of life" the solution to alcoholism is described as being within the mind of the female alcoholic, not requiring 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 ...
. Also like AA, Kirkpatrick's program encourages complete abstinence from alcohol, rather than
harm reduction
Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to de ...
.
Program
The program is built on thirteen
affirmations encouraging members to change their
self-image
Self-image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to an objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, etc.), but also items that h ...
and
world view
A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural p ...
.
As is practiced in
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 ...
, WFS members avoid labeling themselves as alcoholics and addicts and instead refer to themselves as competent women during meeting introductions.
Philosophically, these ideas are close to
modernity
Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...
, emphasizing
self-control
Self-control, an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one's b ...
and
rationality
Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an abil ...
.
As described in WFS literature, the fundamental problem of females with alcohol dependence is low
self-esteem
Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
, a condition that is culturally reinforced in women more than in men, necessitating a qualitatively different treatment for women. In WFS members focus on responsibility rather than powerlessness, on self-esteem rather than
humility
Humility is the quality of being humble. Dictionary definitions accentuate humility as a low self-regard and sense of unworthiness. In a religious context humility can mean a recognition of self in relation to a deity (i.e. God), and subsequent ...
and on thinking rather than
surrender
Surrender may refer to:
* Surrender (law), the early relinquishment of a tenancy
* Surrender (military), the relinquishment of territory, combatants, facilities, or armaments to another power
Film and television
* ''Surrender'' (1927 film), an ...
. Like AA, WFS encourages meditation and spirituality, although sobriety is not viewed as dependent on 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 ...
. To increase self-esteem, WFS encourages
positive thinking and discourages negative thinking (a cause of low self-esteem).
In WFS language, "faulty thinking" causes destructive behavior, consequently WFS teaches its members that they have the power to change their thinking to change their actions. The WFS approach, in this sense, is similar to
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 ...
. Newcomers are encouraged to take pride in their accomplishments, no matter how small—even in an hour of sobriety. Similarly, members learn to beware of negative thoughts as they arise.
There are also elements of applied self-in-relation theory (the theory that a woman's sense of definition and value is strongly tied to their relationships with others); women are encouraged to build new, healthy relationships inside and outside of meetings.
Affirmations
The thirteen affirmations represent six levels of growth in which members accept the physical nature of alcoholism (affirmation one), remove negativity (affirmations two, four and nine), learn to think better of themselves (affirmations five and twelve), change their attitudes (affirmations three, six and eleven), improve their relationships (affirmations seven and ten), and change their life's priorities (affirmations eight and thirteen).
# I have a life-threatening problem that once had me.
# Negative thoughts destroy only myself.
# Happiness is a habit I am developing.
# Problems bother me only to the degree I permit.
# I am what I think.
# Life can be ordinary or it can be great.
# Love can change the course of my world.
# The fundamental object of life is emotional and spiritual growth.
# The past is gone forever.
# All love given returns.
# Enthusiasm is my daily exercise.
# I am a competent woman, and I have much to give life.
# I am responsible for myself and for my actions.
The First, Second, Tenth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Affirmations were changed at some point in the 1990s these originally appeared, respectively, as "I have a drinking problem that once had me, Negative emotions destroy only myself, All love given returns twofold, I am a competent woman and have much to give to others, I am responsible for myself and my sisters."
The Third, Fourth and Twelfth Affirmations were revised in 2017 per the WFS Board of Directors. They originally appeared (after the 1990s edit), respectively, as "Happiness is a habit I will develop, Problems bother me only to the degree I permit them to, I am a competent woman and have much to give life."
Meetings
Meetings range in size from two to twenty members, the ideal group size is between six and ten women. The room is arranged so that all the women are sitting in a circle. The meeting opens with a reading of the thirteen affirmations and the WFS purpose. The opening is followed by discussion among members based on a topic from WFS literature (e.g. acceptance, stress, compulsions, procrastination or one of the thirteen affirmations).
Following a five- to ten-minute break, members begin the second part of the meeting. During the second part, members discuss what happened the previous week, each member is given a chance to speak and is encouraged to include at least one positive behavior or event.
Discussing previous drinking experiences, "drunkalogs", is discouraged as members are asked to keep their sharing positive. Cross-talk, responding directly to the speaker, is allowed.
At the meeting closing members hold hands and recite the WFS motto, "We are capable and competent, caring and compassionate, always willing to help another, bonded together in overcoming our addictions."
A telephone list is distributed and members are allowed to call each other throughout the week. If someone has been hospitalized or has returned to drinking, other members will call her to offer their support.
Moderators
Meetings are run by moderators with at least one year of continuous sobriety who are familiar with the WFS program.
Moderators must be certified by WFS headquarters in
Quakertown, Pennsylvania
Quakertown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of 2020, it had a population of 9,359. The borough is south of Allentown and Bethlehem and north of Philadelphia, making Quakertown a border town of both the Delaware Va ...
.
Demographics
During the winter of 1991 Lee Ann Kaskutas conducted a survey of all WFS members, she sent surveys to each active WFS group at the time and achieved 73%
response rate.
The information in this section is based on her analysis of the survey results.
The average WFS member is 46 years old,
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, has been sober for 4.5 years, and is married with 1.8 children. About one-third of WFS members are
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, another third are
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and about one-fifth do not have a religious affiliation. Two-thirds have attended college and more than half are employed with an average individual income of $23,700 per year (an average household income of $51,800 per year). Half of WFS members have been sober for less than two years and in WFS for a year or less.
Women who took
disulfiram
Disulfiram is a medication used to support the treatment of chronic alcoholism by producing an acute sensitivity to ethanol (drinking alcohol). Disulfiram works by inhibiting the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, causing many of the effects of ...
were more likely to relapse than those who did not.
Most members (40%) were self-referred, others were referred to WFS by a counselor or treatment program.
The vast majority of WFS members had received professional help at some point (89%), most frequently this was individual therapy and least frequently group therapy.
Correlates of self-esteem
Length of sobriety was correlated positively with membership in WFS. Half, however, of WFS members had been sober before joining WFS. Controlling for the length of sobriety, the length of time in WFS was positively correlated with self-esteem, as measured by the
Rosenberg self-esteem scale. Three other independent variables were correlated with self-esteem: belief in the First Affirmation, frequent use of the Affirmations, and disbelief in
AA's First Step.
Turning points
A turning point represents an event or state that made WFS members realize they needed to do something about their drinking. The survey of WFS members found there were eight general categories of turning points: physical signs of alcoholism, emotional problems, general life problems, loss of control over drinking, being confronted about their drinking, problems related to driving, exposure to others' drinking problems and problems related to work. On average, the turning point occurred for WFS members at age 39, it took WFS members four years to achieve sobriety after their turning point and five years to become a member in WFS. Women who had a turning point entailing a realization that their life was out of control achieved sobriety in less than average time (two years). Similarly, women who had felt suicidal or attempted suicide achieved sobriety in one year. The five factors most frequently cited for attending WFS were: self-motivation, seeing information about WFS in a newspaper, WFS literature, hearing information from friends, and getting information from a counseling agency.
Dual membership
Nearly all, ninety percent, of WFS members have experience with AA and about one-third also regularly attend AA meetings (and have for an average of five years). Non-AA attending WFS members are more likely to believe that maintaining sobriety is a matter of hard work having little to do with God's intervention, while those attending AA attribute their sobriety to their spiritual program. Ninety-two percent of WFS members, however, believe their state of mind is the most important factor in maintaining sobriety.
Although length of time in WFS correlated positively with self-esteem, length of time in AA did not emerge as a significant predictor of self-esteem.
Relapse was less common among women who attended both AA and WFS. The largest proportion of WFS members to achieve sobriety in a year following their turning point were those who attended AA in addition to seeking professional help compared to those who just attended AA or sought professional help.
WFS members who attended AA reported they did so primarily as insurance against relapse (28%), its availability (25%), for sharing (31%), and support (27%). WFS members who did not attend AA mentioned feeling as though they never fit in at AA (20%), found AA too negative (18%), disliked drunkalogs (14%) disliked AA's focus on the past (14%) and felt that AA was geared more to men's needs (15%).
Attrition and prevalence
WFS and AA have similar drop-out rates of new members; in about four months about half of new WFS members drop-out.
[ cited in ] WFS discourages lifetime membership and reliance on meetings to maintain sobriety. In this way, the size and number of WFS meetings remain static but does not necessarily reflect a decline in the group's popularity. Forming a WFS meeting for some may be prohibitively difficult, in addition to obtaining certification and a year of sobriety, the leader has ongoing responsibility for the meeting.
Effectiveness
A 2018 longitudinal study compared the self-reported success of Women for Sobriety,
LifeRing Secular Recovery
LifeRing Secular Recovery (LifeRing or LSR) is a secular, non-profit organization providing peer-run addiction recovery groups. The organization provides support and assistance to people seeking to recover from alcohol and drug addiction, and al ...
,
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 ...
, 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 Women for Sobriety was about as effective as Alcoholics Anonymous.
[
*]
Criticism
The thirteen affirmations may be difficult for women to implement in day-to-day living, depending on their situations. For instance, women with limited financial resources may find it difficult to accept that "problems bother her only to the extent she allows them." Depressed women may find it difficult to make enthusiasm a daily exercise, or accept happiness as a habit to develop. Similarly, positive thinking affirmations have been interpreted as asking women to deny their real feelings and inhibiting recovery. The applicability of the affirmations to female alcoholic's lives may limit the appeal of the WFS program.
Kirkpatrick has stated the affirmations were derived from observing her thoughts as she felt good enough to stop drinking. The intention of the affirmations is
behavior modification
Behavior modification is an early approach that used respondent and operant conditioning to change behavior. Based on methodological behaviorism, overt behavior was modified with consequences, including positive and negative reinforcement continge ...
, asking WFS members not to dwell on past problems is intended to prevent them from drinking. The purpose is not to deny the past, but not to indulge it as this is likely to cause negative thinking. By practicing affirmations and positive thinking, it is believed WFS members slowly change their habits and their thoughts become reality.
Literature
WFS sells several dozen books on their website, and several dozen more booklets, CDs, and related materials
and regularly publish a journal ''Sobering Thoughts''.
Four books by Kirkpatrick, however, are used principally in the WFS program, the most important of which is ''Turnabout''.
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Further reading
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See also
*
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 ...
*
Cognitive Behavior 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 ...
*
LifeRing Secular Recovery
LifeRing Secular Recovery (LifeRing or LSR) is a secular, non-profit organization providing peer-run addiction recovery groups. The organization provides support and assistance to people seeking to recover from alcohol and drug addiction, and al ...
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
References
External links
Official website of Women for Sobriety* and {{worldcat id, id=nc-women+for+sobriety+inc, name=Women for Sobriety, Inc
Addiction and substance abuse organizations
Non-profit organizations based in Pennsylvania
Temperance organizations in the United States
Organizations established in 1976
Women's clubs in the United States
Women in Pennsylvania