Secular organizations

Old 07-30-2006, 11:53 AM
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Secular organizations

In their own words, some of the secular approaches to sobriety.

SOS (Secular Organization for Sobriety), founded 1985:

What is SOS?

SOS takes a self-empowerment approach to recovery and maintains that sobriety is a separate issue from all else. SOS addresses sobriety (abstinence) as “Priority One, no matter what!”

SOS credits the individual for achieving and maintaining his or her own sobriety.

SOS respects recovery in any form, regardless of the path by which it is achieved. It is not opposed to or in competition with any other recovery programs.

SOS supports healthy skepticism and encourages the use of the scientific method to understand alcoholism.

SOS Groups

SOS is a nonprofit network of autonomous, nonprofessional local groups in the USA and many European countries dedicated solely to helping individuals achieve and maintain sobriety. There are groups meeting in many cities throughout the US and other countries. ....
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All those who sincerely seek sobriety are welcome as members in any SOS Group.

SOS is not a spin-off of any religious or secular group. There is no hidden agenda, as SOS is concerned with achieving and maintaining sobriety (abstinence).

SOS seeks only to promote sobriety amongst those who suffer from addictions. As a group, SOS has no opinion on outside matters and does not wish to become entangled in outside controversy.

Although sobriety is an individual responsibility, life does not have to be faced alone. The support of other alcoholics and addicts is a vital adjunct to recovery. In SOS, members share experiences, insights, information, strength, and encouragement in friendly, honest, anonymous, and supportive group meetings.

To avoid unnecessary entanglements, each SOS group is self-supporting through contributions from its members and refuses outside support.

Sobriety is the number one priority in a recovering person’s life. As such, he or she must abstain from all drugs or alcohol.

Honest, clear, and direct communication of feelings, thoughts, and knowledge aids in recovery and in choosing nondestructive, nondelusional, and rational approaches to living sober and rewarding lives.

As knowledge of addiction might cause a person harm or embarrassment in the outside world, SOS guards the anonymity of its membership and the contents of its discussions from those not within the group.

SOS encourages the scientific study of addiction in all its aspects. SOS does not limit its outlook to one area of knowledge or theory of addiction.
Suggested Guidelines for Sobriety
--------------
(These guidelines appear in How To Stay Sober)

To break the cycle of denial and achieve sobriety, we first acknowledge that we are alcoholics or addicts.

We reaffirm this truth daily and accept without reservation the fact that, as clean and sober individuals, we can not and do not drink or use, no matter what.

Since drinking or using is not an option for us, we take whatever steps are necessary to continue our Sobriety Priority lifelong.

A quality of life—“the good life”—can be achieved. However, life is also filled with uncertainties. Therefore, we do not drink or use regardless of feelings, circumstances, or conflicts.

We share in confidence with each other our thoughts and feelings as sober, clean individuals.

Sobriety is our Priority, and we are each responsible for our lives and our sobriety."
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Old 07-30-2006, 11:55 AM
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LifeRing, founded 1997:

"The "Three-S" Philosophy

"Three-S" is short-hand for the fundamental principles of LifeRing Recovery: Sobriety, Secularity, and Self-Help.

Sobriety. "Sobriety" can mean different things in dictionaries, but in LifeRing it always means abstinence. The basic membership requirement is a sincere desire to remain abstinent from alcohol and "drugs." LifeRing welcomes alcoholics and addicts without distinction, as well as people involved in relationships with them. Please look elsewhere for support if your intention is to keep drinking or using, but not so much, or to stop drinking but continue using, or stop using but continue drinking. The successful LifeRing participant practices the Sobriety Priority, meaning that nothing is allowed to interfere with staying abstinent from alcohol and "drugs." The motto is "we do not drink or use, no matter what."

Secularity. LifeRing Recovery welcomes people of all faiths and none. You get to keep whatever religious beliefs you have, and you are under no pressure to acquire any if you don't. Neither religion nor anti-religion normally come up in meeting discussion. Participants' spiritual or religious beliefs or lack thereof remain private. Participants are free to attend both LifeRing and Twelve-Step meetings, but LifeRing supports recovery methods that rely on human efforts rather than on divine intervention or faith-healing.

Self-Help. Self-help in LifeRing means that the key to recovery is the individual's own motivation and effort. The main purpose of the group process is to reinforce the individual's own inner strivings to stay clean and sober. LifeRing is a permanent workshop where individuals can build their own personal recovery plans. Cross-talk is permitted within limits set by each meeting. LifeRing does not prescribe any particular "steps" and is not a vehicle for any particular therapeutic doctrine. LifeRing participation is compatible with a wide variety of abstinence-based therapeutic or counseling programs."
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Old 07-30-2006, 12:05 PM
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SMART Recovery, founded 1994:
(three introductory articles)

Welcome to SMART Recovery®

You are here to learn how to change some things in your life.


To do that you must first identify and recognize a particular problem or set of problems that you may have. And sometimes this is not obvious. But anything that causes you emotional distress such as anxiety, worry, frustration or fear are signals of where to look for the source of the difficulty.

After targeting the problem it is necessary to learn about and understand some well known processes and stages of change that can be used. There are many tried and proven modern techniques available that offer excellent prospects of success.

You may be thinking: My problems are unique. No one would understand. I've tried to change and nothing has ever worked. I am stuck with this mess. This is just not true! And you are probably wondering: What
will I have to do to overcome these problems? Where do I start? How do I start?

OK here's the first step. If the following fits you, you are starting out well. Ask yourself this question: "Have I found it hard to resist the temptation to continue doing something that I know is against my better judgment?" In other words do you have two minds about the "bad habit" involved? Sometimes you plunge in and couldn't care less, but other times you have misgivings and regrets?

If the answer is yes, then with some good work, doing things that you can easily learn, you can reverse the circumstances. And you will become a happier and more competent person who has learned how to take control of your thoughts and behavior and who has gained a lot in emotional maturity!

Most people who come to a self-help group have this necessary first condition. It is called ambivalence. However most are also very
apprehensive about changing much. They have been in the habit of giving in to cravings, and have no idea what they can effectively do to change all that, so they think nothing will really work. But that's not necessarily true. Thousands of people every year recover completely from addictions and get on with their lives.

In SMART Recovery® we understand that all undesirable compulsions and even addictions are learned behaviors. Some people may have been exposed to a more influencing environment, and some people may have a more susceptible nature. But the good news is that any undesirable habits can be understood and relearned, and replaced with new practices and even a new lifestyle.


You may be wondering, how did I get into this situation? First of all, do not think that there is something wrong with you. It is perfectly natural to seek pleasure and join in peer activities. It is sensible and healthy thinking to seek escape or relief from pain or distress. It's really very easy to fall into habits when pleasure or relief are involved. But these things can sometimes lead to a situation that has a downside that outweighs the original intent. Looking back, maybe you took too easy a road to find that pleasure and avoid that discomfort.

And it took a quite a long time for the habit or habits to get well seated.
So the process of change will take some time and effort. The road you are on now could possibly lead to wonderful new growth and strength in your life, or the one you have been on could possibly lead to a spiral down to deeper problems. If you make up your mind to go the high road, (no pun intended), you are in the right place at the right time.

In SMART Recovery®, we often start out with a risk-reward analysis of one's situation regarding any particular issue. Relax! Everyone has some problem areas, often many. By doing this, usually with help, you will begin to put your situation in perspective and see some of its realities down on paper in black and white. You will find your group mates nonjudgmental and helpful.

And soon you will find that in SMART Recovery® we want you to understand about unconditional self-acceptance. Your total worth is not measurable. You are too complex and variable to be judged as a whole person. But if the measure of your worth is permitted as with the concept of trying to have a high "self-esteem" then your self image can also be damaged greatly when a particular "ungood" act or behavior is equated to your whole worth. This is a subject that will take some study, but for now remember that your mistakes or self-perceived shortcomings do not diminish your real worth.

As you saw at the top of this introduction, the idea here is to learn about changing things in your life. The first thing is understanding the problem and how problems work in your life. And then you learn the ropes of how to challenge stuff in your own head and get some better things working. And in the third big area, to realize that you are worth it. Perhaps you have failed to really appreciate how valuable and worthwhile you are.

Well, that's the picture: We are a completely volunteer and non-profit organization of professionals and non- professionals who feel a great need in our society for the benefits of modern scientific methods to be applied to addiction. This means helping you through change from a destructive habit to a more rewarding and fulfilling life. Once again, welcome to SMART Recovery®.
-----------------------------------------------

SMART RECOVERY
QUESTIONS ANSWERED FOR NEWCOMERS
from Michael Werner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is SMART Recovery? SMART Recovery is a nonprofit national network of self-help groups for recovery from problems associated with addictions.

How can SMART Recovery help? A better question might be, "How can I help myself"? Ours is a program based on cognitive therapy methods that provides a "toolbox" of methods designed to allow you to take back control of your life. We don't believe you are "powerless" over drugs or alcohol, in fact we believe you are the only person who has power. We just show you how to gain control, provide a supportive network, and provide the skills for lasting sobriety. All of th is is ultimately dependent on your resolve to assume responsibility for your recovery.

Will I have to go to meetings forever? No. Recovery may take a week or months. All our paths are different. We don't want you to build a new dependency on the group or anything else. After achieving a solid sobriety, many choose to come back for periodical reminder visits. Typically, several months of once per week meetings seems to give a solid base for most for long term sobriety.

What are addictions? Chemical dependence is a complex mixture of physiological, psychological and behavioral changes that result in chemical use becoming a problem in one's life.

Addictions are not a direct result of personality, genes, moral worth, lack of spirituality, education, depress ion or family. People drink and use because they are addicted. The reason a person starts using is different from the reason a person keeps using. You may have started using to self medicate depression or, just the opposite, because you loved to party. Yo u may have started using to gain, "courage in a bottle" in social situations, or maybe you followed the example of your parents.

But, that is not why you keep using. For example, if you start using because of depression, odds are that you get more depress ed when you use after becoming dependent. (yet we keep telling ourselves the old lie that it will help) Chemical dependency feeds pleasure producing endorphins into the old brain creating an urge to receive more and more. We make up rationalizations and l ies to justify our growing desire for more. We build up a growing behavioral and irrational belief base to support our use. Eventually, the harmful consequences of our use outweighs the pleasurable aspects. Isn't that why you are here?

Aren't addicted people abnormal and diseased? Not at all. You are a perfectly normal human being. If you put enough addictive drugs in most people, they will become addicted. You may not be able to use like you use to - your body doesn't process substances like it use to, but that doesn't mean you are diseased unless you have a secondary effect like cirrhosis. If I damage my knee I don't say I am sick or diseased because I can't run like I once did. The same is to be said for chemical dependence. Addictions may have biolog ical, genetic etc factors, but cause is irrelevant since we know that all can recover solely by the power of one's mind. You have a problem; one that can managed easily and in no way diminishes your worth and dignity.

Aren't there people who have a genetic predisposition or are destined by their addicted parent's example to become addicted? Culture and biology are not destiny. One can have a predisposition to addiction by genes or by being in a using environment, but what does it matter? If you are addicted your are in the same boat with everyone else and it makes little difference how you got there. The real question is, "What are you going to do about it?"

What controls addictions? As far as we know the only thing that can control addictions is the two pounds of brain tissue between your ears. That is where the battle will be won or lost. No book, treatment method, recovery group (including ours), sponsor or guru can keep you sober. In the long run, only you can. The locus of control is you and you alone. After one or two drinks it may be "off to the races" with no control because we have impaired our cognitive centers. But, all of us have control over our first drink or hit.

Can I ever use moderately again? Chemical dependence is a continuum, not an either or. Most addicted people do bounce back and forth between use and non-use. Ask yourself. Has your experience been that you generally can't drink moderately after starting. If so, then that is the answer. From all we know, once a person has been severely addicted, the best answer is complete sobriety. Actually, complete sobriety is, in the end, the easiest method.

Does permanent sobriety sound scary and unachievable? Sure, this is normal, but give that scare some time off to learn more, especially about what your own capabilities and desires are.

What makes people successful in recovery? Scientific research has shown that the people who have successfully recovered regardless of the method all have three basic traits:
1. Commitment to sobriety.
2. Change in lifestyle.
3. They rehearse and plan for urges.

Smart recovery will show you how to reach each of these traits of success.

What are some of the "tools" in SMART Recovery's "toolkit"? · Motivational enhancement - How to move from the contemp lation stage to the action stage. This is where a supportive group that 'has been there" can help in focusing on the consequences both negative and positive of stopping use.

· Destructive Self Talk Awareness & Refusal Module (DISARM the Voice) show us how to listen to the multiple voices in the committee of our minds and identify the "enemy voice" that camouflages and cajoles its intent to use. Emphatic refusal to allow any excuse is integral to this program.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) helps us to discover and reduce our irrational thinking that accompanies emotional disturbance so that we can both feel better and do better when working toward our goals.

· Rehearsals - Anticipating events and rehearsing our responses. · Lifestyle Changes - Rebuilding a life requires that we fill the "void" left by the addictive substances.

· Permanent Sobriety Commitment - Building a lifelong commitment to sobriety is the ultimate strategy, and we will show how and why it is the core of our program.

How do I get started? Start by building short term goals that would include a commitment to attend "X" meetings - say two months. Also, read basic SMART literature. Most important, start listening to the competing voices in your head. This program builds up the rational voice that points out the problems from continued use ,and disputes the enemy voice that encourages us to use. Lastly, make a short term commitment to sobriety (or long term if you are ready) so that you can think clearly while working on recovery.

What's next? We then can work on exposing all the irrational excuses we give ourselves for using. By exposing the "game" we play with ourselves, we start to see our lives in a different way. We can start to increase our frustration tolerance. We can learn to manage our emotions. We can also work on looking at what life style changes would enhance our sobriety. Ask yourself, "What would a sober lifestyle look like"? We can then move towards making a commitment to lifelong sobriety.

What's last? We work towards a commitment to total sobriety - Total abstinence with no reservations. We use a no negotiation with the enemy approach. Nothing is worth my sobriety. We work on rehearsing all the possible ways in which we might be tempted and build our r esponse. We look at how our reasons for using might change. We look at how life crises may trigger enemy messages and how to deal with them.

What happens in the long term? SMART Recovery is very successful. Typically, most people either lose all their u rges or have one or two a year that are easily shot down. It is emphasized that recovery is totally up to you. We just bring the toolbox, but it is up to you to use the tools outside of the meetings.
But I can't get sober until I get rid of my depression. Not true. The same is to be said about financial problems, marital problems, stress, religious yearnings, personality problems etc., etc. There is nothing to stop you from being sober. This is not to say that all these things are not important. Indeed, they are the basic aspects of a full life. The point is that you can't work effectively on any of these issues if you are not sober. Conversely, all of these things can be held as excuses for not becoming sober. Don't give yourself any excuses. Now is the time.

Prepared by Michael Werner
-----------------------------------------------

S.M.A.R.T. RECOVERY IN A NUTSHELL
By Vince Fox:
The SMART in SMART RECOVERY stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training. Let's understand recovery not in the sense of recuperating from a sickness or a disease, but as a change of behavior from one that is self and other destructive to one that is self and other preserving. You can do this in five steps.

1) Deal with the past, learn from it, and realize that early determinants on child behavior can be only influences on adult behavior.

2) For those who have had experience with the 12-step program: If you have decided to leave it, do so without anger or resentment. You didn't fail the program. It was just unsuited to your needs. After all, 50 percent of all who enter AA, leave it within 90 days, and 95 of 100 leave it within a year
(Comments, A Review of Triennial Surveys, published by AA in 1990).

3) Get rid of dated and inaccurate misinformation about addictive behaviors. Examples: You are powerless. If you have one drink, you can't possibly stop, and you are diseased. Just use common sense on these.

4) Acquire current and accurate information about addictive behaviors and problem-solving.

5) Practice what you have learned, then graduate from SMART Recovery and get about the business of enjoying life for a change, not recover-ing, but recovered.

Let's get practical. How can I do it? Do it in three steps.

FIRST: Know that you can do it yourself, very often without the help of group psychotherapy or private therapy. Most of us can't afford them anyway. A lot of modern therapy is a carry-over from Freud who was obsessed with past events in life. He has been largely discounted. He was something of a nut anyway.*
Many people come to SR resentful or angry about their experiences with AA or NA. We tell them that the real problem is not with AA or NA, but with their reaction to expectations that had not been fulfilled in those organizations.
We point out that AA or NA was simply unsuited to their needs, just as it is well suited to the needs of others. We encourage such people to express themselves, to let off steam (emotional catharsis), to rid themselves of the negative stuff as soon as possible, and to redirect wasted energy in a positive direction.

SECOND: Those who participate in SR soon discover that they know little about addiction, but have been lead to believe much. Smart Recovery presents its educational and mental health program. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)-self-applied-comes into play. It's a great problem-solving way to handle life. It's all about surviving and being happy. We apply its principles and techniques to actual problems, especially those which pertain to drinking, using, lapse, and relapse.

We graduate, not recover-ing, but recovered, and ready to get on with the business of enjoying life and carrying out our responsibilities to ourselves and others. With the ridiculous "disease**" notion out of the
way, it's clear that complete recovery (change) is attainable and achievable. Once that's done, there's no point in going to meetings for the rest of your life. You've got better things to do.

THIRD: We recognize the often positive significance of spiritual and
religious values as functional realities. They often can and do affect the
recovery process in a positive way.
It took years to acquire your habits and way of life. It can take a year, if you work at it, to change all that. Your decision, your life.
(c)V. Fox, 1996

*Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939. His biggest contribution was the idea that
physical problems can have non-physical causes. Also, he made sex a fun
subject at the dinner table. His work is associated with the subconscious,
repression, neuroses, psychoses, repression, association, hysteria,
anxiety, dreams and so on.

**It's like this: smoking is to cancer as excessive drinking is to
cirrhosis. Smoking and drinking are things we do (behaviors), cancer and
cirrhosis are effects, the results of behaviors. Bill Wilson mentioned
"disease" once (p. 64) in his Big Book; he called it a "spiritual disease."
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Old 07-30-2006, 12:07 PM
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Thanks for these, Don!!!!
There's lots of wonderful information here for people to explore.

Shalom!
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Old 07-30-2006, 12:39 PM
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SOS

A Brief History

"During my first years of sobriety I questioned a number of alcoholics, searching for the common thread of their successes in maintaining a lasting sobriety. When I was about three years into my sobriety I began to challenge the concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous.... By the time I was sober five years I had compiled an extensive file of responses and, four years to the present day, I've collected data from more than two thousand « sobrietists ». Both from this research and my own experience of recovery, I have put together a specific secular approach to achieving and maintaining long-term sobriety. I call it the « Sobriety Priority ». I wish to offer it here as « a » way (beware of anyone who offers « the » way) to achieve and maintain sobriety for life” James Christopher, 1986.

The SOS movement began with an article in the Summer 1985 issue of FREE INQUIRY magazine, the leading secular humanist journal in the USA. James Christopher, the son of an alcoholic, and a sober alcoholic himself, wrote « Sobriety Without Superstition », an account of the path he took to sobriety.
This path led Christopher from seventeen years of a fearful and guilty alcoholism to a fearful and guilty sobriety with Alcoholics Anonymous. Christopher felt that there must be other alcoholics who wanted to achieve and maintain sobriety through personal responsibility and self-reliance. He also felt that turning ones life over to a « Higher Power » was not compatible with current research which indicated that addiction is the result of physiology, not psychology.

As a result of the tremendous response to the article from those who wanted to maintain sobriety as a separate issue from religion, Jim Christopher founded the Secular Organizations for Sobriety.
Today there are SOS groups meeting in every state in the USA and throughout the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia and Israel. SOS has gained official recognition from health professionals, clinics and US court system. In 1987 the California courts recognized SOS as an alternative to AA for recovery programs and the Veterans Administration has adopted a policy which prohibits mandatory participation in programs of a religious nature. In 1998, the American Association of Psychiatrists published a chapter written by James Christopher in its main professional textbook "Substance Abuse".
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Old 07-30-2006, 12:51 PM
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thanks,
whatever works! I have a friend who may be interested in the first one (SOS)you mentioned, and I was going to look up SMART myself and now won't need to!
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Old 07-30-2006, 12:51 PM
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I hope Blake reads this as it'd save me a lot of typing.

Marte
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Old 07-30-2006, 01:01 PM
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What Is LifeRing's History?

Many of the earliest members of LifeRing were members of Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS). In 1999 a federal lawsuit in Northern California ended with a final ruling that the national SOS organization did not own and could not use that name in the northern half of the state. Accordingly, the Northern California meetings of SOS, making up one of the oldest and by far the largest cluster of SOS meetings in the world, were faced with a permanent injunction that forced them to change their name. As the LifeRing name had become intimately associated with secular recovery through the formation of LifeRing Press two years earlier, representatives of the Northern California meetings, meeting on May 23, 1999, adopted the name LifeRing Secular Recovery.

With the name change came a new sense of purpose and direction. The lawsuit had focused attention on the status of SOS as a wholly-owned subcommittee of the Council for Secular Humanism (CSH), and on CSH's lack of concern, direction, and knowledge about the secular recovery movement. The simple process of renaming the meetings gave birth to a new sense of activism and a new level of energy. Since May, 1999, many other former SOS meetings and individuals across the country and in some other countries have affiliated with LifeRing Secular Recovery, and LifeRing has gradually emerged during the year 2000 as an independent organization. This was only natural under the circumstances:
* Unity. In view of the final court decision that renders national organizational unity impossible under the "SOS" name, meetings and individuals who want to be part of a unified nationwide secular recovery organization are naturally attracted to LifeRing.
* Autonomy. In view of the national SOS organization's permanent status as a subcommittee of the Council for Secular Humanism, meetings and individuals who wish to be part of a free-standing, autonomous recovery organization, where the slogan "save our selves" has real meaning, naturally gravitate to LifeRing.
* Democracy. For similar reasons, LifeRing naturally attracts meetings and individuals who want to have a vote in their own affairs, participate in a democratic process, develop a sense of ownership in their recovery organization, and see the stewardship of their group in the hands of clean and sober recovering peers.

Historically, LifeRing is a product of the early democratizing influence of the Internet. The concept of a free-standing, democratic and participatory organization -- the original SOS concept when it was still called Secular Sobriety Groups (SSG) -- was reborn in 1995 with the founding of the unofficial SOS email list. That list is today LSRmail, probably the largest online secular community of recovery in the world.

The movement grew further with the establishment in 1996 of the unofficial SOS web site, www.unhooked.com -- today the main web site of LifeRing Secular Recovery.

It matured with the founding in 1997 of LifeRing Press as the unofficial SOS publishing house, and with the online and print publication of the SOS Handbook -- today the publishing arm and the online and print Handbook of LifeRing Secular Recovery.

In its short history, LifeRing has achieved a great deal.

* In September 1999, LifeRing sponsored and organized the first nationwide democratic gathering of secular recovery activists in eight years, the Secular Recovery Convention.
* LifeRing has won the first letters of recommendation from chemical dependency treatment professionals.
* For the first time, LifeRing meetings run side-by-side with 12-Step meetings in the same time slot in treatment facilities, providing recovering people in treatment with a choice of abstinence support groups.
* LifeRing has initiated and conducts the first meeting of its kind in a 28-day inpatient treatment facility.
* LifeRing conducts the first meeting of its kind for patients in a dual diagnosis crisis intervention ward.
* LifeRing has published the first book explaining its secular methods for treatment professionals.
* LifeRing has popularized its philosophy in a book of collected email messages, Keepers.
* Recently, LifeRing Press has published the first workbook for people in early recovery who want to build personal recovery programs using modern, secular, evidence-based principles.
* Today, LifeRing offers convenors a comprehensive toolkit of literature, together with periodic workshops, a special convenors' email list, and this convenors' web site with its internal newsletter.
* LifeRing has converted its philosophy into organizational practice, adopting a democratic set of bylaws at its Feb. 2001 Constitutional Congress.

Although LifeRing is financially poor, it is rich in energy and vision. More and more LifeRing participants today have no history with and no memory of the former SOS connection. That is as it should be. LifeRing has made and is making its own history.
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Old 07-30-2006, 01:09 PM
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"Those who participate in Smart Recovery soon discover that they know little about addiction, but have been lead to believe much."

Indeed! Leads one to question everything, believe nothing, trust no-one. Such deep-seated distrust makes isolation seem very safe and appealing. But that leads one far astray too. Far better to question and be open to consider input of those who make sense, than to blindly believe or exclusively isolate oneself. MUCH appreciate the mental haven I'm finding in the people and resources here. Sincerely, gratefully...
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Old 07-31-2006, 02:56 AM
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Fascinating stuff Don. I've looked on the web though and I'd be hard-pressed to find meetings of any of these organisations anywhere in the UK. But the fact that there is such choice in the US explains a lot to me, certainly about different outlooks on recovery methods.
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Old 07-31-2006, 03:22 AM
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OI!!! You forgot CRAFT for families!! Do you have a good summary you could lay your hands on?

All I have is journal/referenced format which wouldn't fit easily for cut and paste, and probably wouldn't exactly be widely read!
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Old 09-29-2006, 08:25 AM
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bump
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Old 09-29-2006, 03:08 PM
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Craft has now started it's own thread.
As is stated, very few practicioners know of CRAFT. That's a shame, but, it's not bad if WE begin our own exploration!

Shalom!
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Old 10-01-2006, 08:38 AM
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I haven't really checked out SOS or LifeRing, but I find that the SMART Recovery Program makes sense and works well for me. I can't buy certain groups "one size fits all" mentality and their dogma. So the logical, scientific and psychological approach of SMART really clicks for me. I use it in many areas of my life, including using REBT in my work as an "at risk youth" counselor...

Hang loose, Doc.
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Old 11-01-2006, 09:20 AM
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An excellent description of secular options that are available.

Speaking only for myself, I find SMART Recovery very useful.


I think that folks should be able to seek and find any tool that aids their own healing.
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