LifeRing Secular Recovery

LifeRing Secular Recovery (LifeRing or LSR) is a secular, non-profit organization providing peer-run addiction recovery groups for anyone with a desire to recover from alcohol and drug addiction or who are in a relationship with an addict or alcoholic. LifeRing split from Secular Organizations for Sobriety in 1997, and incorporated officially in 1999. LifeRing has meetings in the United States, Canada and Europe.

LifeRing encourages an experimental approach to maintaining abstinence from addictive drugs and its members are free to incorporate ideas from any source they find useful, including other addiction recovery groups. LifeRing encourages members to use relapses as learning experiences and discourages admonishing members for relapsing. The LifeRing philosophy is expressed in three principles: Sobriety, Secularity, and Self-Empowerment. Sobriety is defined as abstinence from alcohol and addictive drugs (prescription or otherwise) unless used as directed by a physician as a legitimate medical treatment. According to the principle of Secularity, LifeRing meetings do not open with prayers and members are not encouraged to believe in a Higher Power. The principle of Self-Empowerment encourages each member to develop their own program of recovery. Unlike twelve-step programs, members do not have sponsors, but are encouraged to help each other. Meetings are run by peers, not led by professionals, and members are allowed to give each other feedback during them.

LifeRing uses the book How Was Your Week which replaced the Handbook of Secular Recovery which replaced the text used in Sobriety handbook, the SOS way: an introduction to Secular Organizations for Sobriety.

Family members and friends of LifeRing members can attend meetings provided they are clean and sober at the time of the meeting. A separate LifeRing Partners organization is planned.

LifeRing has more than 150 meetings in the U.S. and several foreign countries. Online, it has daily meetings plus multiple email support lists, a social networking site and a bulletin board forum.

See also

• Addiction recovery groups
• Alcoholism
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Drug addiction

• Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
• Rational Recovery
• SMART Recovery
• Women For Sobriety

External links

• LifeRing Secular Recovery
• Works about LifeRing Secular Recovery, Inc in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

• LifeRing FAQs. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
• LifeRing Partners. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
• http://www.lifering.org