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 also assists partners, family members and friends of addicts or alcoholics. It is an abstinence-based recovery program with three fundamental principles: sobriety, secularity and self-empowerment. 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 (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 (AA). LifeRing is a secular alternative 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 (SOS). Martin Nicolaus was the founder and CEO 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.
Disaffiliation from Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) By 1990, autonomous SOS groups had formed in Northern California. In January 1991 those groups incorporated as SOS West Secular Organizations for Sobriety, Inc., while a separate New York nonprofit, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, Inc. (aka SOS, Inc.), was incorporated in February of the same year. The New York nonprofit, SOS, Inc., was affiliated with the Council for Secular Humanism, which at the time was known as the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH). In 1994, SOS, Inc., sued SOS West alleging trademark infringement. The United States District Court for the Northern District of California found that SOS West and its predecessors had prior use of “Secular Organizations for Sobriety”/“SOS” in Northern California and enjoined SOS, Inc. from using that name and initialism in that region. Further, the judge required that if SOS, Inc. advertised or solicited donations in Northern California using the “SOS” name (including online), it had to include a clear disclaimer stating that the local SOS there is a separate group (SOS West) and clarifying that SOS West is not affiliated with CODESH. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with the regional ruling, but sent the case back to the trial judge to decide whether SOS, Inc.’s federal trademark on “Secular Organizations for Sobriety” should be canceled. In both the district court and on appeal, SOS West prevailed regarding its right to use “SOS” in Northern California—no court required it to change names. Nevertheless, the group chose to rebrand for clarity and future nationwide growth, adopting the LifeRing Secular Recovery name beginning in 1999.
Professional recognition LifeRing has been represented by speakers at professional conferences of organizations including the American Psychological Association, 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). 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 of the United States Constitution, 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, 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. The principle of Self-Empowerment encourages each member to develop his or her own program of recovery. Unlike twelve-step programs, members do not have sponsors, but are encouraged to help each other. In order to participate the ethos is summarized as:
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