'Empowering Your Sober Self: The LifeRing Approach to Addiction Recovery'
developed and how the meetings works.
*****************************************************************
Recovery By Choice: Living and Enjoying life Free of Alcohol and Other Drugs
The Workbook, as it’s commonly called within LifeRing, has played a key role in the recovery of untold numbers of people suffering from addiction. Working on it alone, or in group meetings dedicated to its study, its detailed lists of questions probe deeply into the users life, bringing to light issues that are unique to each individual and play a key role in the addiction process. Over the years it has garnered plaudits from many, many users, who say things like “The workbook really has made me re-evaluate my life and helped me through some tough times …” (N.D.) and “I’ve got to say I love this book. I wish I had done this when I first got sober, the questions make me think, think, think! (J.H.)
The new edition moves further away from what the author describes as the “conventional literary divisions called … chapters.” Instead, the Workbook is divided into “domains,” a change which “highlights the three-dimensional framework of the recovery process.” This points up the fact that the Workbook does not have a traditional beginning or end, beyond the introductory remarks. Instead, the user can delve into the domains in any order desired. Whether it’s “My Body” or “My Feelings” or “My Life Style”, readers can deal with the issues that are most urgent to them.
The changes in labeling, while important, do nothing to “diminish the choice-based structure of the work” as it has existed in earlier editions. Nicolaus writes in the Preface to the new edition: “People in this book remain individuals, not widgets. People can still start anywhere they choose, and they can enter and leave the domains in any order that works for them. They can determine which domains apply to them deeply, or only somewhat, or not at all.”
Among the changes made for the new edition are additions to the First Domain (My Body), along with updating of other sections; rewriting most of the Third Domain (My Activities) and reorganizing the ending of the Seventh Domain (My History). Numerous other small changes were made throughout the book. The book has grown a bit in length (310 pages) and in price ($25).
*****************************************************************
'How Was Your Week? Bringing People Together in Recovery the LifeRing Way'
A Handbook
How Was Your Week? is a handbook for the core members of the LifeRing network: the people who start and lead LifeRing meetings, or perform other services that keep the organization humming. To “convene” means to bring people together. Bringing people together in recovery the LifeRing way is what LifeRing meeting facilitators do, which is why they are known in the organization as “convenors.”
The book covers the basic model of the LifeRing recovery process: the division of the addicted mind into an addict self (A) and a sober self (S). It outlines the fundamental process at work in LifeRing meetings: empowerment of the sober self. It explains the proper role of the convenor in facilitating this process. It looks at the dynamics at work in the meeting room. It discusses common issues and problems that may arise, and suggests methods of handling them. The work also looks at the nuts and bolts of the meeting framework, such as door signs, signup sheets, passing the basket, distributing literature. There is a chapter on the LifeRing process online in chat rooms and other web venues, and a chapter on the annual LifeRing Congress.
Discussion of the basic philosophy of LifeRing — the three S — is a major portion of the book. Chapters on Sobriety (Abstinence), Secularity, and Self-Help offer the deepest and most detailed analysis of these foundations in print. Although aimed primarily at the convenor, these chapters are accessible to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of what LifeRing is about. A major chapter (Ch. 13) outlines the work involved in starting a new LifeRing meeting. Everything is covered here from the initial contacts to the final successful passing of the baton. This chapter is the indispensable guide for the pioneers who establish a LifeRing presence in new territory.
Link to LifeRing Bookstore
