Sun, Nov 22 2009
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SOS offers secular sobriety solution By BETTY RIDGESpecial Writer SOS encourages its members also to attend 12-step groups if they desire, and garner what benefits they can.
“They [SOS] do emphasize total abstinence,” Larry H. said. “If I don’t take care of my sobriety, then my job, my family, everything is in jeopardy.” Traditional AA meetings adhere to a format, and so does SOS. The meetings have a chair, who begins with an opening statement about the organization. Then, one of two of a group of guidelines for sobriety are read. Participants “check in,” discussing their progress in recovery and how their week has gone. Then they select or volunteer a topic, and spend the remainder of the meeting discussing it. “That usually is enough to get a discussion launched,” Larry said. The focus of the meeting is on discussing recovery. “We can always say what works for us as individuals,” Larry said. Like AA or NA, SOS has phone lists and encourages participants to talk with others in recovery and contact them for support. “We develop friends lists rather than sponsors,” Larry H. said. And like the other recovery programs, SOS meetings emphasize the importance of anonymity. One woman attending the forum said she had had trouble relating to the religious verbiage she had found in some 12-step meetings, but she had enjoyed e-mail discussions through SOS. Larry said that while some people come to SOS wanting to bash traditional 12-step groups or religion, they are discouraged from doing so, and are asked to shift their focus to positive recovery methods. According to its literature, SOS considers sobriety or abstinence as “Priority One, no matter what!” The pamphlet also states: • All who sincerely seek sobriety are welcome to SOS. 
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