Is LifeRing Recovery like Alcoholics Anonymous?
Yes and No. Like AA, our objective is abstinence. Like AA also, we see the group process as central to our self-help recovery. We also like some of the folk wisdom and catchy sayings that alcoholics in AA have developed over the years, such as “one day at a time” and “take what you need and leave the rest.” We have borrowed from AA in some of our organizational concepts, such as not charging fees but passing the basket, and other things. The basic difference between our approach and AA’s is over how people change. We see a potential for change within every alcoholic and addict, no matter how low they have sunk. We see that people can turn that potential into a reality through their own efforts with the support of self-help groups. Over time, and with work, the desire to stay clean and sober that lies within us can grow into the actual power to do it. We see “Higher Powers” and the rest of the theological material as redundant at best to the recovery process. We see alcoholism and drug
