Episode 283: About LifeRing With Casey Cannizzaro

When it comes to promoting recovery, there is liberation in knowing that it can come in all kinds of packages. On this episode of Beyond Belief Sobriety we are learning about LifeRing, a secular support group that has offered Casey Cannizzaro, a life coach, exactly the safe, flexible space he needed in order to explore not only sobriety but his identity as well. It’s an organization that advances the idea that there are as many ways to live free of illicit or non-medically indicated drugs and alcohol as there are stories of sobriety. Casey shares with Host John Sheldon the path he took and why LifeRing – with its inclusive, flexible philosophy – makes such a good fit for so many people. This conversation touches on how the program differs from AA’s more structured (and tradition-bound) approach and how pandemic has transformed the recovery landscape with new ways of connecting people evolving in their sobriety through platforms ranging from book clubs to text-only meetings to global online meetings to the forum created by The Beyond Belief Sobriety Podcast.

If you’d like to learn more about the resources that LifeRing has to offer, click here. You’ll find a wide variety of meetings as well as reading resources.

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Key Takeaways

* Acknowledging that AA has been a huge force for healing, Casey shares that his experience wasn’t the best fit. He became a seeker.

* About “motivational interviewing,” which is becoming a big part of recovery today.

* John shares his evolution away from the God-centered AA program he had worked for 25 years and towards a more secular approach. There has been a similar arc of transition over the course of the podcast, from an AA orientation to an embrace of all paths to recovery.

* Thoughts about whether recovery organizations can be nimble enough to adapt quickly to our understanding of addiction, treatment and recovery. The Big Book is 80 years old!

* How much in the forefront should words like Abstinent and Sobriety be? Do they serve the larger purpose of recovery work?

* John reflects on recovery as a process of change rather than a rigid system of words and values.

* About the many ways in which more and more people are sober curious and seeking a spectrum of support for differing definitions of recovery – which is why Casey prioritizes inclusivity and appreciates the philosophy at LifeRing.

* Important to Remember: Your journey in recovery is going to evolve and change and look different over time. And that’s okay!

* Casey shares LifeRing’s 3-S philosophy, a neutral and adaptable approach to definitions and integration of:

* Sobriety

* Secularity

* Self-Direction (or Self-Empowerment)

* LifeRing differentiator: Cross-talk is embraced as a means of support!

* A bit about the Smart Recovery program and its moderately structured approach.

* John highlights the different feel of an <a href="htt...