Secular Organizations for Sobriety

Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) is a mutual-aid recovery support group for people having problems with alcohol or other drugs/addictions. It is a nonprofit, anonymous, self-supporting organization that endorses the disease model of addiction. SOS places power in the hands of the individual and uses a rational, nonspiritual approach to recovery. It uses lay-members of the group as meeting leaders. SOS recommends total abstinence as the only possible way to recovery.

SOS advocates the separation of religion and recovery, providing a voice for those having trouble with the religious/spiritual approach to recovery of 12-step groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), that have traditionally dominated the treatment industry.

SOS groups are autonomous groups connected through the SOS International Clearinghouse, located in Los Angeles, California. Founder James Christopher spearheads SOS operations, lecturing, lobbying, publishing, and coordinating SOS group efforts, including outreach to treatment professionals and prisons. The SOS Websites provide chat rooms and online meetings for members, and easy access to group literature.

Central to the SOS program is its “Sobriety Priority,” a cognitive approach to breaking the cycle of addiction by replacing it with the cycle of sobriety. According to SOS, the root of the cycle of addiction is a chemical need for a substance that occurs at the cellular level. Once this physiological addiction is established, the addict/alcoholic develops learned habits, behaviors, and associations that reinforce the chemical need. This is followed by denial of both need and habit. This progresses until addiction becomes the leading priority in the addict/alcoholic's life. SOS teaches members to replace this with a cycle of sobriety. First, the addict/alcoholic must acknowledge their addiction to alcohol or drugs. Second, they must accept the fact that they have the disease of addiction. Third, they must make sobriety the number-one priority in their life. SOS members learn to separate their addiction from everything else, concentrating on addressing the addiction, while still enjoying the other things in their lives.

As members continue to make this cognitive choice to remain in the cycle of sobriety, it progressively diminishes the desire for alcohol/drugs and breaks the cycle of addiction. Members acknowledge that drinking or drugging threaten their lives and learn to associate drug/alcohol use with pain and death. This, in turn, dissuades the addict/alcoholic from drinking/using again. SOS members are taught to take charge of their own sobriety; no “higher power” is needed for personal change. Personal empowerment is considered to be the best protection against relapse.