By Marty N. 5/29/01
On the LSR Service Center message machine last week was a call from a treatment professional at a chemical dependency program in San Francisco. Called him back. He had picked up one of our brochures from the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic, where we have a Thursday night meeting led by Gillian E. See earlier story.
He said he had a number of clients who were resistant to the 12-step approach and wanted an alternative. He had done his own recovery the 12-step way and that was his personal preference but he did not believe it should be pushed down people's throats, and if there were alternatives, he wanted his clients to know about them. Could we send him some meeting schedules and brochures.
He was one of 22 counselors at this facility. I asked him whether there was a list of the other staff members so that I could mail each of them some LifeRing literature. He said it would be easier if I were to send him an email, and he would distribute a copy of the email to each of his colleagues. If I sent him 22 copies of our "Presenting LifeRing Secular Recovery" booklet, would he distribute one to each of his colleagues' cubbyholes? He would.
Below is the email message that I sent this helpful counselor. A box of books and brochures went out to him the next morning.
Dear Bill:
As we discussed by telephone, a package of LifeRing literature is on its way to you. Enough material is included so that every member of your staff (22) can have one of the introductory booklets, and there are about 50 handouts for patients. Call or email when you need more.
Currently there are four LifeRing meetings in San Francisco: Monday nights at Kaiser CDRP at Fillmore and Turk, Tuesday noon at the Quaker Meeting House on Ninth near Civic Center, Wednesday nights at Noe Valley Ministry (22nd & Sanchez) and Thursday nights at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. If you include the East Bay, a client can go to a LifeRing meeting seven days a week.
We are an abstinence program that welcomes alcoholics and other drug addicts on the same footing. We also give support to quit smoking. Our atmosphere is secular, meaning that people's religion/spirituality, or lack thereof, remains a private matter and rarely comes up for discussion, and our meetings are free of prayers and God-talk. Apart from complete abstinence, we do not prescribe any specific recovery program, but encourage and support each participant to figure out what works for them. At the bottom of the box of materials I sent you is a workbook that some of our members use as a scaffolding for building their personal recovery programs.
I've been clean and sober using this system for 8 1/2 years and it's worked very well for me. Some of our members attend both LifeRing and 12-step meetings, and that's fine also. We have a capable speaker's bureau and we'd be delighted to send speakers to address your staff and/or clients about our approach. Just give us a call at 510-763-0779.
In sobriety,
Marty Nicolaus
LifeRing Service Center
Oakland
P.S. Three weeks later the counselor phoned the Service Center to say that the box hadn't arrived. When it still didn't get there in another week (lost in the Postal Service) I packed him another box and took it over to his agency and delivered it into his hand. He told me that he had already referred a couple of people to our meetings, and thanked me very much for the materials. -- MN 7/3/01