PATHWAYS TO SELF-HELP AMONG WOMEN FOR SOBRIETY

Women for Sobriety represents a self-help option oriented toward posit ive thinking and behavior modification. Formed in 1975, there are now approximately 125 active WFS groups holding weekly meetings in the Uni ted States and Canada. Using data collected from a 1991 membership sur vey (n = 600, response rate = 73%), this paper chronicles WFS members' pathways to recovery. We describe turning points in seeking help, thi ngs women tried at first to contain their drinking, exposure to other treatment approaches, and referrals to WFS from formal treatment progr ams. Only 15% of the respondents sought treatment because they had bee n confronted about their drinking, while physical symptoms or emotiona l problems represented the turning point for over half the women. Anot her fifth said their life had gotten out of control, and these were th e ones to achieve sobriety most quickly. Almost all WFS members had so ught professional help for their drinking, and three-fourths have unde rgone individual therapy-suggesting that WFS members are fairly open t o a psychological approach such as WFS offers. WFS philosophy is based on the belief that behavior is predicated on thoughts, so the program teaches members that maintaining sobriety must involve the realizatio n that negative emotions are destructive-and that members can control how much they allow problems to bother them. Goals of membership inclu de abstinence, improved self-esteem, and spiritual and emotional growt h. About a third of the respondents currently attend AA, and no differ ences in length of sobriety associated with current AA attendance were found within the WFS membership. However, women who sought profession al help in response to the turning point experience but who also atten ded AA that year were most likely to have achieved sobriety within a y ear of the turning point.