Schedule
Explore the full weekend agenda below to locate speaker leads, workshop sessions, and special events across the voco Chicago Downtown - Riverwalk. Use the provided venue map to easily navigate between meeting rooms, the main ballroom, and fellowship spaces throughout the weekend.
Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Venue Map
Schedules are subject to change without notice.
Friday, Nov. 6
4:00 pm
5:30 pm
7:00 pm
8:45 pm
Saturday, Nov. 7
9:00 am
The Creative Artist in Recovery - Leo S.
14th floor, Merchants Hotel Room
The Creative Artist in Recovery explores the rebirth and flourishing of the creative element which has been stamped out due to chronic drug and alcohol abuse. It explores rejuvenating the creative forces which have become dormant and gives participants the permission and tools to revitalize their creative selves.
How to Achieve the 9th Step Promises - Denice C.
14th floor, Shakespeare Hotel Room
Sober + Social Media - Michael C.
14th floor, Western Stage Room
Social media can be a powerful source of connection and community—but it can also bring comparison, anxiety, negativity, triggers, and the pressure to always be “on.” This one-hour interactive workshop explores the relationship between social media consumption and sobriety, helping participants recognize how their digital habits may affect their recovery and overall well-being.\
Meditation 101 - Mesh T.
14th floor, Lake House Room
This workshop explores an ancient meditation technique practiced and taught by Spiritual Mystics in the East combined with literature and visualization techniques derived from the ‘We Agnostics’ section from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. The workshop will include a discussion of the roots and basics of meditation, yoga & energy chakras, mantras and the benefits of incorporating a daily meditation practice into recovery. This workshop has been taught at treatment centers throughout the country and is beneficial in all stages of sobriety from 2 days to 20+ years. No religious beliefs are required. The workshop will include a discussion, two short meditations (one guided, one solitary) and a Q/A session.
10:00 am
Break
10:30 am
Double Winners? Double Needy? - Wakefield S.
14th floor, Merchants Hotel Room
This workshop would bring together a panel of participants who are actively involved in more than one 12-step program. If the panel includes members of both AA and Al-Anon, the session could serve as an opportunity to introduce AA members to Al-Anon and help dispel common misconceptions. If the panel includes members of AA alongside CMA, MA, SLAA, or other fellowships, the discussion could focus on what participants gain from working more than one 12-step program and how those experiences complement one another.
My Spiritual Toolbox is Broken - Denise S.
14th floor, Shakespeare Hotel Room
I’m an ex Catholic Youth Minister who on a dry drunk around year 9 thought becoming a nun would fix me in recovery. Instead, I learned wherever I go there I’m as well as spirituality is a relationship that grows and changes in your recovery journey. This will NOT be about religion, instead a look at how to create your own spiritual toolbox while creating a Spiritual relationship with a High Power of your choosing…. Creator, Diva, Goddess, Nature, Universe, the Doorknob, God, Buddha, etc. in this moment of your recovery journey.
Erotic Intelligence - Mell M. (CADCII, ASAT, RAE)
14th floor, Western Stage Room
This workshop invites participants to reimagine sexual recovery as more than the absence of harmful behaviors. Rather than focusing solely on avoiding relapse or managing risk, it explores how to move away from pain, shame, and survival-driven sexuality and toward authentic pleasure, connection, and embodied well-being. Participants will learn how addiction, trauma, and conditioning shape desire, while discovering practical ways to cultivate intimacy, joy, curiosity, and sexual experiences that are congruent with their values. The goal is to help individuals build a sustainable, life-giving relationship with their sexuality that supports both recovery and a deeply satisfying sober sex life.
Trans Experience in Recovery - Marshawn L.
14th floor, Lake House Room
A workshop focusing on a panel of trans/gender-queer people in recovery giving a short lead and the difficulties of being trans in recovery. Open discussion at the end.
12:00 pm
Lunch break
1:00 pm
Recovery Discussion Group: Beginners Group
14th floor, Merchants Hotel Room
This group will be a discussion group focusing on the challenges Beginners face in early recovery.
Recovery Discussion Group: Relapse Prevention
14th floor, Shakespeare Hotel Room
This group will be a discussion group on relapse prevention skills, coping with triggers, and refusal skills.
Recovery Discussion Group: Long-Timers
14th floor, Western Stage Room
This group will be a discussion group on what it is like to be a long-timer and how they stay on the beam, one day at a time.
Recovery Discussion Group: Working the Steps
14th floor, Lake House Room
This group will be a discussion group focused on working the steps.
2:00 pm
Break
2:30 pm
Spiritual Practices for Recovery: Growing in Conscious Contact - Seth B.
14th floor, Merchants Hotel Room
A look at how ancient spiritual practices like ritual, prayer, sacred texts, testimony, and confession already live inside the steps, and what happens when we work them consciously.
Sponsorship Bracket Challenge - Michael W.
14th floor, Shakespeare Hotel Room
Previously presented at the Big D Round Up, the Sponsorship Bracket Challenge encourages participants to compete by answering sponsorship-related questions, the other participants vote on answers each round until one winner remains. This workshop format will give participants a fun way to think more deeply about sponsorship, hear different perspectives, and practice applying sponsorship principles in a low-pressure setting.
Recovery in Living Color - Kylon H.
14th floor, Western Stage Room
Recovering In Living Color centers the experiences of Black/Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) fellows. Kylon will facilitate a panel discussion reflecting on the relationship between multiple intersections of identities and recovery, followed by a community conversation open to all attendees that focuses on the lived experiences of BIPOC fellows.
Stickman: Drawn From Chaos to Clarity - Lyn J.
14th floor, Lake House Room
This workshop explores the mental obsession of why we return to the same insanity, even when we know better, as well as the spiritual experience and how surrender, not self-will, leads us out of the cycle. The Stickman is a visual roadmap from restless, irritable, and discontent to spiritual awakening and freedom.
3:30 pm
Break
4:00 pm
Healing the Heart with Sound - Spencer B.
14th floor, Merchants Hotel Room - participants will by lying down - limited to 30-35 people
Meditative sound bath. Participants are encouraged to lie down, but seated is a valid alternative for those with mobility issues. Chimes, rain, stick, singing, bowls, native flutes, and other instruments provide a sonic soundscape for meditation. We set an intention first. I asked them to close their eyes and lead them in a short breathing exercise. Then through a thoughtful sonic program they take a meditative journey.
The Second Year Shift: From Staying Sober to Building a Life - Ed C.
14th floor, Shakespeare Hotel Room
Early recovery often centers on surviving cravings, changing routines, attending meetings, and simply making it through the day without using. But as the months add up, a new question begins to emerge: Now that I’m sober, how do I actually live?
Surviving to Thriving: Sobriety Through Trauma - Morgan H. (LPC)
14th floor, Western Stage Room
We will review the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study and discuss how ACEs impact the likelihood of addiction, using this knowledge to gain a deeper understanding of our own experience and how they may have impacted our addictions. We will then discuss how we have used our knowledge of our own trauma to enhance and deepen our recovery. The focus will be more on the latter (recovering through and in spite of trauma) than just the former, to avoid the workshop simply being a "here are all the bad things that happened to me" session.
On Awakening & When We Retire: A Big Book Approach to Reflective Meditation - Tim N.
14th floor, Lake House Room
Achieving mental clarity and emotional peace - A big book approach to seeking through reflective meditation using the 11th step.
5:00 pm
Break
6:00 pm
7:00 pm
8:45 pm
Board Games
14th floor, Bulls Head Room
Mafia Game
14th floor, Western Stage Room
Karaoke
14th floor, Lake House Room
Sunday, Nov. 8
9:00 am
Opening Boxes We've Closed: The Queer Experience of Religion and How That Relates to the Queer Experience of Spirituality - Kelli H.
14th floor, Merchants Hotel Room
This will be a workshop addressing religious trauma within queer communities, and the ways that trauma has impacted queer spirituality.
Spiritual Tools & Creativity - DK Haas
14th floor, Shakespeare Hotel Room
Creativity in recovery invites participants to use spiritual tools to give yourself permission to explore your creative dreams/ desires. This workshop was packed at Living Sober in 2025.
Traumatic Stress and Relapse Prevention - Robert K. (LPC, CADC)
14th floor, Western Stage Room
Traumatic stress can cause one to feel disconnected, stunned, disoriented, and unable to process their thoughts. This workshop will strive to examine how traumatic stress impacts daily functioning and if left untreated, can lead to relapse. Shame and guilt from the past clouds the present, keeping one prisoner in the traumatic stress. Participants will learn how to foster present day safety by prioritizing self-care grounding techniques, creating lifestyle routines, developing coping skills, and finding professional and social support systems.
Meditation 102 - Mesh T.
14th floor, Lake House Room
This workshop takes a deeper dive into meditation practices practiced by Saints, Mystics and Sages around the world for centuries and examines various techniques used to raise one’s energy center through they body’s chakras on the soul’s journey to spiritual enlightenment. The workshop will include a discussion on different methods used to quiet the body and mind and the shifts in perspective and awareness that occur when one has adopted a regular meditation practice. The workshop will include breathwork exercises and two meditations (one guided, one solitary) and a Q/A session. A portion of the session will include sitting on the floor for those who are able. Please wear comfortable clothing and you may bring a standard pillow (not required) for added comfort. No religious beliefs are required. Meditation 101 not a requirement.
10:30 am
Break
10:45 am
Chicago Roundup 2027 Planning Group
14th floor, Western Stage Room
11:15 am
12:15 pm
1:00 pm
Venue Map
