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SMART Recovery (Support Group information and discussion)

Most of you guys appear to be in the USA, so Im pleased to be able to report that SMART also runs in the UK, and i have found a group im going to start re-attending. The 'teachings' are just part of it for me, they are all very practical and down to earth. The main lift for me comes from the support of the other group members who are all in simillar boats, sinking or floating to various degrees.. I stopped attending for a while when my buprenorphine use got out of control, and i started abusing it. I finally managed to quit bupe about a month ago but all too soon i i have started taking kratom since then, so i still really havent dealt with the psycholgical w/d symptoms yet. Inevitably my kratom use is escalating and could become a problem if i dont stop very soon. You need to be in the frame of mind that you are determined to quit, otherwise its all a bit pointless.
 
^Good to hear that it is available and you found it useful. Definitely true that no matter what program you feel the best support from, it still has to come from you. Good luck.<3
 
^^ And people ask me why I bother going to AA meetings and tuning out the part about god/rewriting it in my head....

Well it's because there aren't any other options that that I can drop what I'm doing and hit a meeting any time anywhere if I need to... There is one smart recovery meeting per week near me though, I may check it out at some point.
 
smart recovery self help addiction recovery

i have an appointment with this lot on the 22nd of this month and wonder if any of you had used this service before

taken from the site

ABOUT SMART RECOVERY
We help people recover from addictive behaviour and lead meaningful and satisfying lives.
Our approach is secular and science based; using motivational, behavioural and cognitive methods.
We run a network of self help meetings and also partner with care professionals.

OUR APPROACH
• Teaches self-empowerment and self-reliance.
• Provides meetings that are educational, supportive and focussed on open discussions.
• Supports the use of prescribed medications and psychological treatments where appropriate.
• Can be used to tackle any form of addictive behaviour, including drugs and alcohol, gambling
• Evolves as scientific knowledge in addiction recovery evolves.

http://www.smartrecovery.org.uk/

WHO ARE WE?
SMART began in 1994 in the United States. It has grown into a worldwide network of self-help meetings, both face-to-face and online, where participants can get help from others in recovery.

PARTICIPANTS
The most important people to our organisation are those who are trying to change their addictive behavior using our meetings and online resources. We also offer support to family members in the UK through our Family & Friends programme and meetings.

FACILITATORS
Because of the way SMART Recovery meetings work, there is a need for a Facilitator to keep things on track. Since the meetings are our core activity, these meeting Facilitators are key. Our Facilitators, both online and at face-to-face meetings are people who are in recovery themselves and are ‘giving back’ to help others who have the kinds of problems they have themselves overcome. They give their time freely as volunteers, undergo thorough training and follow our Facilitators code of conduct. We keep in touch with and consult with Facilitators through this website, online peer support meetings and through newsletters. A great deal of our work is making sure Facilitators have good materials, information and training to help them run good meetings.

BIG TEAM
This is a team of SMART Recovery volunteers and staff who gather bi-monthly and whose purpose is to review successes, less-than-successful endeavours, progress and setbacks, and to brainstorm/exchange ideas relevant to the organisation’s growth and wellbeing.

STAFF
We have a small team of paid staff who help keep SMART Recovery running and moving forwards.

Our Central Office, which handles all the administration of the organisation, is managed by Carol Hammond and assisted by Diana Mitchell. We also have three National Coordinators; Jardine Simpson in Scotland, Leigh Proctor in Wales and Steve Crawley in England. To contact staff, please see the ‘Contact UK SMART Recovery’ page.

UK SMART Recovery is not and will not become a treatment service provider and will not accept a contract within which UKSR recruits staff to actually facilitate meetings. This is an important principle that will protect the movement from losing its core strength in mutual aid. As the organisation grows, there may be a need to expand the paid staff team a little, but keep the focus of the movement as a whole on the traditions and strengths of volunteering.

TRUSTEES
Like all UK charities, we have a board of trustees – volunteers who oversee the running and direction of the charity and, through regular meetings, makes sure it stays within the law and has a strong future.

PARTNERS AND CHAMPIONS
UK SMART Recovery has a Partnership scheme with professional care and treatment services. This involves us training some of their staff as ‘SMART Recovery Champions’ so that they can kick start meetings within their services, introduce service users to SMART and encourage some to become Facilitators and start their own peer-led meetings in the community. Our relationship with partners is to offer training and license our programme and materials.

INTERNATIONAL PICTURE AND LEGAL STRUCTURE
SMART Recovery operates as a non-profit organisation in many countries including the United States, the UK, Canada and Australia. UK SMART Recovery is a registered charity which works closely with the not-for-profit organisation in the USA which ‘owns’ SMART Recovery. Legally speaking, the UK charity has an exclusive license (or legal permission) from the US to develop and promote SMART Recovery in this country. We work very closely with the US team and have cross representation between the boards.

Like most charities, we are also registered as a company limited by guarantee. This legal structure means we operate for the benefit of society and do not have shareholders, but the Board of Trustees and volunteers have some legal protection if something goes badly wrong.

The SMART Recovery movement has the support of a renowned International Board of Advisors which includes many of the most influential and important researchers and psychologists in the field of addictions.
 
Ive been to a few of the meetings but it just got to the point that i realized the only way for me to really stop is to promote positive thinking and to make my sober life something i dont have to hide from and i can do that by myself..they were informative and i like the self empowering because i think thats half the battle is taking the power back that you have given to your DOC..its great for support but im an introvert and have a hard time opening up with more ppl in the room than someone i trust
 
I would like to start a SMART recovery group in Nashville, TN. If anyone is interested please message me.
 
Project Will said:
I would like to start a SMART recovery group in Nashville, TN. If anyone is interested please message me.
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you should start one! I wish there was one here in Birmingham AL but alas there is not.
 
Man, I wish we had more smart meetings in Dallas. There's one that meets twice a week but Dallas is a big city and the commute is still pretty hefty.
 
^I almost took the training to lead one simply to do my part to get more of them started but I backed out because I was being very unrealistic about how much time I actually have to volunteer. But I am convinced that if a lot of people that like them took the training and started groups themselves in their area that the monopoly of AA would be broken and there would be more choice. You know if you started one in your area people would probably come out of the woodwork to attend.;)
 
I went to NA for 3 years and it made my addiction worse. The minute I walked into SMART meetings my actual recovery started. NA labels you as an addict forever and they celebrate 'clean time' instead of evaluating one's well-being as in SMART. The termination stage described above let's you know that maladaptive-addictive behaviours can seize, and hence one's addiction can be over. In NA, once and addict always an addict. How nihilistic and absolute. It's dogma, not science in 12-step groups.
 
What the fuck? I live in a large city and there's barely any non closed meetings in my area that's pretty ridiculous. Why is this program so small in member base if it works so well? I'm so frustrated because there's so few alternatives to the12-step type groups
 
I have tried this type of meeting a few times. I had mixed feelings. There were those that clearly just loved to hear themselves talk, but those people are everywhere I suppose, and I can't blame the philosophy of these meetings for some people using it to make others listen to them talk about themselves. Really the real reason I remain unconvinced be because i'm too suspicious of others and parinoid a person for any group, I am almost like suspicious of any message that is repeated too often, as it seems like if it was true it would just resonate as true and not need repetition to be convincing. Although not crazy dogmatic like AA, the group organizers, as well as members still seemed to constantly interpret their experience in the same way, basically if you don't medicate negative emotions because they will motivate you to improve your life. That sounds pretty rational, but the suspicious side of me questions it because of the repetition, questions why if the drugs which treat the emotions are prescribed by a doctor then its totally fine, and wonders if there couldn't be some people who actually are more functional through their self medication through intoxicants, and so on. But unlike AA, which I knew very quickly I would never get into, I thought maybe there could be something useful here. I like that you can say whatever your opinions are and people wont tell you you are wrong, or tell you what you are, I like that a lot. Another point they made, this one I don't have much suspicion over at all, is if you go every week, you will want to honestly be able to tell them that you successfully stayed away from your problem substance since last time rather than that you relapsed, and this is something you can use.
 
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TouchN' Stuff Blvd said:
I have tried this type of meeting a few times. I had mixed feelings. There were those that clearly just loved to hear themselves talk, but those people are everywhere I suppose, and I can't blame the philosophy of these meetings for some people using it to make others listen to them talk about themselves. Really the real reason I remain unconvinced be because i'm too suspicious of others and parinoid a person for any group, I am almost like suspicious of any message that is repeated too often, as it seems like if it was true it would just resonate as true and not need repetition to be convincing. Although not crazy dogmatic like AA, the group organizers, as well as members still seemed to constantly interpret their experience in the same way, basically if you don't medicate negative emotions because they will motivate you to improve your life. That sounds pretty rational, but the suspicious side of me questions it because of the repetition, questions why if the drugs which treat the emotions are prescribed by a doctor then its totally fine, and wonders if there couldn't be some people who actually are more functional through their self medication through intoxicants, and so on. But unlike AA, which I knew very quickly I would never get into, I thought maybe there could be something useful here. I like that you can say whatever your opinions are and people wont tell you you are wrong, or tell you what you are, I like that a lot. Another point they made, this one I don't have much suspicion over at all, is if you go every week, you will want to honestly be able to tell them that you successfully stayed away from your problem substance since last time rather than that you relapsed, and this is something you can use.
Click to expand...

These groups seem cult like. The ideas are excellent, but the user base makes it difficult. I went to a meeting or two every day (AA/NA) for a year and I basically saw the same people and heard the same rhetoric. I did make some good connections...but the saying "if the shoe fits wear it." is particularly fitting.
 
Thanks for this. Why does it have to be seen as a 12 Step alternative like the guys who made the 12 Steps are the only ones with the answer? Why can't AA be seen as a SMART alternative? It is newer and self-help meetings were born out of AA rooms?

Not sure if that makes sense. I get the feeling society places the 12 Steps above all somehow when it comes to recovery. Like that is the go to thing to get clean for good. I don't get it with all the new research showing how it works for only so few.

Wait I mean it helps many what I said above is likely to be taken as an insult to the sincere efforts & hard work of how many millions around the globe? What I meant by saying so few is the success rate is like somewhere around 5 to 10% what is that figure about?

Not saying SMART has a higher rate no clue I have no idea how they can even measure these things accurately enough.

I just tried to commit to AA like never before in my life.

Been going to meetings since I was a teenager & I'm 35 now. Off and on both because someone made me in treatment or drug court and in the more recent years I kicked my own butt into them. So I get this resolve to find a sponsor in my heart a couple nights ago and since that night I have been having my first real spiritual experiences at these meetings but they drove me right the fugh out their doors man about to start SMART this week.
 
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