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New SMART Online Meetings
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Teen & Youth and en Español |
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| SMART announces two new online meetings.
Teen & Youth - Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., Eastern. For ages 14 - 18. Passwords will be provided in the restricted access forum. Facilitated by Hammer.
en Español - Sundays at 7:00 p.m., Eastern. Facilitated by geeeee. |
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Family & Friends Guest Blog
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Methods of Self-Care: Even Productive Worrying Can Help
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| Laura has emerged as a source of wisdom and strength in our group that meets near Boston. A spry 70-year-old, she now lives with both of her adopted millennial daughters, accepting that her home lacks the quiet and order she expected at this stage of her life. While trying to cope with her often chaotic household, she models self-care: from the pleasure she gets from her volunteer activities and the hikes she takes in the woods, to the thoughtful rituals she has added to her daily life.
The subject of self-care is a frequent topic at SMART Family & Friends meetings. When people are obsessed with worry and concern about a partner, a child, a friend or a sibling, everything from sleeping, eating or engaging in normal activities diminishes. Self-care is one of the hardest skills to master and maintain, especially when a loved one is in the throes of an addictive behavior. In promoting self-care, SMART facilitators often refer to the metaphor of reaching for your own oxygen mask before trying to help your loved one to put on their own.
Continue reading Laura's methods for self-care as shared by Ellen Kolton, MPH, a SMART Recovery Family & Friends Facilitator.
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SMART Facilitator Spotlight
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Stefan Neff Spotlight Video
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Stefan Neff, a meeting facilitator in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, fell in love with SMART Recovery at his first meeting. He immediately thought, “Wow, this is fantastic!” His favorite aspect of SMART is the connection to science and the tools used, like A.B.C. and C.B.A. worksheets. Within a month, Stefan became a meeting facilitator and then a Family & Friends facilitator. It gives him “joy to watch people create change in their life.”
View the full video on our YouTube channel
Read more about becoming a SMART Volunteer
Learn more about the SMART Recovery Toolbox
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JP Schneider Volunteer Fund Exceeds Goal |
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THANK YOU! To everyone who contributed to the JP Schneider Volunteer Fund, your generosity helped SMART surpass the $10,000 goal. Volunteer Month ended with a bang at $19,000! These funds train new volunteers to run SMART meetings and will empower others to recover from addiction. "Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present." ~ Albert Camus
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SMART Recovery In The News
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A Video Summary of SMART's Growing Media Presence |
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SMART Recovery is grateful to provide help to those struggling with addiction. We’re pleased to offer a rapidly increasing number of online meetings and hope the news coverage that has been generated is able to reach more people who need those meetings.
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Stop. Be Present. Listen. Why Motivational Interviewing is an Important Tool in Recovery with Dr. Molly Magill
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Molly Magill’s interest in psychology and social work started in high school and grew into her passion and, ultimately, her career. She earned her bachelor and master degrees from Boston University and a certificate in alcohol and substance abuse studies from the University of Massachusetts. Dr. Magill is an associate research professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences and the Director of Biostatistics at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. In 2019, Dr. Magill was awarded the Independent Scientist Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Her current research is focused on therapist or counselor training methods that are based on common factors of established behavioral interventions. The training method that is most exciting to Dr. Magill is motivational interviewing (MI). This technique recognizes there are multiple avenues to change and that the therapist’s job is to activate the natural process for clients. Dr. Magill believes the “gifts” that MI gave to addictions research and the clinical field are, love, appreciation, acceptance, and compassion for clients, and a way to operationalize and train people how to do it. The training culture had gotten away from providing on-the-spot feedback to therapists. Now, because of motivational interviewing, instant feedback is becoming popular again. According to Dr. Magill, MI forces you to stop, be present, listen, and believe that what the clients says matters and is of value. This is a good practice for people everywhere to follow. You can find this podcast interview on: |
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25 in 25 Volunteer Spotlight
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| Jerianne Klein tried “tough love” approaches to deal with her loved one’s substance abuse issues. Support groups and one-on-one sessions left her feeling directionless. Searching for a family-focused option that would instill hope, Jerianne discovered SMART Recovery. “I held onto every word,” she says.
SMART Recovery tools helped Jerianne and her family stay calm and rational through the “dark days and sleepless nights,” which included her loved one’s involvement with treatment court.
Read on about how Jerianne uses her experiences to help others in recovery.
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Become a SMART Recovery Volunteer
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Are you interested in helping others overcome addictive substances and/or behaviors? Did SMART Recovery help you change your life, and now you want to give others the same opportunity? Consider being trained in the SMART Recovery program!
Being a SMART facilitator is an important and rewarding volunteer position. By becoming a SMART facilitator, you support:
- Providing free face-to-face and online mutual-support meetings
- Providing forums for learning about and discussing addictive behaviors
- Advocating for choice in help for recovery from addictive behaviors
Download this helpful e-book to learn about SMART Recovery, and if volunteering with our organization would be a good fit for you.
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Subscribe to the SMART Recovery YouTube Channel
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Video storytelling is a powerful tool in recovery, and we are proud to share our SMART Recovery content free-of-charge, available anywhere, on any device. Our videos inform, entertain, and inspire.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and click on the Notifications Bell to be alerted every time SMART Recovery releases a new video. |
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Subscribe to the SMART Recovery Blog
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| Do you want to see this type of helpful, educational information more often? Subscribe to the SMART Recovery Blog and receive a blog digest email every Friday with links to the blog articles published during that week. |
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Self-Management and Recovery Training
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Founded in 1994, SMART Recovery uses science-based techniques that have proven to be effective in helping people recover from addiction problems involving any substance or behavior, including alcohol, drugs, gambling, eating disorders, shopping, and internet use.
Participants use SMART to take ownership of their recovery and become empowered through its 4-Point Program®: - Building motivation
- Coping with urges
- Managing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
- Living a balanced life
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Donate to SMART Recovery
with the tools to abstain from any substance or activity addiction.
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