[Guest blog post by Rick Kuplinski, SMART Facilitator]
Hello. We see you.
You are new to our SMART Recovery meeting, and we appreciate the courage it took you to walk through that door for the first time. We promise you that we are going to make you feel welcome and supported no matter what your goals for change and where you are in your process.
Like you, we are here because we decided that there is something that has become a major focus in our lives and has begun to harm us physically, mentally or socially. For most of us that “something” is the misuse of a substance, but for others it is a behavior or activity related to things like eating, sex, shopping, gaming or gambling.
We are glad you are exploring SMART Recovery. Even if you decide our meetings are not a good fit for you, we encourage you to find an approach that does since there is ample evidence that peer support meetings are an important ingredient for recovery success.
Take the time you need to get to know us and how we do things. You will be asked to share your first name (or an alias) and perhaps a little about how you found us and what you already know about SMART Recovery. Beyond that you do not have to speak until you feel comfortable.
We’ll make time at your first meeting to tell you more about SMART Recovery and to answer any questions and concerns you might have. It usually takes several meetings, however, to learn the basic tools explained in our handbook and to understand how you might use them. We encourage you to attend more than one meeting to get a fuller picture of the support we provide each other here.
Before long, we are confident that you will begin to experience the benefits of our meetings:
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You will have a safe, non-judgmental, and supportive space you can visit regularly and use as part of a routine that supports your goals.
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You will feel a connection with others that will help you understand that you are not alone in your struggles.
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You will learn practical, easy-to-use tools and strategies for managing specific aspects of your recovery and living your best life.
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You will meet others who are experiencing all the challenges, success, and sometimes the setbacks that are common to recovery.
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You can use our meetings as an opportunity to gain more confidence in your interpersonal and communication skills, helping you build healthier relationships.
An important feature of our meetings is having helpful conversations we sometimes refer to as “crosstalk.” This may be new to you if you’ve attended other types of recovery support meetings where discussion among attendees during a meeting is discouraged. Here is why we say, “Let’s talk!”
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Research shows that we do better in recovery when we are empowered to make choices about our own goals and our preferred pathways to change. During crosstalk we are exposed to (and can ask questions about) people’s experiences pursuing recovery goals like abstinence, harm reduction, medication-assisted recovery and the various options for professional treatment.
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Being able to talk back and forth with each other makes for more interesting and engaging meetings. It allows people to give each other direct and specific encouragement, to ask follow-up questions, and to provide helpful feedback based on their own experiences.
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Sometimes we just need to be listened to, and SMART Recovery meetings are a great opportunity to talk things out with people who have lived with addiction and truly understand the challenges of recovery.
The facilitator at a SMART meeting is the person who has been trained by SMART Recovery and has responsibility for making sure our meetings stay true to the values of being accessible to everyone without judgement, being adaptable to everyone’s recovery goals and pathways, and being affirming of everyone’s capacity for making positive change. Their primary duties are:
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To make sure our meetings are a safe space that is stigma-free, inclusive, respectful, and confidential.
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To maximize the value of our time in meetings by making sure meetings begin and end when they are supposed to and by keeping the focus always about providing practical, forward-focused peer support.
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To help us better understand the SMART Recovery 4-Point Program and to teach and help us apply tools and strategies for achieving its goals.
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To guide meeting discussions (crosstalk) to ensure the conversation flows among group members and that our conversations stay within the bounds of sharing experiences vs. dispensing direct advice.
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To always seek to model the way by applying for themselves the same tools for positive change and personal growth as being learned and discussed by everyone else in the room.
By now we hope you’ve found an open seat and that one or more of us have personally welcomed you. We are glad you are here because wherever you come from, however you got here, we are here to support you because the best time to build the life you want beyond addiction begins right now.
To find a SMART meeting and enjoy the welcome, visit our SMARTfinder HERE
