SMART Recovery

By Jill Gonzalez

SMART Recovery (Self Management and Recovery Training) is a non-profit organization that helps people overcome a variety of addictive behaviors. The theories behind the development of this program are all scientifically based, and the developers claim that as scientific knowledge progresses, so will the teaching materials at the organization.

The SMART Recovery program consists of four primary components that are designed to help people overcome their various addictions:
1. To enhance and maintain your motivation to abstain from using.
2. To help you cope with your urges.
3. To help you solve problems, including the management of your thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.
4. To help you maintain a lifestyle balance.

SMART Recovery is essentially a self-help organization that focuses on helping people to change their behaviors in an effort to lead happier, healthier, more productive lives. One of the organization’s unique approaches to therapy is that they do not focus on the past.

Regardless of what a person has been through or the circumstances that may have caused that individual to start drinking, using drugs, or participating in some other type of self-destructive behavior, the SMART Recovery program focuses on the present. They believe that the things that are happening in a person’s life now are not only the most important things to focus on, but that they are the only relevant things to focus on.

The SMART Recovery program offers both face-to-face and online meetings so that people can choose the method of treatment they are the most comfortable with. There are normally about 300 face-to-face meetings each week in various parts of the world, and more than 16 online meetings. In addition, SMART Recovery also offers a message board that is open to anyone who would like to participate.

Along with regular weekly meetings, SMART Recovery offers a variety of different tools and techniques that are available for participants to use that will help them to achieve their goals of abstinence. Some of their tools include:
• Worksheets
• Brainstorming
• Role-playing or rehearsing
• Guidelines for coping with urges and emotional upsets

The basic philosophy behind SMART Recovery is that addictive behaviors can form not only from the use of various substances, but also from participating in certain activities such as gambling, over-eating, and spending money. Since addiction is believed to be more of a maladaptive behavioral problem than a disease, each person’s recovery largely depends upon his or her own determination and motivation to succeed.

The services provided at SMART Recovery are absolutely free to anyone who feels that they may have a problem. In addition to their regular weekly meetings, SMART Recovery also offers videos and tutorials on their website that are free to view at any time.