Hardin Rosemary (Ed.) - SMART Recovery Handbook

3rd Edition Handbook

Smart Recovery Document Update Team

Rosemary Hardin, Editor

SMART Recovery Central Office

7304 Mentor Ave., Suite F

Mentor, OH 44060

Copyright 2013 by SMART Recovery, All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Permissions may be sought directly from SMART Recovery Central Office.

Table of Contents

You may be reading this Handbook because youre suffering from an addictive behavior or someone you love is. Whatever reason youre here, we welcome you to SMART Recovery. SMART stands for Self Management and Recovery Training. SMART is a nonprofit organization with a mission to offer free, self-empowering, mutual-help groups for abstaining from any substance or activity addiction.

Youre not alone. Many people will struggle with a serious addictive behavior during their life. Whether youre dealing with addictive or compulsive behaviors or substance abuse, SMART has information, tools, and techniques that may help you replace your self-destructive behaviors with healthier options.

People with drinking and substance-abuse addictive behaviors including smoking and behavioral issues, such as compulsive gambling or sexual activity, self-harm, and eating disorders, find that SMART provides the support and tools that help them recover.

Recovery is difficult, but with persistence, effort, and support, you can take back your life. Experience shows that people in recovery are more successful when they receive support from friends, family, and mental health professionals. If youre a concerned significant other parent, partner, friend, or relative of someone who abuses substances or engages in compulsive behaviors, this Handbook may help you understand your loved ones issues. SMART also has a Family & Friends Handbook thats available from our online bookstore. If youre a teenager, the Teen Handbook is for you.

This Handbook is written in simple, straightforward language. While its written with the recovering person in mind, its also a valuable resource for anyone touched by or interested in addictive behaviors.

There are few absolutes in recovery. What works for one person in one situation may not work for another in the same situation. With that in mind, we avoid words like must and should and instead present ideas that have helped many of our participants.

SMART is a science-based program. Its built upon well-established scientific approaches used to help people manage behavioral problems and achieve successful change. When new information becomes available, SMART Recovery adjusts its program. Theres a more in-depth discussion of the science behind SMART in chapter 7.

In this Handbook, youll find:

• SMARTs 4-Point Program
• Tools, strategies, and exercises to help you in your recovery
• Information for family and friends
• The science behind SMART
• Reading, websites, and other resources

We offer face-to-face meetings in many countries including the United States, Australia, United Kingdom, and Canada. Volunteers translated our 2nd edition Handbook into Spanish, German, Portuguese, Farsi, Mandarin Chinese, and Danish. We hope to have this edition translated by volunteers, too.

Our online meetings reach a global community. Our meetings face-to-face and online are for people in recovery, but there are Family & Friends meetings, too. Anyone may attend any of our meetings except for those listed as closed.

We arent a membership-based organization so theres nothing to join. Trained volunteers facilitate all of our meetings and serve in many other roles. They generously share their experience, knowledge, and compassion, and are the backbone of the SMART community.

By buying this Handbook, you support our work of:

• Providing free face-to-face and online mutual-help meetings.
• Providing forums for learning about and discussing addictive behaviors.
• Advocating for choice in help for addictive behaviors.

Special thanks to the people who generously gave their time and expertise to create this version of the SMART Handbook: Dr. William Abbott, Rosemary Almond, Jim Braastad, John Frahm, Randy Lindel, and Richard Phillips. A very special thank you to Henry Steinberger, the author and editor of SMARTs 2nd edition Handbook, which is the foundation for this version.

Our program isnt intended to be a substitute for professional help or treatment. While SMART does help many people who work toward recovery on their own, its also a useful supplement to professional help. If you have serious difficulties with alcohol, drugs, compulsive gambling or sexual behaviors, overeating, self-harm, or other dangerous problems, we recognize that you may benefit from professional help in addition to working the SMART program.

To find a mental health professional in your area who subscribes to SMARTs principles, visit www.smartrecovery.org .

OK, lets get started...

SMART Recovery started in 1994. SMART, an acronym for Self-Management and Recovery Training, emphasizes self your role in your recovery. Were a nonprofit, science-based program that helps people recover from addictive behaviors.

Whether your addictive behavior involves substances alcohol, smoking, or drugs or behaviors gambling, sex, eating, shopping, self-harm SMART can help. We understand the work ahead of you. No matter what your addictive behavior, youre not alone.

SMART Recovery uses techniques from Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), and Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET, a non-confrontational approach to helping people change behaviors). Our organization helps you apply these techniques to your recovery, as guided by our 4-Point Program.

Heres how SMART works:

1. We help you look at your behaviors so you can decide what problems need your attention. We also help you stay motivated if you make the decision to change.
2. If you feel you need to work with a therapist in your recovery, we encourage you to do that. If this isnt an option because you cant afford it or live in an area where help is not easily accessible, SMART can still help you.
3. We encourage you to attend SMART meetings. Interacting with others in recovery will help you understand youre not alone as you struggle with the challenges of recovery. At the same time, youre helping others. Many of us who have walked the path of recovery have found great strength in the heartfelt words of others overcoming similar issues. If you choose to pursue recovery without attending meetings, were still here to help.

You can use SMARTs tools, strategies, and resources from the start of your journey to long after you reach your recovery goals. You can stay in SMART as long as you wish. You arent making a lifetime commitment to the program. Many find that participating in SMART after they recover helps them avoid relapses. Some volunteer to facilitate SMART meetings or lend their talents and skills in other ways. Others simply continue to attend meetings to share their experiences with people new to SMART, like you.

We focus on the present and what you want for your future rather than the past. We discourage the use of labels such as addicts, alcoholics, druggies, overeaters, etc. because we believe they interfere with a healthy self-image. Instead, we focus on behaviors and how to change them.

Addictive behaviors can arise from both substance use ( psychoactive substances including alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, food, illicit drugs, and prescribed medications ) and activities ( gambling, sex, eating, shopping, relationships, exercise, etc .). Most of us experience an addictive behavior to some degree in our lives. Many people have more than one, either at the same time or they overcome one only to find themselves dealing with another one later.