Smart Recovery History
Miqueo Snyder
Standing for Self Management and Recovery Training, SMART Recovery is an international non-profit organization and support group style that offers help to those seeking abstinence from addictions and addictive behaviors.
As a support group, SMART Recovery is a self-empowering addiction recovery program. It claims to be based on the latest scientific research and a worldwide community that includes mutual support groups.
Similar to many other groups, SMART Recovery offers face-to-face meetings and daily online meetings. In addition, they offer an online message board and 24-hour chat room to learn about SMART Recovery and connect with addiction recovery support.
The history of SMART Recovery dates back to 1994 when the board of the former Alcohol & Drug Abuse Self-Help Network incorporated the SMART Recovery program. The original concept was to provide secular self-help and mutual-help framework based on techniques taken from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), motivational enhancement therapy (MET) and unspecified scientific knowledge.
Since 1994, the organization has expanded to include more than 2,400 weekly meetings in 21 countries. The founding president of SMART Recovery is Joe Gerstein MD, and the organization is based in Mentor, Ohio.
For people who are seeking help recovering from addictions, SMART Recovery can be used as a stand-alone primary recovery support program but does not need to be exclusive. The program is generally considered an alternative to 12-step programs. However, SMART Recovery emphasizes that participants should find their own paths to recovery, so it is also suggested as a supplement to 12-step programs.
1. Building and maintaining motivation: Participants are encouraged to make a list of the pros and cons of addictive behaviors versus those of being in recovery to motivate themselves to stay strong in sobriety.
2. Coping with urges or substance cravings: Participants identify their personal triggers and the irrational thoughts and beliefs that lead them to act on their triggers. They learn to deflect these triggers and thoughts to overcome cravings.
3. Managing thoughts, feelings and behaviors: Group participants are taught to examine their own feelings and thoughts that lead to their addictive behaviors. Techniques for handling negative thoughts are emphasized.
4. Living a balanced life: Participants decide what is important to them in life and what achievable goals they would like to set. They learn to live without using harmful substances or addictive behaviors and work toward what is important to them.
The ABC model is a technique that is borrowed from REBT, which is a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. The ABC model is a simple self-help exercise that allows a person to challenge the irrational beliefs and thinking patterns that influence addiction. People complete the exercise mentally, but there is an ABC worksheet available to allow people to practice.
Additionally, another study that reviewed the existing research available on SMART Recovery concluded that there are positive outcomes for addiction recovery, but that the sample sizes involved were too small to make any conclusions about its effectiveness.
At The Recovery Village facilities, SMART Recovery is offered as an alternative, secular group meeting to 12-step groups for people who are not religious. The Recovery Village rehab centers incorporate SMART Recovery as a part of daily addiction treatment in most levels of care.
The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.
Medical Disclaimer: The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider.
Since joining ecobee as our fifteenth employee and first tech support specialist in 2009, Andrew Gaichuk, senior director, tech operations, has supported eight generations of ecobee thermostats and fielded every HVAC question imaginable.
From our interview with Andrew and with help from Cheryl Dias, a veteran of the customer support team, here are 10 certified fresh tips, tricks, features, and insights you may not have known about that could save you time, money, and help you get the most out of your smart thermostat.
Already have an Echo Dot, Google Home or use Siri? Link your virtual assistant of choice (or all of them) to your ecobee3, ecobee3 lite, ecobee4, or SmartThermostat with voice control for handsfree temperature control from anywhere.
To check for wall draft, take the faceplate of your thermostat off the wall. Do you see a gaping hole that the wires are coming out of? This may cause your furnace or AC to run longer than it needs to as the cold or warm air reaches the thermostat and affects its reading.
Setting a thermostat schedule is the best way to keep your home comfortable while lowering your energy costs. That said, you can always take control and override the set schedule to get the temperature you want at that exact moment.
For instance, you may want to temporarily lower the temperature for a workout or turn up the heat to stay toasty warm while reading your favorite book. This is where the hold feature comes in. Placing a hold is simple: just adjust the temperature with the slider in the app or on the thermostat.
By default, a hold will stay in effect until your next scheduled activity; but you can also customize the length of time your hold will, ahem, hold. To do so using the ecobee app, go to Main Menu > Device Settings and tap Hold Duration to set your preference.
ecobee can alert you of serious issues such as low temperatures and remind you when your HVAC system needs maintenance. You can find these settings under Reminders & Alerts in the app and thermostat main menu.
For example, you can set the heat pump to automatically turn off and use the furnace when the outdoor temperature falls below a certain number. Doing so will help keep your home at an ideal temperature all winter long without causing a spike in your utility bill.
To see your energy history, sign in to the web portal and select Home IQ. Next, open System Monitor for a visualization of hourly indoor and outdoor humidity and temperature readings.
To export your thermostat data, click the Download Data tab on the left-hand column of the System Monitor. Pick a date range and download your energy history as a .csv file. You can now open your thermostat data in your spreadsheet application.
To see when Smart Recovery has been active, sign in to the web portal, then select Home IQ > System Monitor. Finally, select Schedule in the left-hand column. When Smart Recovery is enabled, a fluorescent green bar across the timeline marks when it has been active.
While 12 step groups are some of the oldest, most well-established recovery programs for those with substance use disorder, there are non-12-step programs that have popped up over the years. The original 12-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous, does not claim a monopoly on recovery, and as such, many different paths to recovery have been created, and are working for people.
Everyone in recovery must find their own path, what works for them. Here at Heartland House, we do create a personality-centered care model for each individual in our program. Read more about our recovery programs here.
SMART is an acronym for Self-Management And Recovery Training. SMART was founded in 1994 and hosts more than 2000 meetings in the US and has spread all over the world. Learn more about their history on their website: -us/history/
SOS Sobriety is a nonreligious, nonprofit organization made up of autonomous groups that help individuals maintain sobriety via a secular path. SOS Sobriety was founded in 1985 by a recovered alcoholic and has since spread across the globe.
Celebrate Recovery began at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California and has grown from its first meeting to having now over 35,000 churches involved. Celebrate Recovery can also be found outside of churches in recovery homes, universities, prisons, and more.
Our mission is to serve men recovering from substance use disorder and related co-occurring conditions. Our overall goals are to provide a living environment conducive to continued recovery, conduct an educational program that helps the newly recovering alcoholic/addict establish a long-term support system, and generate attitudes that enhance self-sufficiency, self-worth and an ongoing quality of life.
Many people who have had a personal or indirect experience with addiction are familiar with the concept of a 12-step program for recovery, like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). Within these programs, people can find peer support for maintaining their sobriety and follow structured pathways toward building back their lives.
However, in recent years, an alternative type of long-term support group for addiction recovery has become popular in the form of SMART Recovery groups. These groups provide another way for people with a history of substance use disorders or other behavioral addictions to manage their abstinence.
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