Smart Recovery 4 Steps
Gamaliel Nation
SMART Recovery works by progressing people through the six stages of change. Depending on where you may land on the stages of change, your approach and treatment will be completely different from those in other stages than you. The stages include:
While both the SMART Program and 12 Step Program have successfully helped many people through recovery, they do have their marked differences. Knowing these differences will help you make the decision to find which one is right for you and help carry you through long-term recovery and sobriety.
The 12 Steps progress you through different steps that you need to achieve. Once you complete one step, you move on to the next. With the SMART Recovery program, your particular phase in your addiction has its own approach and treatment.
The 12 Step Program believes you need to surrender yourself to a higher power to help you through your addiction recovery. This makes SMART Recovery can be attractive for people who do not connect with that spiritual aspect. SMART Recovery believes in empowering the individual to overcome their addictive behaviors and to shape their own futures.
In addition to world-class treatment, Cliffside Malibu offers luxury accommodations, a serene environment, five-star dining, and plentiful amenities. We understand that addiction treatment is a rigorous process. Therefore, we provide for your comfort and relaxation at every turn, allowing you to rejuvenate, to meet the demands of treatment with your greatest energy and attention.
A sober support system is critical for long-term recovery. At Footprints we highly recommend patients seek outside community, and we understand that traditional AA, 12 steps is not a fit for everyone. Some say the opposite of addiction is connection, and our goal is for you to develop your own sober support community as you transition to lower levels of care in treatment. SMART is one of many supplemental programs you can use in your recovery journey.
The SMART Recovery model spread throughout the United States and the UK in the late 1990s and began growing exponentially in the early 2000s. SMART Recovery offers individuals who struggle with addiction a model that looks beyond substance abuse and instead focuses on changing addictive behaviors that cause imbalance in your life.
SMART Recovery programs are available around the world for people struggling with addiction, eating disorders, gambling addiction, sex addiction, and other compulsive behaviors. It can help with cross addictions as well. A cross addiction is when you replace one destructive behavior for another. For example, you stop using drugs or alcohol, but you begin gambling compulsively.
The SMART Recovery treatment program provides materials that correspond to each of these four points. These materials will help you learn how to manage addictive behaviors and live a more balanced lifestyle. In addition to the four-point system, SMART integrates behavior-centered therapies, including:
All these therapies are rooted in the theory that, by challenging the way you think in the present, you can stop destructive behaviors before they start. These are evidence-based practices that have been shown to be h effective in the treatment of addiction, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
All these tools assist you in putting your addictive behaviors into perspective. Once you understand that your problematic behavior is causing destruction and negative outcomes, you can reduce or discontinue the behavior.
SMART Recovery is based on the concept that every person has the Power of Choice. Through tools that teach self-management and behavioral changes, the program empowers you with the choice to abstain from addictive substances or activities. The goal of SMART Recovery is to help you gain independence from your addiction, be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, etc. The SMART Recovery program can be a great addition to an addiction recovery plan. It can be used together with a 12-step approach (like Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous) or on its own. SMART Recovery can also be combined with a meditation or mindfulness practice, yoga, martial arts, or any other method or tool that brings balance and harmony into your life.
If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, we can help. Our professional addiction specialists will help you find a model of recovery that works for you. We offer both 12-step and SMART Recovery approaches and personalized treatment plans to address your individual needs, beliefs, and preferences. To talk to one of the treatment professionals at Footprints to Recovery, contact us today.
SMART Recovery is an international community of peer support groups that help people recover from addictive and problematic behaviors, using a self-empowering and evidence-informed program. SMART stands for Self-Management and Recovery Training. The SMART approach is secular and research-based. SMART has a global reach with a presence established in more than 30 countries.[1] SMART Recovery is effective with a range of addictive and problematic behaviors (alcohol, drugs, gambling, overeating, internet use, etc). [2]
Meetings of SMART participants are held throughout the week, both in person and online.[3] These meetings, which tend to run from 60 to 90 minutes each, are confidential, free, and guided by trained facilitators. Facilitators can be volunteers or professionals. Participants in various stages of recovery, or simply curious about pursuing recovery, share lessons and challenges from their own journeys, while exploring, through discussion, a suite of scientifically grounded psychology tools and techniques.
The SMART approach is built on the belief that freedom from substance use disorders and behavioral addictions fundamentally requires the exercise of personal choice. The SMART model is built on psychological tools of cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing. SMART was initially developed by medical professionals seeking more effective methods to treat patients. At the same time, SMART acknowledges that certain individuals can benefit from a blend of approaches, and does not discourage people from using other methods whilst attending SMART meetings. SMART endeavors to be inclusive for all participants.
SMART Recovery is based on scientific knowledge and is intended to evolve as scientific knowledge evolves.[4] The program uses principles of motivational interviewing, found in motivational enhancement therapy (MET),[5] and techniques taken from rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), as well as scientifically validated research on treatment.[6] The SMART Recovery Program and meetings are congenial to participants who choose to use appropriately-prescribed medications, including opioid-agonist medications, as part of their recovery programs.[7]
The organization's program emphasizes four areas, called the 4-Point Program, in the process of recovery: Building Motivation, Coping with Urges, Problem Solving, and Lifestyle Balance.[8] The "SMART Toolbox" is a collection of various MET, CBT, and REBT methods, or "tools," which address the 4 Points.[9]
SMART Recovery can be used as a stand-alone primary recovery support program for those seeking help recovering from addictions, but does not insist on being exclusive.[10] The program does not use the 12 steps that make up the basis of the various "Anonymous" self-help groups (e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Narcotics Anonymous (NA), etc.) and is generally listed as an "Alternative to AA" or an "Alternative to the 12 Steps."[11][12][13] SMART Recovery believes that each individual finds their own path to recovery. Though listed as an "alternative," it is also suggested as a possible "supplement" to 12-step programs in SMART Recovery's main program publication, The SMART Recovery Handbook.[14]
SMART Recovery meetings are free for all wishing to attend and are intended to be informational as well as supportive.[8] Over 1500 weekly group meetings led by volunteer facilitators are held worldwide.[16] In addition, the organization provides online resources and support to the volunteers and those attending the groups and one or more daily online meetings.[17]
Meetings are also held in correctional facilities in many states, including: Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.[18]
A 2018 longitudinal study compared the self-reported success of SMART Recovery, LifeRing Secular Recovery, Women for Sobriety, and Alcoholics Anonymous. After normalizing for income and other demographic factors, the study saw that SMART Recovery fared worse across the outcomes of alcohol abstinence, alcohol drinking problems, and total abstinence, compared to Alcoholics Anonymous. However, after normalizing for treatment goal, SMART Recovery members who pursued abstinence did as well across all three factors as members of AA. In other words, among AA members and members of SMART Recovery who wanted to abstain, there was no significant difference in the success rate.[19]
The first SMART Recovery meeting was held in the United States in 1994, and the organization established its original headquarters in Mentor, Ohio. As interest grew, SMART meetings spread into Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Thirty years later, the expansion is ongoing, with SMART meetings now held in 36 countries and 16 languages.[20]
In 2017, SMART Recovery International (SRI) was established. SRI is the governing body for the global SMART Recovery community.[21] SRI is overseen by a Board of international Directors mostly drawn from national SMART Recovery organizations. It receives advice from the SMART Recovery Global Research Committee. SMART affiliates in individual countries maintain their own governance structures as independent entities that are licensed to use the SMART Recovery intellectual property by SMART Recovery International. Specific program offerings can differ among these entities. SMART Recovery relies on funding from voluntary donations, philanthropy and grants.[22]
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