Question re: attendance at a SMART meeting

[Spica]

Has anyone here attended a face to face SMART meeting? I just found one that meets on the first and third wednesday in my town and was wondering what I could expect...I have been attending NA meetings but would like to learn much more about secular alternatives...still struggling with the higher power thing...

I have read through some of the posts here but haven't found an answer yet so I was hoping I could get an idea from anyone here who has attended the meetings in person.

Much thanks for any help I can get...

[Spica]

Found a thread - doesn't sound all that promising from what I have read but I will give it a try - any other thoughts or experiences regarding the meetings would be greatly appreciated...

[onlythetruth]

Oh yes, I've been to face to face SMART Recovery meetings. I'm a trained SMART Recovery facilitator, in fact.

SMART meetings follow a format. First everyone checks in, talks about how things are going and whether they have an issue that they need to go over. Then, as a group, we set the meeting agenda. After that is the "meat" of the meeting; we talk about the specific issues that came up at check-in and use the SMART tools to deal with them.

For example, if there was someone at the meeting who was trying to decide whether they wanted to quit drinking, we'd likely walk through a CBA or hierarchy of values with them to help them figure it out. The meeting is really geared towards what people need. Oh, and participants chime in whenever they want. We encourage the sharing of ideas and experiences.

Then at the end of the meeting we do a wrap-up, pass the hat and that's it. Meetings are usually 90 minutes.

I hope you give SMART a try. I've found it to be a wonderful approach to recovery.

[Spica]

Thank you Only, another quick question...are the facilitators themselves usually people who are recovering from alchohol or drugs? I was able to find an outline of a SMART meeting on another post and I like the format as well as everything you have mentioned but feel a little uncomfortable sharing my addiction and recovery with someone who has not been through the same thing.

[AnthonyV]

Where I'm at some of the meetings are facilitated by counseling professionals, but most are facilitated by others who have found recovery using SMART. Of course, each areas meetings may vary.

[onlythetruth]

That's right, most meetings are facilitated by people who've overcome addictions themselves, but a few are facilitated by addiction professionals or others who haven't personally had the experience of being addicted.

If you go to a meeting, it's perfectly ok to ask if the facilitator has had personal experience with addiction.

One thing to share here; I did go to a meeting recently that was facilitated by someone who had never had an addiction, and it was GREAT.