Old 09-11-2012, 03:18 PM
  # 178 (permalink)  
onlythetruth
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Join Date: Mar 2010
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SDLY,

Welcome to SR. Since I'm a "SMARTie" I'll take a stab at contrasting RR and SMART.

First off...SMART and RR were founded as a single recovery approach (RR) about 20-25 years ago, with the idea that the world needed a recovery approach that is based on empowerment rather than disempowerment.

But a difference in philosophy developed, which, as I understand it, boiled down to the fact that Jack Trimpey (the RR guy) wanted to create a for-profit enterprise based on the idea of AVRT, whereas Joe Gerstein, Tom Horvath and others wanted to create a nonprofit group based on not just AVRT, but also principles of REBT and social support. I wasn't around then--this was way before my time, I wasn't even sober yet when all this was going on--but suffice it to say that there was a split and the groups went their separate ways. Trimpey kept the RR name and the AVRT idea and trademark, and SMART was formed.

So today, even though you can see the roots of AVRT in SMART, they have evolved in very different directions.

AVRT is much more straightforward than SMART. It's basically about making the Big Plan and AVRT--learning to recognize and ignore the voice of the Beast. It cannot be called a "program" because there is no real procedure, no tools or steps and certainly no meetings! It views abstinence as the entire goal. It is almost elegant in its simplicity and logic.

SMART's philosophy is that "recovery" is a process that occurs in stages (from thinking about quitting, to getting ready to quit, to actually making the decision and doing it, to maintaining the change afterwards), and there are tools for each stage. These are covered in meetings, where people talk about the tools and how they use them to first decide to quit, deal with cravings, and then learn to lead a balanced life. So meetings are an important part of SMART, and they are run by volunteer facilitators who are specifically trained in how to run meetings and use the tools. The idea is that the tools will be improved and new ones developed as research on addiction progresses.

So which is better? I don't think there is a "better", I truly do not. I like SMART myself because I find social support helpful. So I do see value in the social aspect that SMART provides, and I love that the SMART tools are meant to empower participants to quit and then move on with their lives (people are not expected to go to meetings forever or label themselves as "recovering" or "addicts" or "alcoholics").

But AVRT is great too. There's a simplicity about it that I really like, and quite frankly I did make a Big Plan even though I didn't know I was doing so at the time!

I hope this is helpful and I also hope you'll keep in mind that the key to this whole thing is figuring out what works FOR YOU. One thing I know for sure, it is that recovery is NOT the same for all of us. It can be scary for some people to contemplate that fact; I guess it would be easier and less threatening if there WAS only one viable way to go about it, but the reality is that recovery is a very individual thing!
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