lifetplant

I'm just wondering if anyone can give me a bit of info re their experience of SMART recovery?

I don't want to break any SR rules re promotion of organisations, i'm just interested in info re an experience of a meeting with them. I've been to a few AA meetings and it's just not for me but i've proven now that, doing it alone is just not working for me.

I can't afford the time off from work to do in-patient detox.

Thanks for any advice.

LP

hypochondriac

I have been to a few SMART meetings and loved them. The cross talk worked better for me because it was less scary speaking out loud. They have a lot of good information on line and they run online meetings too x

Notimetoloose

I have been to a few as well.
Loved the first two but the last one this guy starts talking 5 minutes in and took up the whole 1½ hours, he wasn't talking about anything to do with recovery, he was talking about his life, his wife, his kids yada yada yada, unbelievable. I had taken time off work.
I have no idea where he thought he was but he did not shut up.
No one in the room had a chance to exchange or listen to anyone else.
I guess the problem was that the lady who chaired the meeting didn't intervene. Everybody else was just too polite.
I am thinking if he is going to be a regular, I wont be going back to that particular meeting.
Give it a try, what have you got to lose. It is normally very comfortable.

Marcher13

Life I have found a lot of material here at SR in the SMART recovery section which is very useful and helpful.

Here's a link to a schedule of meetings in Australia. SMART Recovery Australia | Find a SMART Meeting

lifetplant

Thanks Marcher. I just like their thinking re CBT as I am so against the 'disease' phenomena..........not starting a debate, just saying

LadyBlue0527

Hi lifetplant:

I attended SMART meetings in two of my prior attempts and it didn't work for me. Probably because those times through I was unwilling to really use the tools that I was given. Also because when it came to me and alcohol there was nothing rational when an iced cold beer was put in front of me, that is, outside of rationalizing why I should drink it. Indeed, I used the ABCs to guide me into exactly why it wouldn't be so bad for me to have that beer, and all the ones that followed.

I've also tried AA before and all I heard was people complaining about why they couldn't drink. That's because that's what I wanted to hear. So that didn't work either.

This time through I was ready to really do this and I started out with AA. I put my mind to it and gave the program a chance and I can honestly say that the information that I opened my mind up to, and really listened to, gave me some of the tools that I use today to stay sober. I still attend meetings to this day for the fellowship.

For me, in early sobriety I needed someone else to take the reigns. If decisions were left up to me it would be drinking every time. In SMART no one called me out if I drank because it was up to me (SELF motivation). In AA I had someone to call to talk to when my mind was headed in that direction that could gently guide me to realize why I was thinking in the manner that I was. I really needed that in the beginning. I had accountability to someone else and was willing to listen to their input when my alcoholic mind was playing with me.

After about three or so months in AA and growing some strength in sobriety I began to have questions. Not getting into that here but suffice it to say that I know if I attended SMART now that it would be a perfect program for me. I am mindful of the fact that every moment is a new moment and there's always the possibility of slips and relapses. I still attend AA today to help me with that mindfulness but I don't have a sponsor. It's still a tool in my sobriety toolbox though.

Pleased to say that I am over 8 months sober and couldn't be happier about it. Sobriety is one thing, loving sober life is really another. I now realize that when I didn't really want to quit I found the underlying cause behind not liking certain programs. It was because in truth, they might actually work and that was a scary thought. If I did something half hearted then I had an excuse to fail. I dislike passive aggressive posts so I'll throw out the question, is it possible that you don't like AA because you're afraid that it might work for you? SMART may also, I'm just telling you how I have succeeded (thus far).

I respect any and all programs that help someone get sober. I think it all depends on how heavy of a hand you need in order to keep you on the right path. I know that as long as my mindset was still to be able to talk myself into why I could drink, even just one, that I needed something stronger than a program that left me to depend on myself when the urges hit. If you're a person that consistently finds yourself back at day 1 or who slips or relapses repeatedly and then questions why the next morning you might want to take that into consideration.


In the end, the success of any program is going to depend on how badly you want sobriety and how honest you can be with yourself.

lifetplant

Thanks so much LB0527 for your detailed response. In light of your reply, perhaps there is still a part of me that worries that AA will actually work. I'm not even talking about a drinking perspective. My Mum had always been an extremely religious Catholic......I mean extremely: mass every day of the week, attending the sick to deliver communion, dragging herself to mass on a Sunday, even if desperately unwell because, if she didn't go, she believed it was a mortal sin, confession every two weeks, etc, etc. The list goes on and this is how I was brought up.

I had insight though. I had insight to know that missing mass one Sunday because I was unwell, or forgetting to make the sign of the cross and genuflect at the 13th station of the Cross, didn't literally mean I was going to burn in hell!!!!

My Mum is no longer with me. She was an extremely good woman, but growing up, her strong beliefs forced on me forced me to rebel.

AA meetings have given me that same feeling of being dragged into something, of imposing worthlessness, of false advertising as a supportive organisation or 'fellowship'.....that word for me says it all. I have been extremely uncomfortable the whole three meetings I have attended, hence, I was interested to learn about SMART as an alternative.

lizak

I only had access to online SMART meetings. The tone of the meeting was generally dictated by the facilitator, but as a rule all of the SMART Recovery Online Facilitators are very good and on top of what they're doing. One of the big things about SMART is that it promotes self-reliance and does not specify that you have to attend the meetings for life, so I didn't feel any guilt about cutting the meetings out of my schedule after about 3 months when I felt that a) I wasn't learning a whole lot from them any longer and b) I didn't have time for them.

I'm still sober (nearing 6 months) and drop in from time to time on the website.