am considering facilitator training (for SMART)
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 572
am considering facilitator training (for SMART)
I’ve been considering doing this for the last month or so. Meetings are 90 minutes and I’ve been to more than I count. Some facilitators are very good, some aren’t. I am pretty sure that I’d be very good, as far as explaining the concepts, working with people in the application of SMART tools. The problem (challenge) is that, generally speaking, I can be a bit curt, a bit abrupt; I have lots of empathy, but I’m less about feelings and more about solutions. Well, I’m actually keenly aware of how I feel, even more keen why I feel what I do at any moment. Being cognizant of this should definitely help me address it.
People like to talk a lot about how they feel about things. Which is okay; so do I. But what I prefer is to get to the bottom of an issue, so I can solve it. Feelings are fantastic—self-awareness is the cornerstone of growth. But SMART tools are action-oriented. For the first month I went to meetings, I’d stop at the liquor store on my way home—every time—without fail. I didn’t want to apply the tools. I’d think everyone else what was knucklehead, but I’d be the one walking home with a bottle of poison. I’ve learned that without action, massive action, nothing changes. One thing I’ve learned about addiction (underscored by what I read here, which is great) is that successful recovery entails wholesale change: replacing everything that I used alcohol as a crutch for with healthy, adaptive coping mechanisms, in a plethora of manifestations.
I think focusing outwards may help me focus inward. Not sure though. I think being a facilitator would be therapeutic for me; I’ve all but given up on psychologists and psychiatrists and seeing therapists and social workers has been an experience in futility. All the answers to my deep-seated issues are within me; the solution lies in the problem. Facilitating may help me get outside my own head. Not that being inside my head is a bad place.
It’s a volunteered based activity; I’d have to undergo 60 hours of online training, find an IOP where I could facilitate, be consistent about going, be welcoming, be kinder, gentler, more sympathetic, more empathetic, more understanding and accepting, and more patient. Maybe I’ll do the online training and just leave it at that. Or maybe I’ll do the training and take it from there. Seems like an opportunity for growth. In the end, by helping others, I’m helping myself.
People like to talk a lot about how they feel about things. Which is okay; so do I. But what I prefer is to get to the bottom of an issue, so I can solve it. Feelings are fantastic—self-awareness is the cornerstone of growth. But SMART tools are action-oriented. For the first month I went to meetings, I’d stop at the liquor store on my way home—every time—without fail. I didn’t want to apply the tools. I’d think everyone else what was knucklehead, but I’d be the one walking home with a bottle of poison. I’ve learned that without action, massive action, nothing changes. One thing I’ve learned about addiction (underscored by what I read here, which is great) is that successful recovery entails wholesale change: replacing everything that I used alcohol as a crutch for with healthy, adaptive coping mechanisms, in a plethora of manifestations.
I think focusing outwards may help me focus inward. Not sure though. I think being a facilitator would be therapeutic for me; I’ve all but given up on psychologists and psychiatrists and seeing therapists and social workers has been an experience in futility. All the answers to my deep-seated issues are within me; the solution lies in the problem. Facilitating may help me get outside my own head. Not that being inside my head is a bad place.
It’s a volunteered based activity; I’d have to undergo 60 hours of online training, find an IOP where I could facilitate, be consistent about going, be welcoming, be kinder, gentler, more sympathetic, more empathetic, more understanding and accepting, and more patient. Maybe I’ll do the online training and just leave it at that. Or maybe I’ll do the training and take it from there. Seems like an opportunity for growth. In the end, by helping others, I’m helping myself.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: W Washington
Posts: 11,589
well, if nothing else, you'd probably learn a lot of good stuff for YOUR own recovery in the 60 hour training? that would show remarkable commitment as well, which is so important in maintaining recovery.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: middle of nowhere
Posts: 2,849
I think it sounds like a great idea if it's something that you feel passionate about already. Giving to others the tools and experience you've learned and had in your life is absolutely a way to reinforce your sobriety. And action/service will help keep you moving forward in your recovery, remind you where you've been and how far you've come, and it will be a gift that comes back to you by helping and supporting others.
Nothing wrong with giving it a shot, as long as you remember to take care of self first, you can't give what you don't have. If it's not for you, that's ok too, like anvilhead said, it will give you a lot of good experience for your own recovery plan.
Nothing wrong with giving it a shot, as long as you remember to take care of self first, you can't give what you don't have. If it's not for you, that's ok too, like anvilhead said, it will give you a lot of good experience for your own recovery plan.
No Dogma Please
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: SoCal
Posts: 2,562
Sounds great.
I tried SMART and really liked it, but couldn't find a good group, there were a few people who were probably schizophrenic and were too sick to really help me with their own problems. It is cognitive based, which is good, but you do need to have a fair amount of empathy as well, and have very good listening skills. Steering towards a solution is the end goal, but making people comfortable talking is crucial, and if they need some "warm up" time, if you're TOO abrupt you're going to lose them.
Service is about them, not you, although I think the benefits for doing it for recovery are huge.
I tried SMART and really liked it, but couldn't find a good group, there were a few people who were probably schizophrenic and were too sick to really help me with their own problems. It is cognitive based, which is good, but you do need to have a fair amount of empathy as well, and have very good listening skills. Steering towards a solution is the end goal, but making people comfortable talking is crucial, and if they need some "warm up" time, if you're TOO abrupt you're going to lose them.
Service is about them, not you, although I think the benefits for doing it for recovery are huge.
ours de petit cerveau
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: London, UK
Posts: 1,630
I've done the SMART UK facilitator training & found it very useful for my own recovery. I doubt I'll ever facilitate a meeting, & SMART are quite happy to have people do the training with no intention of doing so, so you're not obligated once you've done it if you feel it's not for you.
I'm not sure whether the UK facilitator training is the same as for the US (it didn't take me anything like 60 hours & was all online), but I found it very useful as a way of becoming more familiar with the tools & digging a lot more deeply into them. I hope you benefit from the training & from facilitating, if you choose to go on & do that too.
I'm not sure whether the UK facilitator training is the same as for the US (it didn't take me anything like 60 hours & was all online), but I found it very useful as a way of becoming more familiar with the tools & digging a lot more deeply into them. I hope you benefit from the training & from facilitating, if you choose to go on & do that too.
Currently Active Users Viewing this Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
