AnthonyV

I found out more about the outpatient program, it's 3 nights a week for 3 hours each night from 5:30 to 8:30 for four weeks. I start Monday. Plus some individual counseling.

recycle

Anthony, I did a similar IOP program. It took a while for me to warm up to it. But I found it a great help. I learned a great many things in a very short period of time. Be teachable and open minded and perhaps you will too.

Best of Luck

AnthonyV

I'm detoxing at home this weekend. My doctor gave me a couple days supply of lorazepam to ease the transition. I'm off of work until Monday so I have no reason to leave the house. I made sure I have plenty of seltzer water and healthy food in the house and I have a few books to read to keep me busy. Looks like SMART may have some online meetings, I'll have to check it out. The Saturday face to face meeting in my area is canceled. My family is 250 miles away and it's snowing and the roads are pretty slippery so I have good reason to avoid them for the holiday (family is pretty strong drinking trigger).

shockozulu

I really got a lot out of the SMART Online meetings. Looking forward to hearing how they go.

AnthonyV

What a day. I got my liver enzyme tests back, they were high but not totally off the charts, actually better than I expected. For the past few years I took milk thistle everyday so that may have helped keep them in check. Over the weekend I started reading "The Addiction Solution" which is so fascinating and is making a lot of sense about the brain chemistry. And today was day one of my outpatient group treatment. It was a little pretty balanced, they had information on both SMART and the steps on the information board but generally steered away from promoting one way in the group. They also had information about the meditation relapse prevention group, so I grabbed info on that. It's been a long but exhilarating day.

AnthonyV

I went to my first face to face SMART meeting. I really enjoyed it and look forward to it being a regular part of my recovery program. Everyone was very welcoming and had good ideas to incorporate into my recovery.

Zencat

Hows it going Anthony? The detox, the local LGBT meetings and IOP...going well I hope. Anywho just cheeking-in with you.

AnthonyV

Hi Zen, it's going well. Thanks to the Campral I have not had a moment of anxiety and only a couple of slight cravings since I quit on 12/23. I have two more weeks of the IOP. I'm focusing on a healthy diet and will hopefully be in an exercise routine/join a gym by the end of the month. I pulled out my mindfulness meditation CD's and try to do the breathing meditation at least once a day. So I'm really trying to build a balanced recovery program. I have really enjoyed the SMART meetings in my area and will be making them the foundation of my recovery program. I haven't checked out the local LGBT meetings, but one of the SMART meetings I went to this week about half the people there were G/L.

I have also been planning the weekends in advance since I got sober to make sure I have a strategy to deal with the free time so that I don't fall back into a boredom trap that has in the past led me back to drinking. But I realized recently that a major difference between now and my attempts to quit in the past is that I don't resent the fact that I can't drink. In the past I kind of had a self-pity attitude that life was unfair because I had to quit drinking. This time around I'm happy to be sober and I actually have a happy vision for my future. That change is huge for me and I think it's a good foundation to build a sober life going forward.

Thank you for your concern and for asking for an update.

LaFemme

Hi Anthony!

That sounds great! Congrats on all your progress!

Zencat

I have no doubt that with the program you have going Anthony, that your going to do well in recovery. Making a new life without alcohol is more than putting the drink down and waiting for everything to change. Its like your doing; designing a new way of living. Keep up the good effort .

cabledude

Fantastic you have a Smart meeting in your town, Anthony...lucky guy.

AnthonyV

Not trying to make you envious, but I'm lucky enough to have four SMART meetings a week in my area. I am really grateful there is a vibrant SMART Recovery community where I live. I have a week and a half left to the outpatient program and SMART is already an important part of my recovery.


Zen, yes, having a plan is an important part of my recovery which was missing in the past. As I see it now, for the immediate months after IOP is done I will fill my after work nights with SMART at least three nights a week, hit the gym three nights a week. I already have the weekend activities planned out for the next two weeks and will try to make sure I have the upcoming weekends planned out at least a week ahead of time. I'm also getting involved with a community gardening committee, which I'm excited about. Of course I cannot plan out every minute of every day but I need to at least have a strategy to avoid falling into the boredom trap. I do feel like I'm building a new vision for my life, which is exciting.

Finally, I don't plan on retaining my IOP counselor once I'm done with the outpatient program as that counselor is too heavily invested in that other program that I don't plan on working. So my plan is to contact a therapist I used to see a few years back (she is a certified substance abuse counselor as well as a licensed therapist). I'm going to email her tomorrow to see if she is accepting new/returning patients for my aftercare.

cabledude

People in the UK may have more Smart meetings available if the current plan to franchise Smart to treatment centers is successful. The marketing launch is still pending but the sales crew will be moving South to North in Great Britain, working their way slowly and hopefully getting signatures and closing deals for the initial 3 year licensing period.

The renewal rates for the franchises have not yet been set, but overall it appears to be a fantastic and potentially profitable effort.

When they finish the UK and begin to cover Spain and Germany on the next marketing wave, I plan to get on board and run a few of their sales crews, as I speak the languages. If the overrides are tasty enough.

Development of the franchise idea in the US may be difficult, as we have different restrictions for non-profit status, and paying out big commissions would be difficult there. But, it should be beau-ti-ful over here.

recycle

:o


I did not know SMART is part of the "treatment industry". Do they charge for meetings?

AnthonyV

SMART Recovery is a non-profit organization that does not employ sales crews or license franchises. I'm not sure what cabledude is talking about.

AnthonyV

I start my last week of IOP tomorrow, it went by fast. The group has been good, but I'm ready to finish that part of my recovery. I have really been enjoying the SMART Recovery meetings, they will be an important part of my recovery as will diet, exercise, mindfulness meditation, private sessions with a counselor and continuing to study addiction and recovery.

onlythetruth

SMART Recovery is NOT being franchised. There may be a licensing arrangement for use of the program materials, but that would be because SMART Recovery USA owns the intellectual property involved in the program (the name, the program materials).

There is no "marketing launch" and there are no "sales crews". I don't know where you are getting your information, but it is way off.

OTT

jamdls

Hi Anthony, congrats on your progress! Sounds like you you are doing a lot of right things, I didn't get into a regular workout routine until well into recovery and it has made a tremendous improvement in my overall life mental and physical; I wish I'd started it early on.

cabledude

Anthony, OTT, it's a long read but worth examining closely because nothing like it's been ever done before...I can't wait until the small central committee charged with growing the license base in the UK gets to the mainland, or Europe as we prefer to call it.

Smart Recovery UK Consultation - Fullscreen

onlythetruth

Cabledude: Oh, ok....I knew about that. I would never characterize it the way you did though; you made it sound like the hills and valleys of the UK were about to be filled with SMART Recovery "franchise" salespeople! But you're right that SMART should become more available in the UK as a result of this outreach effort. All to the good, because SMART is IMHO a fantastic program.

OTT