SMART Recovery®: 15 Years of Self-Empowering Addiction Recovery

Dec. 22, 2009 - PRLog -- MENTOR, OHIO – SMART Recovery (Self-Management and Recovery Training) an international abstinence-based non-profit headquartered in Mentor, Ohio, will celebrate 15 years of providing its 4-Point Program® to those seeking to gain independence from any substance or activity addiction. SMART Recovery accomplishes this via a self-empowering approach to addiction recovery.  Weekly face-to-face support groups, daily on-line meetings, message boards and chat room are provided at no cost to those seeking help.  The SMART Recovery program helps to empower those with addictive behavior to achieve their abstinence goals.  

The SMART Recovery 4-Point Program® consists of:
#1: Enhancing and maintaining motivation to abstain
#2: Coping with urges
#3: Managing thoughts, feelings and behavior (problem-solving)
#4: Balancing momentary and enduring satisfactions (lifestyle balance)

The program is based on scientifically-proven treatments for overcoming addiction, and currently uses techniques drawn primarily from cognitive behavior therapy and motivational interviewing. The SMART Recovery program is under continuous revision, and evolves as scientific knowledge about addiction treatment and recovery evolves. The SMART Recovery program is reviewed by both practicing addiction treatment professionals, who volunteer as advisors to the organization, and the International Advisory Council, which includes many of the world’s leading addiction scientists.

SMART Recovery meetings are facilitated by trained volunteers, some of whom have not had personal recovery experience, but donate their time as a community service; while others who have utilized the program serve as a facilitator as a way to “pay forward” the freedom they discovered via the SMART Recovery program.  In the US the entire organization is operated by volunteers, except for two employees in the Mentor, Ohio, office.

Growing International Availability

SMART Recovery offers over 500 weekly meetings worldwide, both online and face to face.  National offices exist in the US, UK and Australia. Website-based support (including a message board, online meetings and chat rooms) operates 24/7.  The SMART Recovery Handbook is available in English, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Farsi, and Mandarin Chinese.  An online course trains English-speaking volunteers worldwide.  Trainings in other languages are offered locally.

SMART Recovery’s Future

SMART Recovery’s exemplary growth will continue, as it reaches out to individuals seeking an alternative to traditional powerlessness recovery. SMART Recovery will continue to be self-supporting through personal donations and publication sales, but will also seek funding from sources which have supported it in the past, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

SMART Recovery® Central Office, 7304 Mentor Avenue, Suite F, Mentor, OH 44060
Shari Allwood, Executive Director;   Phone: 440/951-5357;  Toll-free: 866/951-5357
Email: information@smartrecovery.org, Website: www.smartrecovery.org

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A volunteer based, non-profit, international organization providing free, self-empowering self-help groups and online for individuals desiring to abstain from any type of addictive behavior.