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Inside This Issue
Timely Announcements Helpful Content 25-in-25 Volunteer Recognition Program
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SMART Recovery Announces New Stance
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Moves Toward 'Abstinence-Oriented' Recovery Support
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PLEASE NOTE: We are releasing this announcement as a courtesy to our volunteer audience first. The formal announcement to the public will be made next week. |
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Recently, the SMART Recovery USA Board made a minor but important change by replacing the term “abstinence-based” with “abstinence-oriented” in describing our approach to helping people. This is because people with opioid addiction are dying from overdoses when their “abstinence-based” treatment and recovery support preclude the use of opioid agonist medications, such as methadone and buprenorphine. A large part of the U.S. treatment and recovery support world continues to regard the use of these medications as “substituting one drug for another.”
SMART strongly opposes this position because these agonists help maintain tolerance to protect people from deadly overdoses when they relapse, which is common in opioid use recovery. This position is shared by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, American Medical Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, World Health Organization, and many other prominent authorities worldwide.
Using opioid agonists is widely regarded as part of the “gold standard” for treating opioid addiction. Elinore McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant HHS Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and head of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, states:
"Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) combined with psychosocial therapies and community-based recovery supports is the gold standard for treating opioid addiction."
Please continue reading SMART Recovery President Bill Greer's announcement of this new stance. Be sure to check out the podcast interview done to supplement this message.
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[PODCAST RELEASE] Moving from Abstinence-Based to Abstinence-Oriented
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While this terminology change may seem minimal to some, it is certainly not to Board President Bill Greer. To provide some added context to an important announcement the organization has recently made, we sat down with Bill to discuss SMART's larger focus on reducing stigma that often comes with addiction terminology, why SMART's new stance in moving toward abstinence-oriented is so important, and the impact we hope it will have in helping those who utilize or wish to utilize medication-assisted-treatment (MAT) in their recovery.
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[REMINDER] Please Submit Annual Survey by Feb. 29
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Help Shape the Future of SMART Recovery!
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The survey will be open until February 29. Please respond to the survey only once.
Note: Survey responses will be shared and are meant to be anonymous. We recommend not providing sensitive information or answers which can identify the responder.
Thanks in advance for your participation and for your contributions to SMART Recovery!
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Tips for Finding a Co-Facilitator for Your Meeting
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Get Help for Your Local Meetings
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| Article coming from Melina.
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[In The News]
Spectrum News 1 - Lexington, KY
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What is SMART Recovery? A Look at Another Support Group Option for Addiction Recovery
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SMART Recovery was recently featured in a great news piece through Spectrum News 1 out of Lexington, Kentucky.
The article, What Is SMART Recovery? A Look at Another Support Group Option for Addiction Recovery, and corresponding video coverage gave viewers a glimpse into a real local SMART Recovery meeting and insights from a local participant Craig Wilkie, and volunteer Facilitator Cassie Stephens.
The news station also included brief Skype interviews with Board President Bill Greer who gave a great overview of the organization and program, and with John Kelly, Ph.D., a renowned expert in the addiction field, who shared his personal opinion, as well as past and current research on SMART Recovery as a viable program for addiction recovery.
This news piece was featured throughout the state of Kentucky and syndicated in Orlando, Florida and Columbus, Ohio.
If you have local media interested in covering SMART Recovery in your community, we would love to help. Please feel free to connect with National Office for support. Email media@smartrecovery.org with inquiries.
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Tips and Tools for Recovery that Works! Unconditional Self Acceptance (USA)
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USA is an important exercise because, as anyone in recovery knows, addiction to any substance or behavior generates a host of emotions, many of them quite negative, that can undermine your feelings of self-worth.
When your self-worth takes a hit, remember one of the core values of SMART Recovery: YOU ARE NOT YOUR BEHAVIOR.
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SMART Recovery Meeting Facilitator Spotlight Dan Hostetler, Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center
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Dan Hostetler, Executive Director of Above and Beyond Family Recovery Center in Chicago, IL, reflects on his experiences as a SMART Recovery meeting Facilitator. Dan invites you to join our ever-growing and worldwide team of volunteers to help people learn to help themselves.
You'll not only be helping others Discover the Power of Choice, you'll also experience the rewarding and enduring satisfaction that comes with being of service to others as a SMART Recovery volunteer!
If you are a meeting Facilitator and would like to be featured in our next Facilitator Spotlight Video, please email us at smartrecoverytv@gmail.com.
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25-in-25 Volunteer Recognition Program
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In our 25th Anniversary year, we are honoring 25 volunteers who serve in a variety of roles. Learn more about this program and see the list of recognized volunteers.
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Michael Werner’s roots go back to the Rational Recovery days, but he recently started meetings in several major North Carolina hospitals and rehabilitation centers. He quickly became a spokesperson for the program by supporting a burgeoning meeting network in Chicago and became a teacher, facilitator, and mentor of new recruits. Despite a serious chronic medical problem, he never slowed down advocating for SMART.
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Carol and Richard Siddall
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Carol and Richard Siddall work together to support SMART in numerous ways: running local meetings, representing SMART at local recovery events, speaking to local groups about SMART, and encouraging new volunteers to start new meetings, including the first SMART meeting in South Korea. They lend a hand as needed to organize local volunteers for outreach projects in Washington, D.C., and locally, and assisted in launching IT upgrades in the SMART Online Community.
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Submit Meeting Change Requests
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If your upcoming meeting will be changing for any reason, submit a meeting change request form. We appreciate you using the form as it helps to make sure nothing is missed and participants do not attempt to attend a meeting that is not happening. |
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Submit Your Pass-the-Hat Donations
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Pass-the-hat contributions from our local meetings help us provide resources to our facilitators, offer training at a reduced cost to those who qualify, and support the enormous task of maintaining and improving the national website and its growing resources for volunteers and participants. Additionally, it is beneficial for meeting participants to feel they are investing in their ongoing recovery.
Include your meeting ID number, meeting city and state, so we can associate the donation with your group. |
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Join Weekly SMM Calls for SMART Volunteers
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SMART Meeting Management (SMM) Meetings are open to all active SMART Recovery Facilitators, Hosts, and Trainees interested in improving their knowledge base. The objective of the SMMs is to develop meeting management skills. We’ll discuss the tough and sensitive issues that arise and share successes and techniques, including following meeting guidelines, how to do SMART Recovery, and how to create an accepting, non-judgmental environment. Although facilitated, this is very much a group learning/support session. Call Details: - Dates and Times: SMM meetings take place weekly on Monday at 10:00 p.m. (ET) and Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. (ET)
- ZOOM: Please join us on Zoom for our next call.
- Call-In Number: To join us via cell, use this "one-tap" number: +19294362866,,154575482# US.
We encourage you to set recurring meetings in your calendar with the above link and/or number so that you are reminded to join us as often as possible. We hope to see you in a SMM meeting soon! |
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Here's a look at the most recent articles posted on the SMART Recovery Blog.
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Here's a look at the most recent videos posted to SMART Recovery's YouTube Channel.
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Contact Melina Gilbert, Volunteer Outreach Coordinator
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| We recently announced the creation of a new position at SMART Recovery's National Office. Melina Gilbert has moved into the role of Volunteer Outreach Coordinator, and is now the main point of contact for our volunteers.
If you have questions, needs, feedback, please reach out to Melina at: |
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Donate to SMART Recovery
with the tools to abstain from any substance or activity addiction.
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