Summary and Analysis
This article talks about a pathway to recovery called Self-Management and Recovery Training, or SMART, by recounting the experiences of a young woman named Dee MacLean. SMART is described as an alternative to traditional groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). According to Dee: “They send us to different kinds of meetings and they send us to a SMART Recovery meeting as well. And I really enjoyed it. I liked how it was facilitated and how it was more emotional, focusing on emotions and group talk.”
According to the article, SMART Recovery is based on four main themes, one of which is usually the focus of each meeting:
- Building and maintaining motivation.
- Coping with urges.
- Managing thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
- Living a balanced life.
SMART Recovery centers are located across the U.S. and Canada and in 20 other countries.
Excerpted from Saltwire Network
Dee MacLean first tried SMART Recovery when she was in the provincial addiction treatment centre in Mount Herbert in 2018. After three years of struggling with prescription opiate addiction, MacLean was ready to go to rehab. One of the programs she took part in was Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART), an alternative to traditional groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
