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Inside This Issue
Announcements Important Reminders
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Your Volunteer Outreach Coordinator! |
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As part of our dedication to our growing group of volunteers, SMART Recovery is pleased to announce the addition of a new position in the National Office staff. Melina Gilbert will fill the new position of Volunteer Outreach Coordinator. Effective immediately, Melina will be the main point of contact for our volunteer community that exceeds 2,000 individuals. In this role, she will be providing support and resources that will allow you to start and run your SMART Recovery meetings more efficiently and effectively.
“What I hope to do in this position is provide support and resources that allow our volunteers to impact their communities more efficiently so that they can maintain their levels of energy and enthusiasm in their work,” says Melina.
Read more about Melina Gilbert, SMART Recovery's new Volunteer Outreach Coordinator.
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[NEW BOOK RELEASE] Successful Life Skills
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A Meeting-Ready Format for InsideOut® Meetings in a Correctional Environment |
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SMART Recovery is pleased to announce the sale of our new publication! Successful Life Skills is a turnkey, meeting-ready format that trained volunteers can use to competently and confidently facilitate discussion meetings in a correctional environment. The book lays out a flexible, robust 12-week approach that gives meeting participants proven life skills and helps them define their power to change behaviors that aren't working for them. It also provides insights that can enhance social re-entry and reduce reconviction. The book has: - The most popular SMART Recovery tools based on the latest feedback and documented behavioral science research
- Updated approaches to topics within REBT, CBT, DBT, Locus of Control, Mindfulness, our Habit Loops, etc. in a concise array
- Proven methods to explore many common upsets: anger, stress, depression, urges, and more
- Discussions: The Nature of “Recovery” – What can your recovery look like?, and Who gets to say? – Who has the power in making decisions regarding recovery as we know it?
Although this book was created for the correctional environment, the authors now understand this format has the potential to support other SMART Recovery and science-based meetings. While it is more powerful in the hands of our experienced facilitators, it can be a powerful icebreaker for new meeting facilitators. With proper SMART training, it can also be used to augment 12-step group meetings and family support. Special thanks to authors and SMART Recovery InsideOut® facilitators Charles True and Ron Lott for their contribution to SMART Recovery through the creation of this book. They have also dedicated this book and all its proceeds to SMART Recovery to support the organization’s next 25 years.
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[You're Invited!] Join Us for a VIP Online Watch Party of Authentics
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The First Film to Feature SMART Recovery in its Story Line |
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We are pleased to announce a VIP online premiere of the short film Authentics, happening Thursday, November 21 at 12:00 p.m. ET on the SMART Recovery YouTube page.
About the Film: Authentics is a 25-minute film that was shot in 4½ days with professional actors in and around Atlanta. It centers around a young photographer struggling with addiction who books a job to shoot a wedding. She meets a man who is no stranger to addiction himself and who gently introduces her to the principles of SMART Recovery. He inspires her to change and, in the process, he changes, too.
How to Watch: Click here for the Authentics VIP premiere link. Make sure to click on "Set reminder" to be notified when it is time to begin. We invite you to join us for a Live Chat (via comments) with other VIPs and SMART Recovery employees on the SMART YouTube video page during and after the premiere.
The VIP premiere link will remain open through the end of the weekend. At the end of the month, we will announce a date for the public premiere. At that time, we will welcome you to promote the film to your meeting participants and community members.
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SAVE THE DATE! Fall Facebook FRIENDraiser
On Monday, November 18, we will be kicking off our Fall Facebook FRIENDraiser and we would love for you to get involved! Facebook FUNdraisers are a great way to raise funds, and, because of the social platform, they also allow you to raise awareness for causes such as SMART Recovery with your network.
During this event, we hope that you will consider raising funds for SMART Recovery, sharing your story with your connections, helping them see how important SMART Recovery is to you, and how our program has the potential to help many others. Help us continue the growth of our program to reach more who need our self-empowering, science-based approach.
This event will run from Monday, November 18, through Tuesday, December 3 (Giving Tuesday). Watch your email this Monday for kick-off instructions!
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National Veterans and Military Families Month
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SROL Meetings for Veterans and Family & Friends |
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In the SMART Recovery Online (SROL) community, we hold several daily meetings for individuals with addiction, and several weekly Family & Friends meetings for concerned significant others.
In honor of National Veterans and Military Families Month, we would like to remind you of our online Military Veterans meetings that happen on Saturdays.
Additionally, our online community holds Family & Friends meetings four times per week, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
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Help Get SMART Recovery in Your Local Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospitals
VA facilities find it beneficial to offer SMART Recovery meetings to their clients. VA staff are invited to join in our Distance Training and start SMART Recovery meetings at their facilities. For groups of 10 or more, we offer on-site training.
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Join Us for Weekly Calls – Make Your Meetings Better! |
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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 our 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 using this link: https://smartrecovery.zoom.us/j/154575482. (Please note that meetings are no longer run on GoToMeeting.com.)
- 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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* Please note, it is only helpful to click on this link when it is meeting time. |
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Submit Meeting Change Requests for Upcoming Holidays |
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We are approaching that time of year again where many of your meetings may be impacted by holidays. If you need to have a note posted, please submit a meeting change request form here. We appreciate you using the form as it helps to make sure nothing is missed and participants do not drive to a meeting that is not happening. For Thanksgiving please submit requests NO LATER than 12:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 27. The National Office will be closed for the holiday November 28th & 29th. For Christmas please submit requests NO LATER than 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 23. For New Year’s please submit NO LATER than 12:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 30.
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Submit Your Recovery Month Photos
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| Did you hold or attend a Recovery Month event this September? Let us feature your participation in upcoming social media posts. Email us your photos to socialmedia@smartrecovery.org.
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SMART Recovery 25-in-25 Volunteer Recognition Program
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Recognizing 25 Outstanding Volunteers in Our 25th Anniversary Year
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Volunteer Spotlight: Claire Johnson Saenz
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As a lawyer and the wife of a clinical psychologist, Claire Johnson Saenz had observed that behavioral change is a deeply personal process and believed that addiction recovery support programs should reflect and embrace that reality. As a tireless volunteer for SMART Recovery, Saenz has served on boards and offered her legal expertise, extolling the many benefits of the SMART Recovery program.
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Volunteer Spotlight: Gayeane "Sam" Lester
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Whether she is facilitating online or face-to-face meetings or training other volunteers to employ empathy and patience with participants, Gayeane “Sam” Lester embodies the SMART Recovery mission. With humility and insight, she uses her own experiences with addiction and recovery to help guide others. Lester’s willingness to assist with the launch of the Get SMART FAST Training Program was a major reason for the success of this SMART Recovery Tool. While Lester continues to help others, she is always quick to realize the many ways that being a SMART Recovery volunteer positively affects her own life.
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Recent Updates to Our Blog
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Below are some of the most recent blogs published on the SMART Recovery website.
Want to receive more educational, recovery-related content directly in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to the blog and receive a weekly blog digest email from us every Friday. |
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SMART Recovery is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
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