Unemployed? Need help with succeeding in your job search? Join us for a 6 week free online job search support program.

Being out of work can trigger a cascade of stress, anxiety, down moods, and painful inner conflicts, which can make sticking to recovery goals more challenging. With 14.8 million Americans out of work, these obstacles can only be expected to increase during the upcoming holiday season.

As a public service, SMART Recovery will present a free, internet-based discussion group to help people learn how to succeed in a job search under tough economic circumstances.  The program consists of building technical skills (i.e. creating an impactful resume) and developing psychological skills (i.e. communications, follow-through, and managing setbacks).  

The program leader is Dr. Bill Knaus, author of Fearless Job Hunting: Powerful Psychological Strategies for Getting the Job You Want. The sessions are open to everyone and will take place for 6 consecutive Mondays, beginning December 6th and concluding on January 10th. Each session will start with a different theme, such as how to sustain realistic optimism in tough times. Following a discussion on the theme, each session is then open to all topics you wish to bring for discussion.

The meetings will be hosted in one of the SMART Recovery voice meeting rooms – The SMART Room – at noon eastern time, and each will last 30-45 minutes. To access the SMART Room, register for SMART Recovery Online.

Once registered, you will access the message board and then select the “SMART Recovery Chat and Meeting Rooms” from the drop down chat room menu found near the top left of the screen.

SMART Recovery trusts this public service will be of assistance to many.

Don’t Miss SMART Recovery Online’s Fall FUNdraiser!
November 5th - 6th

The signs of fall are beginning to appear—shorter days, cooler nights, the leaves on the trees are starting to change colors, the kids are back in school, football practices & games… the list goes on and on.

Yet another tell-tale sign of fall is that the planning and preparations are in full swing for the 2010 Fall FUNdraiser, celebrating the 12th anniversary of SMART Recovery® Online (SROL). This year’s festivities and Fundraising event will be taking place on Friday and Saturday, November 5th - 6th, 2010.

Friday Nov 5th - Online Auction

The 2010 Fall FUNdraiser festivities will “kick-off” on Friday, when bidding opens on the fun-filled auction that just keeps on getting BIGGER and BETTER every year! Once again this year, we have many AWESOME items that have been donated by our members and friends and we extend our heartfelt thanks for your generosity!

Among the items “up for grabs” to the highest bidder are many beautiful, original and unique handmade jewelry items, a GORGEOUS Australian opal (mined by SMART Recovery’s founding President Joe Gerstein), an antique Hummel figurine, various popular recovery books (some autographed by their author), plus many, MANY more items too numerous to mention. There is something for everyone, so remember to bid often and bid high! (Don’t be like Shari last year, who, literally, had the rug pulled from beneath her feet!)

Check out the auction items!

Visit http://www.smartrecovery.org

Mentor, Ohio - SMART Recovery^® announces its 600^th meeting as it continues expanding face-to-face group meetings nationally and internationally. SMART Recovery, the leading self-empowering addiction recovery support group, offers tools for overcoming addiction based on the latest scientific research and is now doing so in more and more cities and towns.

On October 20^th, the 600^th meeting will be underway in Prescott, Arizona, and is being facilitated by John Mosbach and Johanna Gherman, volunteer facilitators for SMART Recovery. John states, “I have been doing volunteer work at local VA Hospital and have seen many vets with addictions who don’t seem to benefit from 12-step programs and were seeking options. A SMART Recovery face-to-face meeting became available to the Vets at the VA, which I was pleased to see occur, and I have attended a few of the meetings. That led me to believe it would be beneficial to start a community meeting in Prescott, which is a big recovery town. I’m taking the Distance Facilitator Training, and look forward to bringing SMART Recovery to Prescott”. Johanna shares, “When I learned about the SMART Recovery program I wanted to become involved in a helpful way. I feel recovery through various avenues is a key to recovery and I want to help others.”

SMART Recovery has reached 600 meetings via a distance training program for group Facilitators, information available on its website regarding how to start meetings, and outreach efforts through various social networks.

SMART Recovery meetings consist of various activities and tools aimed at helping individuals understand and correct the connection between their irrational beliefs, actions and consequences. A variety of tools are provided within the 4-Point Program^® and ways of handling motivation, urges, emotional upsets, etc. are discussed and then practiced by participants.

John M. of SMART Recovery New York City states, “Considering how much we pay for the necessities and luxuries of our ‘modern’ existence, it’s incredible that something as life-altering as SMART Recovery is free. And given the current economic situation, the need for it is greater than ever.”

SMART Recovery also serves the international community and already has meetings in Australia, Canada, India, Iran, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan. Meetings are soon scheduled to begin in Poland, Switzerland and Russia. SMART Recovery is now in the process of expanding the availability of its services throughout the world and will soon introduce a podcast, new videos and other materials so that all can benefit from the program wherever they’re located.

From its headquarters in Mentor, Ohio, SMART Recovery provides all of its services and maintains operations such as handling calls and emails, releasing publications and raising funds.

Website: www.smartrecovery.org

Please note this meeting will be on Monday nights, and not Wednesday as previously posted.  We apologize for any confusion.

Beginning Monday, September 20^th, from 9-10 PM Eastern Time (and each Monday night thereafter), SMART Recovery Volunteer Facilitators will be providing a Concerned Significant Others (CSO) meeting to address specific issues encountered when a friend or family member tries to reach out and help a loved one.

The meetings will share SMART Recovery tools that can be implemented by loved ones to help with emotional upsets, effective communication methods when dealing with loved ones, and more. Techniques employed within the CRAFT Program (Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training) will also be shared for the benefit of meeting attendees.

Recommended readings for participants of the Friends & Family meeting include:

Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening

available from Amazon: http://astore.amazon.com/smartrecovery07/detail/1592850812

The SMART Recovery Handbook, and the SMART Recovery Quickstart CD, available via this link: http://smartrecovery.org/SMARTStore/.

To participate in the meetings, registration is required at the SMART Recovery Online website: www.smartrecoveryforum.org. A Concerned Significant Others (CSO) Message Board Forum for additional information is also available.

SMART Recovery® Summer 2010 News & Views is available now!

News & Views brings you the news and announcements about SMART Recovery, the President’s Column, as well as interesting articles from all around SMART Recovery

If you like SMART, don’t miss a single issue!

SMART Recovery News & Views Summer 2010

SMART Recovery has joined the list of organizations that collaborate with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to help to sponsor Recovery Month 2010.

Recovery Month aims to promote the societal benefits of alcohol and drug use disorder treatment, laud the contributions of treatment providers, and promote the message that recovery from alcohol and drug use disorders, in all its forms, is possible. 

Over the last 20 years, Recovery Month has inspired millions of people to raise awareness about addiction, share their stories of recovery, and assist others.  During September of 2009, hundreds of events were held including Recovery Night at Major League Baseball games, the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and several large motorcycle rallies.  SMART Recovery now is participating in the planning efforts of the 2010 “Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever”. 

SMART Recovery encourages its groups and participating individuals to become involved in Recovery Month 2010 and help achieve the goals – especially the message that recovery is possible.

For more information about Recovery Month 2010, visit: http://www.recoverymonth.gov/.  And be sure to order a copy of the 2010 Recovery Month kit, available by clicking on the “order it today” icon.

SMART Recovery will host its 2010 Annual Gathering & Convention from October 15 through October 17, 2010 at Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites. Registration and room reservations begin now and continue until September 20, 2010.

Volunteers, friends and family members of SMART Recovery will enjoy:

• The opportunity to personally meet one another
• The ability to network with one another
• The chance to share successes and even failures
• The occasion to help determine ways forward for the organization
• The chance feel part of an international community of people helping one another

The event’s meeting sessions range from strategic planning sessions to informational sessions. Topics range from using social networking to promote your meeting, to tool training, as well as reports by study groups. There’s something here to interest everyone!

For a break in the action, what better than San Diego’s salty bay breezes, sparkling waves and matchless natural beauty for a cruise? Enjoy great views of the U.S.S. Midway, Coronado Bridge, Cabrillo National Monument, and the California sea lions that splash just off Shelter Island. The shuttle will depart promptly from the hotel at 2:00 PM on Friday to Hornblower’s Dock for the narrated two-hour cruise of San Diego harbor. Those attending should indicate on their registration forms that they intend to join the harbor tour. The cost of the harbor tour is $25 per person.

SMART Recovery is proud to offer a number of scholarships to help defray travel, registration and lodging costs for those who would otherwise be unable to participate. For more information and to apply, see the link below.

SMART Recovery anticipates this year’s Annual Gathering & Convention will prove to be the best ever, with plenty of education, conversation, and just plain fun for everyone!

For more information, please see: http://www.smartrecovery.org/sandiego2010

A variety of recovery approaches exist for those in need.

SMART Recovery® joins the entire self-help community in congratulating Alcoholics Anonymous for 75 years of helping people overcome drinking problems.

We also celebrate the work of all recovery groups in helping people defeat addictions of every type.  We strongly believe that choice provides the best opportunity to support the tremendous variety of people suffering addiction problems. Everyone deserves to be informed of the range of recovery options, and to have access to the group that best serves their specific needs and beliefs.    

In particular, we wish to acknowledge those groups with which we work closely (we collectively have been serving individuals for 84 years), as well as our own mission. Each of the following groups offers a unique approach, and we wish to honor all of their efforts.

SMART Recovery®: For 15 years, SMART Recovery (Self-Management And Recovery Training) has helped people overcome addictions of every kind. Our self-empowering program utilizes a collection of tools and techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, as well as some motivational enhancement techniques.  For more information, see our website at http://www.smartrecovery.org.

Women for Sobriety®, Inc.:  For 35 years, Women for Sobriety has been helping women overcome alcohol and drug dependencies and is based upon a Thirteen Statement Program that is designed especially for women to use as a guided journey from self-defeating behavior and attitudes to feelings of confidence, power, and self-worth.  For more information, see http://www.womenforsobriety.org.

SOS:  For 25 years, SOS has helped people overcome alcohol through a self-empowerment approach to recovery. It credits the individual for achieving and maintaining his or her own sobriety. For more information, see http://www.sossobriety.org.

LifeRing:  For 9 years, LifeRing has been helping people overcome addiction. LifeRing supports the innate power to get clean and sober inside each person. Through the positive reinforcement of a peer group process, that power is enhanced in each member and supports all to lead clean and sober lives. For more information, see http://www.lifering.org.

Confronting addiction requires support. SMART Recovery is proud to join hands with all of these groups (with AA’s contribution, these groups have provided 159 years of service), each in its own way lending struggling individuals a hand and helping them to reclaim the joyous lives that await them on the other side of addiction.

Contact:

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@

SMART Recovery® is the leading self-empowering addiction recovery support group. Our participants learn tools for recovery based on the latest scientific research and participate in a world-wide community which includes free, self-empowering, science-based mutual help groups.

SMART Recovery® helps people recover from all types of addiction and addictive behaviors, including: alcoholism, drug abuse, drug addiction, substance abuse, alcohol abuse, gambling addiction, cocaine addiction, and addiction to other substances and activities.

SMART Recovery® currently sponsors more than 500+ face-to-face meetings around the world, and 16+ online meetings per week. In addition, our online message board is an excellent forum to learn about SMART Recovery®  and obtain addiction recovery support.

Visit SMART Recovery for more information.