SMART at ESRA
We offer all our clients who are ready, the opportunity to participate in a 10-week SMART course. In this group we look at the tools that can help clients to self-manage their recovery.
Once this has been completed, clients can drop in to our Staying SMART group on a Friday to revisit the tools and receive ongoing support.
SMART (Self-Management and Recovery Training) is a programme that provides training and tools for people who want to change their problematic behaviour, including addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, food, shopping, internet and others.
Guided by trained facilitators, participants come to help themselves and each other using a variety of motivational tools and techniques.
The 4-Point Programme is the foundation and building blocks of SMART. Many of the tools and techniques can be used not only for their recovery journey, but to help clients deal with future problems and achieve more satisfaction and balance in their life.
The four points are: –
- Building and Maintaining Motivation
- Coping with Urges
- Managing Thoughts, Feelings and Behaviours
- Living a Balanced Life
SMART is secular and advocates personal choice. People make a choice to engage in problematic and addictive behaviours. They can also make a choice to stop. Everyone has the power of choice and can choose to change unhelpful or harmful behaviours.
People are not their behaviours so language like ‘addict’ and ‘alcoholic’ is not used. People seeking recovery are empowered to choose what works best for them, from a ‘tool box’ of methods demonstrated in meetings and training materials.
Participants are free to engage with other services or mutual-aid groups which they find helpful; there is no single pathway to recovery. Once a healthy, positive and balanced lifestyle is achieved, participants are free to move on and pursue other goals in their life.
What our clients say
- The meetings ‘ground’ me: sometimes through another client saying something inspiring or helpful, sometimes through appreciating the difficulties that others are facing while remaining clean and sober and always through the sense of camaraderie and shared experience. The staff members add an awful lot to the mix.
- The groups helped us to learn about our triggers, where they stem from, how to avoid them and how to overcome them. Our shared experiences were invaluable in this process.
- By talking about various difficulties at various stages of recovery, both giving and gaining advice and hope with others more and less experienced.
- Checking in with people, time and space to reflect.
- Keeping focus. Friends in group. Fab support from staff.
- Talking to like minded people. Making me aware that I have to be on my guard and not complacent. Listening. Staying sober.
- The support is unreal, these guys really do know my full story and have helped me every single step of the new journey I am on.
Please see timetable below for groups and drop-in sessions:
