SMART Recovery Online Events & Webinars
2019 Silver Anniversary Annual Conference
CELEBRATING OUR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
September 20 – 22nd, 2019
Please join us for a very special celebration of our 25th Silver Anniversary, scheduled for September 20 – 22nd, 2019. In support of National Recovery Awareness Month, the 2019 SMART Recovery Annual Conference will be held in Itasca, IL (a suburb of Chicago and close to O’ Hara Airport) on September 20-22nd at The Westin Chicago Northwest Hotel. Hotels room and conference facilities are located on the same premise.
SMART Recovery USA is excited to be celebrating its 25th Silver year Anniversary and will be recognizing the organization’s history and the many individuals and organizations who have contributed to our success in serving individuals coping with their addiction recovery challenges.
With an estimated 250 participants, the conference will include presentations of relevant topics by guest speakers, provide opportunities for networking with treatment professionals and SMART facilitators across the globe, along with many healthcare professionals, volunteers, participants, and friends of the SMART community
Love and Addiction Revisited
with Stanton Peele and Archie Brodsky
Saturday, October 13, 2018
5:00 PM EDT
Stanton Peele and Archie Brodsky will join SMART Recovery for a special event webinar to discuss the concept of behavioral 
addictions with a focus on love and relationships. They were at the forefront of exploring the idea that addiction is not confined to particular substances but is a human phenomenon that can develop along a spectrum of severity in the relationships we form – with others, with substances, or with behaviors and activities.
Initially, the ideas expressed by Dr. Peele and Mr. Brodsky were shocking and considered heretical. However, slowly but surely, the premises from their ground-breaking book, Love and Addiction, in 1975, have come to be accepted as common knowledge in the psychology and treatment professions and continue to spread into the common lexicon. People recognize more and more that emotional, cognitive, social and cultural factors all play a role. We are witnessing, an evolution in thought regarding addiction, and the approaches to helping those with addictions are starting to shift as well.
Here, we will take a look at how well these theories have held up over time and discuss how new knowledge and new social contexts have developed. Get ready to participate in a conversation with two of the finest intellects around! Dr. Peele and Mr. Brodsky have been spurring understanding in this area for over 40 years!
Stanton Peele, Ph.D., J.D., is a seminal figure in the field of addiction and recovery. Dr. Peele is a pioneer in applying addiction concepts 
to include self-cure, harm reduction, and social-environmental causes of addiction. His online Life Process Program has been developed to extend availability of treatment by leveraging technology. His most recent book, with Ilse Thompson, is Recover! Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life with The Life Process. Since publication of Love and Addiction in 1975, he has written twelve books and over 250 professional and popular articles. He continues to lecture internationally on the meaning, treatment, and future of addiction. Additional information and a huge archive of articles can be found at Dr. Peele’s online addiction recovery treatment program website: www.lifeprocessprogram.com.
Archie Brodsky is co-founder of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law at Harvard Medical School. In addition to Love and Addiction he has co-authored 15 books, including The Truth about Addiction and Recovery (with Stanton Peele), Preventing Boundary Violations in Clinical Practice, and Clinical Supervision in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling. Mr. Brodsky is on the board of directors of The Influence Foundation, which recently launched the website www.filtermag.org to advocate for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy, and human rights. He is a former chair of the Human Rights Committee at Massachusetts Mental Health Center.
SMART Recovery is pleased to provide its Special Event Webinars free of charge as an ongoing public service.
SMART Recovery WEBINAR: Can Medication Help Conquer Addiction? MAT for Opiates, Alcohol and More
SMART Recovery is pleased to announce its upcoming Summer 2018 special event webinar:
Can Medication Help Conquer Addiction? MAT for Opiates, Alcohol and More
Presented by Donald Sheeley, MD
Friday, June 8, 2018 – 8:00 PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event
SMART Recovery is based on maximizing our choices in life, and we don’t tell participants what they should choose. We offer SMART Tools, like the CBA, ABC, and HOV to help people think about how to live better.
So how do medications fit in with SMART?
If someone is addicted to opiates, is medication just trading one addiction for another? Isn’t it important to get them off the substitute medication as soon as possible, to end their addiction?
The opiate crisis is on everyone’s mind, and overdose deaths are now up to 65,000 annually. We hear about doctors’ over-prescribing, we hear about drugstore pill mills, about big pharma pushing their meds, and we see news stories of famous folks like musician Prince collapsing and dying in his own home from overdose. Shouldn’t we be doing everything possible to rectify all this? Why do some refuse to support the use of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT)?
SMART Recovery is thrilled that Dr. Sheeley, could join us to foster this conversation about the options now available to address opiate and alcohol use disorders. Don is uniquely positioned to speak with us, as a long-time volunteer at SMART, an Emergency Room physician, and as a practitioner in his own practice, “ACT Smart New York.”
Dr. Sheeley is a member of the Saratoga Springs Hospital Medical Staff, still working some Saturdays in the Psychiatric Crisis area of the Emergency Department, has 35 years’ experience in Emergency Medicine with a special interest in Psychiatry. He was Board Certified in Internal Medicine in 1982 and in Emergency Medicine in 1988, 1998, and 2008.
Don’s contributions to SMART Recovery have been immense in his 8 years of service. He has facilitated the SMART Recovery meeting in Saratoga Springs, NY since 2010 and has been a frequent contributor to SMART’s Blog, a voice for SMART excellence, and mentor to the facilitator community. He was awarded the Joseph Gerstein Award for Exemplary Service to SMART Recovery in 2017, SMART’s highest honor. As if that were not enough, Don is creator of our SMART Video, “For the Courts,” he composed and donated SMART’s musical theme, and he helped us turn our webinars into the beautiful SMART Recovery Podcast collection we have today, as editor and commentator. His talents are stunning and varied.
We are pleased to continue our podcast series for 2018, as a FREE public service to all who are interested. SMART represents a science-based approach to addiction recovery support, and we are pleased to welcome participants, volunteers, facilitators, friends, family, and the general public! We hope you can attend, and please help us spread the word to anyone who might be interested!
Registration Link: https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/8360028200946034946
Donald Sheeley, MD, ABIM, ABEM, ASAM, is currently principal of an outpatient practice for Addiction and ACT Psychotherapy in Saratoga Springs, NY, utilizing a unique combination of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and addiction counseling based on ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).
Addiction Recovery: Self-Esteem Can be Toxic!
How to Escape the Trap
with Dr. Michael Edelstein
Saturday, February 17 at 5:00 PM EST
Listen to a podcast of this past event
SMART Recovery is honored to welcome Michael Edelstein, Ph.D., to explore with us the surprising truth about self-esteem.
Dr. Albert Ellis, the father of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), was a mentor to Dr. Edelstein. He had this to say about Michael’s first, best-selling book, Three Minute Therapy:
“Of all the books that explain [Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy] in simple, clear, and highly usable form, Three Minute Therapy is one of the very best.” — Albert Ellis, Ph.D. President, Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy
That was in 1997. That book is now a classic, and Dr. Edelstein is still beyond compare for his ability to explain the concepts of CBT and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).
Both of those, at their core, hold that faulty thinking and beliefs, such as using self-esteem as a measure of “self,” can adversely affect our mood, well-being and enjoyment of life. Examining our thinking and actively questioning our assumptions allows us to stay aligned with our personal values and goals and live fuller lives.
These are the same topics that are the very foundation of SMART. Dr. Edelstein is highly respected for his ability to make these ideas readily accessible to everyone and is already one of our most popular speakers, so I know this winter event will be highly interesting to participants, facilitators and all our SMART friends.
Dr. Edelstein is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years’ experience. He has a private practice in San Francisco and offers in-person as well as telephone and Skype sessions. He is famous as the author of Three Minute Therapy: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life (1997), with David Ramsay Steele.
Most recently, he has created a YouTube channel with Tommy Bateman, featuring podcasts on topics of interest in REBT: . He has additionally published Rational Drinking: How to Live Happily With or Without Alcohol (2013), with Will Ross, Stage Fright (2009), with Mick Berry, and Therapy Breakthrough: Why Some Psychotherapies Work Better Than Others (2013), with Richard Kujoth and David Ramsay Steele.
Dr. Edelstein is a Training Supervisor and Fellow of the Albert Ellis Institute. He holds a diplomate in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy from, and is on the Board of Advisors of, the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. He is Past President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. Dr. Edelstein lectures nationally and internationally, has appeared on television as well as over 300 radio shows, trains professionals, and has published in psychological journals. He is also a long-standing SMART Recovery Volunteer. You can find his website at www.ThreeMinuteTherapy.com.
All SMART Recovery .Special Event Webinars are FREE and open to all.
Addiction and the Brain: A Focus on Opiates
with Dr. Christopher J. Tuell
Clinical Director of Addiction Services
Lindner Center of HOPE | University of Cincinnati Health 
Saturday, June 24, 5:00 PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
This promises to be a fascinating and far-reaching discussion, beginning with a look at today’s opiate epidemic.
From there, Dr. Tuell will highlight the relationship between mental health and addiction and how they intersect. We hope the conversation will add to awareness of the ways in which addiction shows itself – in today’s opiate crisis, but much more broadly.
Most important, we hope to carry a message of hope and encouragement, to shine a lens on compassionate and respectful ways to engage when people have trouble dealing with the pressures of our complicated society.
As Clinical Director of Addiction Services at Lindner Center of HOPE, Dr. Chris Tuell provides mental health and addiction psychotherapy services to a wide variety of treatment populations. Dr. Tuell is also Assistant Professor at the University of University of Cincinnati’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience. He is a clinical psychotherapist and a chemical and behavioral addiction specialist with over 30 years of experience in the field of mental health and addictions.
Prior to joining Lindner Center of HOPE, Dr. Tuell served as Center Director and Director of Employee Assistance Programs for Family Service of the Cincinnati Area, as Clinical Director of the Warren County Juvenile Justice Center and as a psychotherapist for Community Mental Health Centers of Warren County in Lebanon, Ohio and Mental Health Services West in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dr. Tuell earned his Doctorate degree from the University of Cincinnati, and is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, and a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor in the State of Ohio.
One of the things we love about Dr. Tuell and the Lindner Center because it resonates so strongly with SMART, is their commitment to choice – both in making people aware of their choices and in helping to actively provide choices in help whenever they can. They’ve been great friends to SMART over many years now and have graciously hosted open meetings at their beautiful facility for 8 years now!
Thank you, Lindner Center!
As always, all are invited, and this is a FREE Webinar in our Special Events series at SMART Recovery! We are the 2nd largest recovery support group in the world for addiction recovery, and we are happy to continue to encourage thought-provoking, hopeful, practical and compassionate conversation.
Engaging Community to Fight Addiction
with Ivette Torres, SAMHSA
Saturday March 18, 2017 – 5:00PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
SMART Recovery will hold its 2017 Spring Special Event Webinar with Ivette Torres of SAMHSA, speaking about addiction recovery issues and how both those in recovery and those who support them, can be conduits in getting others to seek help in the community!
Engaging Community to Fight Addiction will be held Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 5:00 PM EDT. This is a free webinar, and the link to register is below.
In this lively and engaging talk, Ivette will discuss some of the topics of concern today in behavioral health related to addiction, and she will share how SAMHSA, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency) helps communities gain access to the resources they need. Within that, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) promotes community-based substance abuse treatment and recovery services for individuals and families in every community.
National Recovery Month takes place in September, and Ms. Torres is an ardent and enthusiastic supporter and promoter of this initiative.
This is a great time to start planning early for events and activities, and we welcome her excitement! We hope to see more SMART local National Recovery Month events than ever before in 2017.
Ms. Torres has been Director of the Office of Consumer Affairs in SAMHSA’s (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment for almost 20 years.
She oversees the CSAT team responsible for generating and disseminating substance abuse treatment information to SAMHSA’s mission-related constituents. She also develops national communication strategies and campaigns including the observance of the National Recovery Month, celebrated each September.
Ms. Torres has a Masters of Science in Telecommunications Policy from George Washington University and a Masters of Education from the School of Rehabilitation Administration at Northeastern University.
SMART Recovery is delighted to continue bringing free webinars to the general public as well as to our SMART Recovery participants, facilitators, professionals, friends and spouses.
Community graphic provided by freepik.com
Addiction Recovery for 2017: New Science, New Strategies
with Dr. Reid Hester
Saturday, January 14th, 2017. 5:00PM EST
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
SMART Recovery will host Reid K. Hester, Ph.D., for a fascinating overview and discussion of recent scientific findings on addiction treatment and support, including work from his own lab as well as that of others. There are valuable lessons to be learned and new strategies that have real implications for people struggling with their use of alcohol, drugs and behaviors as well as the professionals and families who want to help.
Dr. Hester is the Director of Research at Checkup & Choices and creator of SMART’s CheckUp & Choices companion web course. His professional career has included clinical work, program consultation, research, and training in empirically supported approaches to substance abuse treatment. His research focus has been in the development of digital tools to help people with alcohol and drug problems.
Currently, Dr. Hester is directing an implementation research grant to understand how digital interventions like the web course for SMART Recovery, are integrated within the workflow of treatment programs. It is a 2-year project funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
Reid Hester has been the senior editor of 3 books and over 60 other publications in the area of substance abuse prevention and treatment. He was a recipient of 2 Tibbets awards for excellence in Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) in 1997 and 2006. He has been a technical adviser and consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), the NIAAA, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
He received his Ph.D. from Washington State University in 1979.
Please join us! Start your New Year out right and kick-start your own recovery with this FREE webinar — as always, open to SMART participants, friends, family members, professionals, and the general public!
Getting through the Holidays
with Dr. Joe Gerstein
Saturday, December 3rd, 5:00PM EST
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
Joseph F. Gerstein, MD, FACP, SMART’s founding President, will join us during this holiday season to share some strategies on using SMART tools so we can make getting through the 2016 Holiday Season as stress-free and as enjoyable as possible.
In addition, Dr. Gerstein will spend some time discussing the fundamental importance of motivation in the recovery process and ways to enhance that, as well as introduce an interesting phenomenon observed in study of the change process. It will be a wide-ranging conversation with lots of interesting food for thought.
Dr. Gerstein was just awarded the 2016 Harvard Humanist of the Year Award “for his work over the last 25 years as the founding president of SMART Recovery, which we view among the greatest examples of community service in the history of modern humanism.”
Dr. Gerstein was a practicing internist, specializing in pain management and a Harvard Professor of Medicine when he observed that not all patients were helped with existing support methods and began his journey into the world of addiction treatment support. He helped establish SMART Recovery and became its founding president in 1994.
Dr. Gerstein has been an active board member and officer of SMART and an ardent supporter and promoter of its methods since its inception 22 years ago. He currently serves as Secretary and Director of Outreach for Correctional Institutions and Advisor to the Court Outreach Committee and is tireless in expanding SMART globally. He has facilitated 3,000 plus meetings and counting, with over 1,000 in correctional settings.
SMART’s tools are tailored to help people change their addictive behavior; however these are the tools of life. With respect to the holidays, everyone might benefit from some of these. We hope you’ll join us for a delightful conversation as we enter the holidays, and please share us with your family and friends.
SMART Special Events and Webinars are free and open to the general public
as well as to our community of participants, facilitators, and professionals.
Science & Addiction Recovery Support
with John Kelly, Ph.D.
Saturday, September 17th, 4:00PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
SMART Recovery is pleased to present a talk with John Kelly, Ph.D. emphasizing the need for addiction recovery support programs based on science, such as SMART, as well as the science on traditional and other recovery support services.
In recent years, the models for addiction treatment and support have seen innovation and expansion beyond traditional options. Dr. Kelly will share with us what the research says about some of the options becoming more available, such as recovery community centers, sober housing models, recovery high schools/collegiate recovery programs, recovery management check-ups, recovery community organizations, and of course, peer support/mutual-help organizations including SMART Recovery.
About Dr. Kelly
Dr. Kelly is the Elizabeth R. Spallin Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Program Director of the Addiction Recovery Management Service (ARMS) and the Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at MGH.
Dr. Kelly is a former President of the American Psychological Association (APA) Society of Addiction Psychology, a Fellow of APA, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has served as a consultant to U.S. federal agencies such as the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH); to non-Federal institutions, such as the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and Caron Foundation; and internationally to foreign governments. He is also on the editorial board of several addiction journals.
In addition to publishing more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and chapters in the field of addiction, his clinical and research work has focused on addiction treatment and the recovery process which has included specific research on the effectiveness of mutual-help groups such as SMART Recovery, as adjuncts to formal care.
He has also served as SMART’s Director of Research for the past 5 years. Additional research endeavors have focused on the implementation of evidence-based practice, addiction and criminal justice, and reducing stigma associated with addiction. John is also a licensed clinical psychologist actively working with individuals and families with alcohol and other drug use disorders.
SMART Recovery is pleased to continue to offer free webinars on addiction and recovery of interest to the general public, SMART volunteers and facilitators, professionals, our participant community, as well as friends and family members.
How Family & Friends Can Help Fuel Recovery
Dr. Nicole Kosanke from the Center for Motivation and Change (CMC)
Friday, July 8th, 8:00PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
Dr. Nicole Kosanke from the Center for Motivation and Change (CMC) who will join us to discuss:
How Family & Friends Can Help Fuel Recovery
Friday evening, July 8, 2016
8:00 PM EDT
The event will focus on the issues faced by those whose partners or other adult loved ones may be having trouble with addiction. The discussion will be open, friendly and informal, and packed with information, reassurance, and exciting new ways to think about our interactions with those we love in order to be truly helpful. The CRAFT approach, focusing on kindness and compassion rather than coercion, tough love or aggressive confrontation, is refreshing, hopeful and proven by science!
SMART Recovery is a big fan of the work of the Center for Motivation and Change in New York City. We highly recommend the book Beyond Addiction, co-authored by Dr. Kosanke and her colleagues at the CMC, to everyone who comes to us looking for help for Family & Friends. We are especially pleased that we will be hearing from Dr. Kosanke, as it will be her very first time appearing as our guest.
Nicole Kosanke, Ph.D., is a Clinical Psychologist the Director of Family Services at the Center for Motivation and Change, where she specializes in working with family members of people abusing substances and in the assessment process for families and individuals with substance abuse issues.
Dr. Kosanke has been working in the research and clinical practice of substance abuse treatment for many years and recently co-authored an award-winning book called Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change that is a compassionate and science-based family guide for navigating the addiction treatment world, understanding motivation, and training in the use of CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training) skills.
If you’d like a little bit of advance summer reading, start here: the20minuteguide.com for partners, and join us at SMART’s Friends & Family Forum and our meetings, too. More information is available at SMART here: www.smartrecovery.org/family.
SMART Recovery is delighted to make this FREE Special Event Webinar available to our extended facilitator, professional and support communities, as well as to the general public. We look forward to seeing you there.
You are Powerful: A Message to Young People
with Dr. Robert Schwebel, Author and Developer of The Seven Challenges®
Saturday, April 23, 5:00 PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
SMART Recovery® is pleased to present a talk with author and developer of The Seven Challenges® Program, Dr. Robert Schwebel.
We are interested in learning how to engage youth who have problems with drugs in meaningful conversations and to support them in taking power over their lives. Dr. Schwebel’s work is designed for counseling settings, and we think you’ll find his approach highly complementary with SMART in the continuum of care.
In implementing The Seven Challenges Program, many practical lessons have been learned that are helpful in thinking about how to best to serve and collaborate with youth.
The conversation will focus on attitudes, strategies, and messages that engage and empower youth, and there will be plenty of time for questions and answers.
The Seven Challenges are:
- We decided to open up and talk honestly about ourselves and about alcohol and other drugs.
- We looked at what we liked about alcohol and other drugs, and why we were using them.
- We looked at our use of alcohol or other drugs to see if it has caused harm or could cause harm.
- We looked at our responsibility and the responsibility of others for our problems.
- We thought about where we seemed to be headed, where we wanted to go, and what we wanted to accomplish.
- We made thoughtful decisions about our lives and about our use of alcohol and other drugs.
- We followed through on our decisions about our lives and drug use. If we saw problems, we went back to earlier challenges and mastered them.
The Seven Challenges provide a framework for helping youth think through their own decisions about their lives and their use of alcohol and other drugs. Counselors using The Seven Challenges Program teach youth to identify and work on the issues most relevant to them. In sessions, as youth discuss the issues that matter most, counselors seamlessly integrate the Challenges as part of the conversation.
The Seven Challenges is listed as an evidence-based program in the SAMHSA National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices.
Robert Schwebel, Ph.D., a psychologist specializing in couples and family issues and in the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, provides lectures and training sessions to professional and community audiences around the country and abroad.
Please see his website: http://sevenchallenges.com.
Dr. Schwebel has developed and directed prevention and counseling programs for schools as well as public and private agencies.
He has published numerous articles and is the author of several books including Saying No Is Not Enough: Helping Your Kids Make Wise Decisions About Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs, Keep Your Kids Tobacco-Free, and Who’s on Top, Who’s on Bottom: How Couples Can Learn to Share Power.
In addition, Dr. Schwebel has appeared on The Oprah Show, The Today Show, in numerous CNN interviews, and The CBS Early Show, and currently writes for thefix.com and Pro Talk at rehabs.com. Robert lives with his family in Tucson, Arizona.
SMART Recovery is pleased to continue to bring you free webinars of interest to the SMART participant community, our valued volunteers and facilitators, professionals, friends and family members, and of course, the general public.
Talking about Addiction for Kids and Young Adults – SMART Approaches
Stanton Peele Interview by Dr. Tom Horvath, President, SMART Recovery
Saturday, February 20, 5:00PM EST
SMART is eager to make its tools and approach more widely available, as a strong resource for young people and their parents.
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
This will be a wide-ranging talk about addiction and today’s youth and teens. Dr. Horvath, SMART’s President, will interview Dr. Stanton Peele on what is needed in society, in public policy, for parents, and for those in the caring and justice professions, to better help our young people. For young adults, we want to show you the power of making your own choices and having solid resources for decision-making readily available, so you can assess what’s best for you and live lives of freedom and power.
Dr. Peele has been in the vanguard of advocating for science-based addiction policy, treatment recovery approaches for over 40 years. (His breakthrough book Love and Addiction, was published in 1975!) His views have gone from highly controversial to widely accepted, and we are grateful for his continuous efforts to provide context and facts, always facts, to his examination of addiction, starting with his early recognition that addiction is not limited to drugs and alcohol.
In the decades since, Dr. Peele has turned his attention to a number of critically related areas in the field. In 2007, he described that while “addiction can be especially debilitating for the young, young people are more likely than not to outgrow it. The way out of addiction is to develop a range of skills and engage fully in life.”
How do we know if our children are in trouble or not? How does support fit into the picture of addiction? How does treatment and support for teens and young people differ from that for adults? What about social media, smartphones, video/games? How can we incorporate sensible, helpful, empowering approaches into our homes and our parenting? Bring questions and join the discussion.
Stanton Peele, Ph.D., J.D., is the author (with Ilse Thompson) of Recover! An Empowering Program to Help You Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life. His Life Process Program is available online. His book Addiction-Proof Your Child is a model for the emerging area of harm reduction in addiction prevention. Stanton has been innovating in the addiction field since writing Love and Addiction with Archie Brodsky (one of his 12 books.) He has won career awards from the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies and Drug Policy Alliance. Additional information can be found at Dr. Peele’s website: www.peele.net.
Tom Horvath, Ph.D., is a California licensed and board certified clinical psychologist (ABPP). He has been President of SMART Recovery® for over a decade and is the founder and president of Practical Recovery, a self-empowering addiction treatment system in San Diego. He is past president of the American Psychological Association’s Society on Addiction Psychology, the world’s largest organization of addiction psychologists. He is also the author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions, listed by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies as a “Self-Help Book of Merit”.
SMART Recovery is pleased to provide its Special Event Webinars free of charge as an ongoing public service.
Please be invited to enjoy podcasts of prior Events, including those with Drs. Peele and Horvath, at: www.smartrecovery.libsyn.com.
SMART Directions, a Q&A Session
with Dr. Tom Horvath, President, SMART Recovery
Saturday, December 5th, 5:00PM EST
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
Join us to hear Dr. Tom Horvath explain how SMART Recovery plans to expand availability and its numbers of meetings, and how you can be a part of it!
SMART Recovery finds itself facing the exciting challenge of a phenomenal increase in awareness, acceptance and demand for SMART meetings. SMART’s meetings are based around a standardized format for open discussion and group interaction, guided by a trained facilitator, and based on CBT, motivational interviewing skills, and exploration and examples of SMART Tools. In order to be a SMART facilitator, one must complete significant training through SMART’s Get SMART FAST — Facilitator and Support Team Training program. The training is phenomenal and in-depth BUT demand is outpacing our ability to get new facilitators established as quickly as is needed.
SMART recently announced a brand-new option, Hosted meetings. Hosted meetings allow SMART to establish face-to-face meetings much more quickly and easily. Hosts are provided a minimal amount of training, but operate under the mentorship of a trained facilitator. Hosted meetings are conducted following a carefully crafted meeting script and enforce three basic rules: no lengthy statements, no advice, no off-topic discussions: https://smartwww.wpengine.com/host-training.
SMART hopes this more casual form of meeting leadership will lend to expansion. Barriers to entry for host training are low (no cost, much less time), and the requirements of the role are simple. Individuals who want to more widely establish SMART in their communities have an easy way to do so. The option of having hosts fill in when the regular facilitator is away is an added benefit. In time, SMART believes that many hosts will be motivated to complete the Get SMART FAST training, and we highly encourage that! It’s a wonderful new way to get your feet wet with volunteering, and it fills a huge need!
Tom Horvath, Ph.D., is a California licensed and board certified clinical psychologist (ABPP). He is the long-standing President of SMART Recovery, the founder and President of Practical Recovery, a self-empowering addiction treatment system in San Diego, the past president of the American Psychological Association’s Society on Addiction Psychology, the world’s largest organization of addiction psychologists.
Dr. Horvath is the author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions, listed by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies as a “Self-Help Book of Merit.” In 2014, he established the Self-Empowering Addiction Treatment Association (www.seatainfo.org) which provides free listings for self-empowering providers.
This event will be a lively, informal presentation with lots of room for questions and answers. Join us! We are pleased, as always, to make these SMART Recovery Special Event webinars available FREE to the general public as well as to those already involved in our rapidly expanding community.
Get registered today!
Dr. Bill Knaus: On Anxiety
with Dr. Bill Knaus
Saturday, August 15, 5:00PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
Dr. William J. Knaus, Ed.D. will be joining us on August 15, 2015 at 5:00 PM EDT for a new SMART Special Event Webinar: On Anxiety.
Dr. Knaus is the foremost authority in the field of overcoming procrastination, but he is also renowned for his work in practical application of rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety and has written extensively on the subject, most recently in his newest revision of: The Cognitive Behavioral Workbook for Anxiety: A Step-By-Step Program (2014).
Many of those recovering from substance abuse or other addictive disorders experience anxiety and panic. These “are intense emotions, and in the moments that you experience them it may seem like you are powerless, but nothing could be further from the truth.” Dr. Knaus will discuss practical ways to lessen anxiety and continue to build a strong, satisfying life. To paraphrase Joel Block, Ph.D., If getting a better handle on emotions, giving up perfectionism, and defeating social anxiety are your goals, you will hear Bill speaking directly to you. Dr. Knaus will also share a few insights on how to use procrastination technology to reduce anxiety and substance abuse simultaneously.
Bill Knaus originated the self-help movement in procrastination and has worked with thousands of people in his individual private practice and in his transformational workshops for people with procrastination. Over 1 million profited from reading his bestselling books on procrastination. An original director of post-graduate training in rational emotive behavioral therapy, Bill directly helped train over 1000 professionals, counselors and psychotherapists. He originated Rational Emotive Education (REE), an evidence-based positive mental health program for children and teens.
He is known by many in SMART Recovery as the author of The SMART Recovery Primer, a manual that helped launch SMART. In total, Dr. Knaus has authored more than 20 books. His latest book, End Procrastination Now (McGraw-Hill, 2010), is his fifth and most up-to-date book on how to overcome procrastination. The Procrastination Workbook (New Harbinger, 2002) came from his group work with people suffering from hardcore procrastination.T he Procrastination Workbook (New Harbinger, 2002) came from his group work with people suffering from hardcore procrastination. Dr. Knaus is also a regular contributor to Psychology Today.
Dr. Knaus is one of SMART’s favorite speakers, and we are delighted that he will be joining us this summer! We welcome the general public as well as our own community of SMART participants, facilitators, volunteers and professional friends. SMART is grateful for the sponsorship of Lucida Treatment Center in Florida to bring you this free webinar event.
This free webinar is made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Lucida Treatment Center of Lantana, Florida.
Cognitive Tools for Fighting Addiction and Beyond
with Dr. Michael Edelstein, Therapist and Author
Saturday, June 20, 5:00 PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
Learn easy-to-understand methods that can help you with addiction recovery as well as help you alleviate stress, worry, anger, anxiety – and free you to create and enjoy the life you want.
Dr. Michael Edelstein is a SMART Recovery favorite for good reason. His direct, elegantly simple guidance and kind, wry humor have delighted his audiences for years. We think you’ll find, as one book reviewer noted, that: “Michael Edelstein cuts through the psychological jargon and makes clear how all of us can effect powerful changes in our psyches, in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.”
This will be an interview-style webinar, and we will be soliciting questions in advance.
About Dr. Edelstein
Dr. Edelstein, a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years’ experience, has a private practice in San Francisco, offering in-person as well as telephone/Skype sessions. He is famous as the author of Three Minute Therapy: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, with David Ramsay Steele, a self-help book for overcoming common emotional and behavioral problems.
More recently, he published Stage Fright (2009), with Mick Berry, Therapy Breakthrough: Why Some Psychotherapies Work Better Than Others (2013), with Richard Kujoth and David Ramsay Steele, and Rational Drinking: How to Live Happily With or Without Alcohol (2013), with Will Ross. You can find all his books on Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1KIzJiK.
Dr. Edelstein is a Training Supervisor and Fellow of the Albert Ellis Institute. He holds a diplomate in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy from, and is on the Board of Advisors of, the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. He is Past President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. In addition, Dr. Edelstein lectures nationally and internationally, has appeared on television as well as over 300 radio shows, trains professionals, and has published in psychological journals. He is also a long-standing SMART Recovery Volunteer and his website, www.ThreeMinuteTherapy.com, contains many helpful resources.
This free webinar is made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Lucida Treatment Center of Lantana, Florida.
Tom Horvath Interviews Stanton Peele:
Recreating Addiction Treatment for the 21st Century
Dr. Stanton Peele, Creator of the Life Process Addiction Program
hosted with Dr. Tom Horvath, President, SMART Recovery
Saturday, May 16, 5:00 PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
Stanton Peele will return to SMART Recovery to discuss Recreating Addiction Treatment in the 21st Century with Dr. Tom Horvath, SMART’s President.
The evolution of thought, attitudes, and the treatment of those with addictions is shifting. Today, conversation is becoming increasingly directed at trying to provide meaningful help to individuals where choice and empowerment have become accepted wisdom as keys to personal change. This event’s wide-ranging discussion will include discussion on these changes, as well as a look back on past attitudes and treatment of addiction, and taking a bold look into the future.
“Look beyond the walls of therapy, towards independence and empowerment.”
—Stanton Peele
As arguably the most compelling speaker on addiction in the world today, Dr. Peele has been on the forefront of these sweeping changes. He has devoted his career to providing people with facts about addiction, regardless of their popularity, and salient approaches, for both individuals and policy, based on those facts. His views are sweeping, and he provides a revolutionary framework that encourages people to look at addiction in the context of their lives, rather than limiting themselves to any single label.
Addiction is never the totality of one’s being. Here is where so many of Dr. Peele’s views intersect with those of SMART. Dr. Peele and SMART strongly agree that when an individual’s choices become self-destructive, they can learn to make better ones.
Stanton Peele, Ph.D., J.D., is a seminal figure in the addiction field. He has been a pioneer in applying addiction beyond the area of drugs and alcohol, social-environmental causes of addiction, harm reduction, and self-cure of addiction. Dr. Peele has developed the online Life Process Addiction Program: https://lifeprocessprogram.com. His most recent book, with Ilse Thompson, is Recover! Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life with The Life Process Program, available at Amazon.
Since the publication of Love and Addiction in 1975, he has presented these ideas and data in a series of twelve books and over 250 professional and popular articles. All Treatment awarded him the Best Academic Addiction Blog for 2012. Recognition has included the Mark Keller Award from the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drug Policy Alliance. Dr. Peele lectures internationally on the meaning, treatment, and future of addiction. Additional information can be found at Dr. Peele’s website: http://peele.net.
Tom Horvath, Ph.D., is a California licensed and board certified clinical psychologist (ABPP). He has been President of SMART Recovery® for over a decade and is the founder and president of Practical Recovery, a self-empowering addiction treatment system in San Diego. He is past president of the American Psychological Association’s Society on Addiction Psychology, the world’s largest organization of addiction psychologists.
Dr. Horvath is the author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions (listed by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies as a “Self-Help Book of Merit”).
SMART Recovery is pleased to provide its Special Event Webinars free of charge as an ongoing public service.
Enjoy podcasts of our prior events at: smartrecovery.libsyn.com.
Helping Loved Ones Get Sober
A SMART Family & Friends Special Event
Saturday, March 21, 5:00 pm
Dr. Robert Meyers, creator of CRAFT
Dr. Jeffrey Foote, Director, Center for Motivation & Change
hosted by Dr. Tom Horvath, President, SMART Recovery
Listen to a podcast of this past event!
SMART Recovery announces a new Special Event Webinar on how the Family & Friends of those with addiction can help those they love, while remaining sane and safe. The foremost experts in this field today, Robert J. Meyers, Ph.D. and Jeffrey Foote, Ph.D. will join SMART President Tom Horvath, Ph.D. to discuss “the CRAFT approach”: How science, combined with compassion, can make a difference.
As friends and family members, our intimate connection should make us natural allies. However, we often don’t know how to talk with each other or work together when it comes to the emotionally intense issue of addiction.
SMART believes that Family & Friends deserve high-quality, compassionate and optimistic support of their own. We know it is possible to get sober. We believe loved ones can help, without becoming codependent, resorting to tough love or enabling. The tools of SMART and CRAFT work beautifully to encourage healthy, productive efforts towards an improved quality of life for all. SMART has been working to create a rich Family & Friends program that includes a vibrant online community, its own Handbook, and both online and f2f meetings. We invite you to learn more at https://smartwww.wpengine.com/resources/family.htm.
Dr. Robert Meyers has pioneered the study of how families can help support those with addiction and is a creator of CRAFT – Community Reinforcement and Family Training, a scientifically validated and widely acclaimed approach. He is an internationally renowned speaker and gives CRAFT training workshops all over the world. He has been in the field of addiction treatment for 38 years. He was on the faculty at the University of New Mexico and is currently director of Robert J. Meyers, Ph.D., & Associates.
Dr. Jeffrey Foote has over 25 years of extensive, well-recognized clinical research and experience in the addiction treatment. He is an expert in motivating clients for treatment.
Dr. Foote is Founder and Director, along with Carrie Wilkens, Ph.D., of the Center for Motivation and Change (CMC), which helps both addicts and their loved ones.
Dr. Tom Horvath has been President of SMART Recovery for 18 of its 20 years. His addiction treatment practice, Practical Recovery, just celebrated its 30th anniversary.
SMART Recovery Special Event Webinars and podcasts are free to all who have interest in the topics of addiction and recovery.
Dr. Hank Robb – ACT SMART
with Dr. Hank Robb
Saturday January 31 2015, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST
WEBINAR: Integrating ACT into SMART Recovery
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
You are invited to join us for our first Special Event Webinar of 2015 with
Hank Robb, Ph.D.,
presenting: ACT SMART! Does ACT Work with SMART Recovery?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT for short and pronounced as a word rather than three separate letters, is one of several acceptance-based, “second generation,” cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT). ACT has generated considerable empirical research and is showing great promise, clinically. It has much in common with earlier CBT approaches such as REBT, including its focus on acceptance. Many of our professionals are finding its approach and tools intriguing and highly useful. Dr. Robb is an expert in both ACT and REBT, and we have asked him to share ways in which some of the insight from ACT might fit with and perhaps expand the SMART principles and tools with which we may be more familiar.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a “psychological flexibility model” with 6 key concepts:
- Self as Context
- Acceptance
- Defusion
- Commitment
- Values
- Present Moment Awareness
These six can be captured in the question, “Given the difference between you and the stuff you are struggling with (thoughts and feelings), are you willing to have that stuff as it is, rather than what it seems to be – monstrous; and right here, right now, act in the service of the Big Picture you choose for your life?”
Dr. Hank Robb has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Nebraska and is a Supervisor for the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy, New York. He is board certified in both Counseling Psychology and Behavioral & Cognitive Psychology and is certified in the Treatment of Alcohol and Other Psychoactive Substance Use. In addition, he is an ACT Trainer. He previously served as President of the American Board of Counseling Psychology.
Dr. Robb contributes regularly to SMART’s New & Views newsletter. He is a founding member of SMART Recovery and has just been re-appointed to its Board of Directors.
We are pleased to present this SMART Recovery Webinar, as a FREE Public Service. We believe the general public and the SMART community will find the discussion of great interest.
SMART President Tom Horvath: Questioning Stanton Peele
with Dr. Tom Horvath and Dr. Stanton Peele
Thursday, October 9th at 9:00PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
If you spend some time with Stanton Peele, it won’t take long to realize that he asks a lot of questions. Here we have taken the opportunity to turn the tables, and Dr. Horvath will be the one with the questions!
There are several areas in which SMART’s focus and opinions and those of Dr. Peele differ. For instance, according to W.R. Miller “The best predictors of relapse for people treated for alcohol problems are lack of coping skills and belief in the disease theory of alcoholism.” Tom focuses on the former, Stanton on the latter. Listen to the two of them discuss this difference in their focus — and watch the fur fly!
This is an unparalleled opportunity to hear a truly broad-based discussion on addiction in the context of the latest in research and treatment by two unsurpassed experts. We have no doubt that this will be a lively and intriguing discussion, and there will be plenty of time for questions from the audience as well. This is a don’t miss!
Stanton Peele, Ph.D., J.D., is a seminal figure in the addiction field. Dr. Peele has been a pioneer in applying addiction beyond the area of drugs and alcohol, social-environmental causes of addiction, harm reduction, and self-cure of addiction.
Dr. Peele has developed the online Life Process Addiction Program. His most recent book, with Ilse Thompson, is Recover!: Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life with The PERFECT Program, available at Amazon. Since the publication of Love and Addiction in 1975, He has presented these ideas and data in a series of twelve books and over 250 professional and popular articles. All Treatment awarded him the Best Academic Addiction Blog for 2012. Recognition for his academic achievements in addiction has included the Mark Keller Award from the Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drug Policy Alliance. Dr. Peele lectures internationally on the meaning, treatment, and future of addiction.
Tom Horvath, Ph.D., is a California licensed and board certified clinical psychologist (ABPP). He has been President of SMART Recovery® for over a decade and is the founder and president of Practical Recovery, a self-empowering addiction treatment system in San Diego. He is past president of the American Psychological Association’s Society on Addiction Psychology, the world’s largest organization of addiction psychologists. He is also the author of Sex, Drugs, Gambling & Chocolate: A Workbook for Overcoming Addictions
(listed by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies as a “Self-Help Book of Merit”).
Behavioral Addictions: A Look at Gambling and Eating Disorders
with Dr. Chris Tuell and Ann F. Hull, MSSW
Friday, July 18 at 8:00 pm EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
SMART Recovery is very pleased to present its new Special Event Webinar “Behavioral Addictions: A Look at Gambling and Eating Disorders” with Dr. Chris Tuell of The Lindner Center for HOPE in Cincinnati and Ann Hull of The Hull Institute in Cleveland.
SMART believes that the principles and tools of our program can be applied to any maladaptive behavior. There are characteristics, however, that distinguish some addictive behaviors from the alcohol and drug issues that we most frequently discuss. Eating disorders and gambling addiction are two such examples.
Both Dr. Tuell and Ms. Hull have devoted their careers to the study and practice of addictive behaviors, and we are pleased to have their expertise to provide support for those struggling with ED or gambling issues as well as education for our community and the public, so we can strengthen our knowledge, support and compassion for those who come to SMART.
The Speakers
Chris Tuell, Ed.D., LPCC-S, LICDC-CS
Dr. Tuell has worked as a professional counselor in the field of mental health and addictions for the past 30 years. He holds a doctorate degree from the University of Cincinnati, is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, and a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor.
Dr. Tuell currently serves as Clinical Director of Addiction Services at the Lindner Center of HOPE in Mason, Ohio, and is a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati.
He serves as an instructor and lecturer at the university level, as well as for national, regional, and state level conferences and organizations on topics of chemical and behavioral addictions.
In addition, Dr. Tuell is certified` by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, as well as by EMDRIA in EMDR.
Ann F. Hull, MBA, MSSW, LISW-S, SAP
Ms. Hull is Founder and President of The Hull Institute. She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with over 22 years of experience, specializing in the treatment of eating disorders, obesity and addictions. Ann received her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, graduating cum laude.
As a public service, Ann served for 4 years on the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board of Governors, chairing the Planning, Programs and Oversight Committee.
Ann also facilitates free groups in the community and offers free consultation on eating disorders, obesity and corporate wellness to community mental health centers. She belongs to several national eating disorders organizations, and she worked in the Cleveland Clinic’s Eating Disorders Program until opening The Hull Institute in 2004.
This will be a fascinating discussion for the SMART community and the general public. Please share our invitation to attend with your friends, family and colleagues.
“How Science and Kindness Help People Change”
with Dr. Jeffrey Foote
Saturday May 17 2014, 4:00-5:00 PM EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
SMART Recovery welcomes Dr. Foote as he speaks about the Center for Motivation and Change (CMC) approach to helping families, which includes CRAFT, and introduces the CMC’s best new tools to help our loved ones.
The new book, Beyond Addiction, by Jeffrey Foote, Ph.D., Carrie Wilkens, Ph.D., Nicole Kosanke, Ph.D., and Stephanie Higgs is complimented by an amazing interactive web resources: The 20-Minute Guide – especially for parents.
The Center for Motivation and Change (CMC), wishes to: “not only help everyone in the world access high-end, evidence-based treatment,” but also:
“To change the conversation. From the language of stigma to the language of growth. From defects to strengths. From shame to pride and an open heart. From punishment and confrontation to an invitation to truly change. And to change that conversation, we rely on science and kindness.”
Beyond Addiction and the 20 Minute Guide are already receiving high acclaim!
Dr. Foote is a nationally recognized clinical research scientist who has received extensive federal grant funding for his work on motivational treatment approaches. He has worked in the addiction treatment field as a clinician and researcher since the late 1980s, and has developed a unique motivational treatment approach that incorporates principles of group treatment as well as research-based principles of human behavior change.
Previously, Dr. Foote was the Deputy Director of the Division of Alcohol Treatment and Research at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in NYC, as well as a Senior Research Associate at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) in NYC. Dr. Foote also served as Chief of the Smithers Addiction Treatment and Research Center as well as Director of Evaluation and Research between 1994 and 2001. Dr. Foote was also team Psychologist for the New York Mets.
SMART Recovery is honored to welcome Dr. Foote and pleased to be able to offer this FREE event to its worldwide community and to the general public.
“How to Overcome Addiction in One Lesson”
with Dr. Michael Edelstein
Saturday April 12 2014, 12:00 Noon EDT
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
This is a lesson for any harmful behavior – drugs, gambling, eating disorders, smoking, self-harm — substance-related or not. Bring your questions! We think you’ll find, as one book reviewer noted, that: “Michael Edelstein cuts through the psychological jargon and makes clear how all of us can effect powerful changes in our psyches, in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones.”
Dr. Michael R. Edelstein is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years’ experience and has a private practice in San Francisco, offering in-person as well as telephone/Skype sessions. He is famous as the author of Three Minute Therapy: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, with David Ramsay Steele, a self-help book for overcoming common emotional and behavioral problems. Most recently, he published Stage Fright: 40 Stars Tell You How They Beat America’s #1 Fear, with Mick Berry, Therapy Breakthrough: Why Some Psychotherapies Work Better Than Others, with Richard Kujoth and David Ramsay Steele, and Rational Drinking: How to Live Happily With or Without Alcohol, with Will Ross. He is a long-standing SMART Recovery Volunteer.
Dr. Edelstein is a Training Supervisor and Fellow of the Albert Ellis Institute. He holds a diplomate in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy from, and is on the Board of Advisors of, the National Association of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapists. He is Past President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy. In addition, Dr. Edelstein lectures nationally and internationally, has appeared on television as well as over 300 radio shows, trains professionals, and has published in psychological journals. Dr. Edelstein’s website, www.ThreeMinuteTherapy.com, has rich resources and includes links to some of his past presentations. We are thrilled that he has so generously offered his time to join us.
This free webinar and podcast is made available by the generous sponsorship of the St. Gregory Retreat Center of Des Moines, Iowa.
SMART would like to thank the St. Gregory for its support of this event for the benefit of the public as well as the SMART Recovery Community.
Ed Garcia – Adventurous Living, Part II
Friday November 15 2013, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EST
WEBINAR and NEW SERIES: Adventurous Living Part II: Intimate Adventures 
with REBT expert Ed Garcia, MA, CSW
Did you miss Part I? Listen to the podcast here!
Part II: Intimate Adventures: Close Associations
In Mr. Garcia’s words: “Intimacy generally refers to the feeling of being in a close personal association and having a sense of belonging. It is a familiar and very close emotional connection with another person as a result of a bond that is formed through knowledge and experience with that person. Intimacy is highly desired and yet thwarted and rejected by many individuals. This segment of Adventurous Living will explore the various types of intimacy, as well as the issues that prevent many people from experiencing the joy of that feeling.”
Among many achievements, Mr. Garcia has an extensive and diversified background in the field of human behavior. He holds both an undergraduate and graduate degree from New York University. His post graduate work was conducted at the Institute for Advanced Study in Rational Emotive Therapy, where Mr. Garcia worked extensively with Dr. Albert Ellis. He became a Fellow of the Institute and was appointed Co-Director of Clinical Training there, a position he held for five years until his move to Atlanta, GA, where he currently resides.
Mr. Garcia developed and appeared in a five hour TV presentation for PBS entitled Developing Emotional Muscle. He currently teaches at Emory University’s Life Long Learning Institute, and he has hosted several Special Event Webinars for SMART Recovery® Online (available as free podcasts at smartrecovery.libsyn.com. He is a highly acclaimed speaker both within and beyond the SMART and larger REBT community.
Ed Garcia’s current “adventurous living” includes being a world adventure traveler, a sculptor, a photographer, mentoring young physicians on issues affecting the elderly, and volunteering at The Fernbank Museum of Natural History working with exotic snakes, lizards, and tarantulas. Watch for future series topics and dates, and please join us on the 15th!
Dr. Hank Robb – ACT-ing SMART
Saturday August 31 2013, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM EDT
WEBINAR: Integrating ACT into SMART Recovery 
with Dr. Hank Robb
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
Join us as Hank Robb, Ph.D., one of SMART Recovery’s founding members, speaks about SMART Recovery and how ACT can fit into that framework.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) takes the view that trying to change difficult thoughts and feelings as a means of coping might can be relatively unhelpful, but new, powerful alternatives are available, including acceptance, mindfulness, cognitive defusion, values, and committed action ~ Steven Hayes, ACT creator. Dr. Robb brings a unique perspective as an expert in CBT, REBT, and as an ACT practitioner. Join us to hear him speak about topics such as:
* Being flexible WITH our thinking, versus being flexible WHILE we’re thinking.
* On the subject of “mindfulness”, is anyone really in favor of living life more mindlessly?
* And, finally, how about that distinction between “true” and “helpful.” This is a distinction that might prove – well – HELPFUL!
Dr. Hank Robb has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Nebraska (1978), and is a Supervisor for the Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy, New York. He is board certified in both Counseling and Behavioral Psychology and is certified in the Treatment of Alcohol and Other Psychoactive Substance Use.
He previously served as President of the Am. Board of Counseling Psychology and is listed as an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Trainer. Dr. Robb is a founding member of SMART Recovery and continues to write regularly for the SMART New & Views newsletter on topics related to cognitive behavioral (CBT) and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).</h4style=”color:>
Robert J. Meyers – Help for Family & Friends
with CRAFT Creator Dr. Robert J. Meyers
Wednesday July 31 2013, 9:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
WEBINAR: Help for Families & Friends
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
Dr. Meyers is co-creator of the Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) approach which provides a foundation for SMART’s program for Family and Friends. He is co-author of the book Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading and Threatening, used extensively by SMART Recovery as a reference.
SMART has found this a groundbreaking, effective approach directly in line with its own evidence-based views on helping those with addiction, and it has been received with great enthusiasm in our SMART community. The CRAFT approach provides a practical, compassionate framework for family interactions and getting people help for their addictive issues and creating lives worth living.
Two weekly online meetings are available for SMART Recovery Family & Friends (Mondays at 9:00 PM EDT and Thursday at 1:30 PM EDT) in its voice chat venue, and SMART has also began launching local Family & Friends meetings around the country, including Chicago IL, San Diego CA, Columbus MD, Belmont MA, Cincinnati and Mentor OH, and Portland OR in the past year with great attendance and response: SMART Recovery Family & Friends.
Bio
Dr. Meyers has been prominent in the addiction field for 37 years with 23 of those years being at the University of New Mexico. He is currently the director of Robert J. Meyers, Ph.D. & Associates and is a Research Associate Professor Emeritus in Psychology at the University of New Mexico’s Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addiction. He has been involved in over a dozen clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health, including Project Match and the Clinical Trials Network.
Dr. Meyers began his work with the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) in 1976. He also developed the new innovative 
“intervention” program used to engage resistant substance abusers to enter treatment – CRAFT – an evidence-based protocol, which has been shown to be superior to the “traditional” interventions in several randomized clinical trials. This work has led Dr. Meyers and CRAFT to be one of the 14 featured segments on the Emmy Award-winning HBO Addiction series. Dr. Meyers has also been featured in Oprah magazine for his outstanding work using the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA). He is an internationally known speaker and trainer who has delivered training on his methods throughout the United States and in countries around the world. For additional information about Dr. Meyers and his work, please see his website: www.robertjmeyersphd.com.
Both SMART Recovery and Dr. Meyers are pleased to offer information and support to the family and friends of those with addictive issues. We believe they can help in a non-confrontational, positive manner — without nagging, pleading or threatening.
Checklists for Successful Recovery – The SRAS Tools
Listen to a podcast of this past event.
SMART Recovery Webinar featuring Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. and Julie Myers, Psy.D. discussing checklists such as the SMART Recovery Activities Scale (SRAS.)
This exciting new tool can be used by participants and facilitators, as well as professionals, to help guide and assess the addiction recovery process. Dr. Meichenbaum, one of the founders of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), will be sharing with the audience his extensive knowledge and experience with such checklists in both self-help and therapy settings.
SMART Recovery participants have found the SRAS, created for our community by the speakers, to be helpful and grounding for participants and facilitators. The response since its introduction to our community has been highly positive, and we’re are delighted to see a discussion of this practical, effective tool.
The SRAS has been newly updated and is available on the SMART Recovery website.
SMART Recovery, as well as Drs. Myers and Meichenbaum, believe that this webinar will be of tremendous value to all involved with or interested in the recovery community.
The Speakers
Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D. is one of the founders of Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). In a survey of clinicians, Dr. Meichenbaum was voted “one of the 10 most influential psychotherapists of the 20th century.” He retired as Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo 17 years ago to become Research Director of the Melissa Institute for Violence Prevention www.melissainstitute.org. He recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Clinical Division of the American Psychological Association and has presented in all 50 U.S. States and internationally. He has published extensively. His most recent book is Roadmap to Resilience and more information can be found on his website at www.roadmaptoresilience.org.
Julie Myers, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist in San Diego, who specializes in teaching self-regulatory strategies for coping with addictive behaviors, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. She is a Master Addiction Counselor, holds a Postdoctoral Masters Degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology, and serves on the California Psychological Association, Psychopharmacology Division Board. Dr. Myers has been a long-time contributor to SMART Recovery and is the co-author with Dr. Meichenbaum of the SRAS. You can find her blog at www.DrJulieMyers.com.
Please note: This session will be recorded and may be made available shortly after on SMART Recovery’s podcast site: www.smartrecovery.libsyn.com.
SMART Recovery is pleased to offer free Webinars and other Online Events as a public service. Please share with your friends, family and colleagues.