Steve Bergier, a certified SMART Recovery Facilitator in Orange County, California was kind enough to not only submit a story to AA Beyond Belief, but also to spend his Sunday morning having a conversation with me about his experience with SMART Recovery. Steve isn’t an official spokesperson for SMART Recovery, so his comments during the podcast and his essay are solely his opinions, and not necessarily the opinions of SMART.

SMART an acronym for Self Management and Recovery Training, provides a completely secular, science-based approach to recovery that’s intended to evolve over time as we gain new insight and understanding of addiction. According to the SMART FAQ, page on their website, a good place to begin reviewing the scientific foundation of SMART is the Handbook of Alcoholism Treatment Approaches: Effective Alternatives, by Reid K. Hester and William R. Miller.

In this podcast, Steve walks us through some of the tools used in SMART meetings, most of which are taken from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and we also talk about some of the differences between SMART and AA, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each.

I think you will enjoy this engaging discussion.

Mentioned During the Podcast

SMART OC: The website for SMART in Orange County, California. Steve is the webmaster for this site.

Sunday Irving Meeting Blog: Steves blog.

SMART Tool Chest

ABC Worksheet

CBA Worksheet