We have various training program courses and offerings depending on the desired role you’re seeking:

• The GSF 200: Meeting Host Training is our training for individuals who wish to start a new hosted SMART discussion meeting. 
• The GSF 201: Facilitator Training is our training for those seeking to start a new SMART Recovery meeting, become a co-facilitator of or to take over an existing SMART meeting. The GSF 201 training is also required for those seeking to become one of our online community volunteers. 
• The GSF 202: Family & Friends Training is an "add-on" training for those who wish to start a SMART Recovery group for Family & Friends. Completion of the GSF 201: Facilitator Training is a prerequisite of this training.
• The GSF 203: Facilitator/Family & Friends Training is a "combo" training which combines the GSF 201 and the GSF 202 training courses into a single course.
• The GSF 301: SMART Recovery for Professionals course is a training offering for licensed "professionals" desiring to utilize the SMART Recovery program with the individuals they're working with in a professional setting.

Our training site and courses are mobile friendly, and you can access by computer, laptop, tablets or Smart phones anytime and anywhere there is an internet connection available.

If you wish to use a mobile device, you'll need to install the Moodle app (available for both Android and iPhone/iPad mobile devices) and enter the full site address of the location of your training course. (Be sure to include the backslash on the end… you’ll get an error message without it.)

Yes, there are CE credits available for SOME of our training course offerings. SMART Recovery, USA is a NAADAC Approved Education Provider (Provider #86948) and CE credits are available for some of our training course offerings.

The courses and offerings which CE credits are available will be indicated specifically within the course description and will also be designated with the NAADAC Approved Education Provider logo displayed on the left.

A listing of the organizations and boards that NAADAC continuing education (CE) hours are accepted can be found here.

NOTE: There may be other licensing boards or organizations not listed where NAADAC's Continuing Education offerings meet the standards for acceptance. Due diligence should be performed to assure these CEs will be accepted by your board or licensing authority.

No… having a personal experience with a problematic addictive behavior is not a necessity to run a helpful and effective SMART Recovery meeting. Our meeting Facilitators and Volunteers are a broad mix of people, including treatment professionals, peers who have used the program and dealt with addictive behavior issues themselves, non-professionals, non-peers… and everything in between! At any given point of time, we have this broad mix of individuals participating in our training program.

SMART believes that EVERYONE has something that could be considered an addictive behavior—though not necessarily being problematic or harmful. If one accepts this premise and then searches to identify it (whatever it might be) within their own life, it allows one to be able to relate to “addictive behaviors” in general.

In an article by Ruth C. Engs titled, “Addictive Behaviors”, she states:

“Any activity, substance, object, or behavior that has become the major focus of a person's life to the exclusion of other activities, or that has begun to harm the individual or others physically, mentally, or socially is considered an addictive behavior.”

Whatever addictive behavior someone is dealing with--drinking, drugging, gambling, smoking, eating, shopping, sexual, etc. (even "cutting" or other self-harm behaviors), they all have similarities and things in common. No matter the substance, activity or behavior, the process of addiction and recovery is basically the same. It is these processes that SMART Recovery focus on.

So while there are differences in the content (e.g., drinking, drugging, gambling, smoking, eating, shopping, sexual, etc.), by focusing on the processes involved, I believe you'll find the similarities no matter what the specific "addictive behavior" involves.

While both the facilitated and hosted SMART meeting formats are discussion-focused, the primary difference between the two is where the topics of discussion come from:

• In a facilitated meeting, the discussions are focused on the specific issues attendees raise during the Agenda Setting portion of the meeting.
• In a hosted meeting, the discussions focus on one (or more) of the SMART tools based on handouts and exercises from the SMART Recovery Handbook. 

No, there's no additional cost for training materials. All of the training materials are provided to you online within the training course.

Yes... we've got you covered! The end of your training is just the beginning of a new learning journey and you're not left out all on your own. In addition to the continued support available from the Central Office staff and the Training Team, there are various other means of ongoing training and support opportunities we make available to our meeting Facilitators and Volunteers:

• FAST Forward: SMART Meeting Management meetings take place every Monday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time, every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time and every Friday at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. If you are interested in furthering your skills in managing your meetings or smoothly handling any challenges you might encounter, these discussion meetings are for you. Discussion topics include difficult and sensitive issues that may arise in meetings, best practices and techniques in using the SMART tools, following meeting guidelines, creating an accepting and non-judgmental meeting environment, and how to "Do SMART Recovery”. It’s also a place to brainstorm ideas and share information and resources.  
• FAST Forward: SMART for Volunteers meetings take place on the first and third Monday of every month at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. SMART for Volunteers is a one-hour support meeting exclusively for SMART Facilitators and Volunteers. The purpose of the SMART for Volunteers meetings is to provide a SMART Recovery meeting for our facilitators and volunteers who may or may not have another support system available. It is a time to discuss your own personal issues, challenges and life struggles. All SMART Recovery Facilitators and Volunteers are invited to attend. Who is there, what is said and by whom is STRICTLY confidential. 
• SMARTCAL is a discussion group you can choose to subscribe to when submitting your Volunteer Registration Form. There, you can send one email that will go out to all SMART Volunteers, Facilitators, members of the Board of Directors, etc… everyone that is a part of the SMART Recovery organization who has subscribed to the group.
• SMARTTxPro is a discussion group you can choose to subscribe to if you are a certified addiction treatment professional.  Check the box when submitting your Volunteer Registration Form and begin to communicate with other treatment professionals serving SMART Recovery.
• Facilitator’s Forum on the SROL Message Board, which has been set up as a means of communication and support for both our existing face-to-face and online meeting Facilitators, as well as the “graduates” of our Training Program. This allows you to continue share your progress in getting your meetings up and running, and provides another venue in which you can get feedback and share thoughts, ideas, concerns, issues or problems encountered, etc. relating to your meetings.

NOTE: The ongoing training and support meetings take place utilizing the online Zoom meeting platform. Notices and access details for the meetings are posted in the SMARTCAL discussion group. The meeting times and dates are also listed in the Calendar of Events. 

Having a personal experience with a problematic addictive behavior is NOT a necessity to run a helpful and effective SMART Recovery meeting. Our meeting Facilitators and Volunteers are a broad mix of people, including treatment professionals, peers who have used the program and dealt with substance abuse issues themselves, non-professionals, non-peers… and everything in between! At any given point of time, we have this broad mix of individuals participating in our training courses.

Generally speaking, SMART believes that EVERYONE has something that could be considered an addictive behavior—though not necessarily being problematic or “harmful”. If one accepts this premise and then searches to identify it (whatever "it" might be) within their own life, it allows one to be able to relate to “addictive behaviors” in general.

Our approach is consistent with evidence-based practices in addiction treatment and our program is based on treatments with strong scientific support, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Prochaska and DiClimente’s Stages of Change, and Miller and Rollnick’s Motivational Interviewing. Also used is components of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), by Dr. Albert Ellis, because they are easy to understand and convey CBT principles easily.

Because of the evidence and scientific research behind these various methods which the SMART Recovery program have drawn upon, we are confident that our approach works very well for many people.