There are many "flavors" of meetings.
But they typically involve checking in, some discussion, and review of a concept or tool.
You can always ask the facilitator if they wouldn't mind reviewing a tool or concept.
I attended many different meetings, I've also made an effort to attend some international meetings.
I hope you find a set that work for you!
Each meeting is run independently by a Smart facilitator. As such, we each have our own style and format within the Smart recovery framework.
Over time, each group tends to find its own balance. Some are more "personal issue" oriented, while others are more tool/education based. It will depend on your current needs.
Thank you ☺️ I didn’t know we could attend international ones that’s very cool. I’ll definitely give it another crack. I’ve ordered the workbook too so hope I find a group that works for me
I was going to a live meeting before covid and this is what it was like.
from what i understand, there’s supposed to be a quick check in and then talking about worksheets or whatever you’re doing… but at mine, the check ins never ended.
I ended up going through the workbook with my therapist
It depends on the meeting and the facilitator. Sometimes, the meetings will be more tool based, and the meeting finder may indicate that. Check-ins should never last the full meeting as I've heard others mention what happened to them. Mine start with a brief check in, then I let the group pick a few topics. We then have an open discussion and I'll bring in relevant tools that can be useful based on the situation. We don't work them in the group, but they are there to take away for "homework" That's my style and one that seems to work. The meeting I run has been this way since 1992. It is the longest runningSMART meeting. I've only been doing it the last 6 years.
Keep in mind, the facilitator is not there to give "lessons." We learn this in our training. We facilitate a conversation through peer support. The facilitator should do very little talking and guide the group to have the conversation whether it's tool based or an open discussion.
When I started, it was with an online local SMART Meeting in Malaysia run by Hatrick. It's found on the smartrecoveryinternational.org website. There are many meetings run outside the US & Canada,
I do attend meetings with SMART Australia at times.
I found many meetings on the US website and attended many meetings initially to check them out and stuck with 5 regular meetings that I found suitable with regards to facilitator style and items discussed.
One meeting in particular always discussed a tool and the rest at times worked a tool or was discussion topic related. Almost all of the meetings followed the standard SMART meeting format.
However I did attend a few meetings that I could not relate to or was uncomfortable with the way it was conducted for my myself, although there were many other attendees.
I learned that the path to recovery is different for every individual and there is no one size fits all where meetings are concerned.
I hope you do find meetings that are suited to your needs and there are plenty of meetings available daily.
***Keep On Keeping On!***
There are definitely some more didactic meetings, but I you're going to have some hits and some misses along the way. Take note of your hits and return to those meetings.
From what I found is, it can go back-and-forth depending on who’s there. There are times that in my in person group. It’s a mostly informal kind of catch up. Talk about some of the struggles of the week. A few times that I’ve been the only one there and me and the facilitator sat down and worked through tools and reworked my lifestyle, balance, pie, and things like that. From my experience, the more people that are in there they kind of more informal it gets due to time constraints.
The meetings I attend run the gamut. One has the facilitator talking 80% of the time. One is very chatty and informal. One is brief check in and then tool focused…
I suggest going to one of the National online meetings. Two to three tools are worked in each meeting.
There are many "flavors" of meetings. But they typically involve checking in, some discussion, and review of a concept or tool. You can always ask the facilitator if they wouldn't mind reviewing a tool or concept. I attended many different meetings, I've also made an effort to attend some international meetings. I hope you find a set that work for you!
Each meeting is run independently by a Smart facilitator. As such, we each have our own style and format within the Smart recovery framework. Over time, each group tends to find its own balance. Some are more "personal issue" oriented, while others are more tool/education based. It will depend on your current needs.
Thank you ☺️ I didn’t know we could attend international ones that’s very cool. I’ll definitely give it another crack. I’ve ordered the workbook too so hope I find a group that works for me
Thanks for your reply. I think this was a national meeting, but I’ll try a different group tomorrow perhaps ☺️
I was going to a live meeting before covid and this is what it was like. from what i understand, there’s supposed to be a quick check in and then talking about worksheets or whatever you’re doing… but at mine, the check ins never ended. I ended up going through the workbook with my therapist
It depends on the meeting and the facilitator. Sometimes, the meetings will be more tool based, and the meeting finder may indicate that. Check-ins should never last the full meeting as I've heard others mention what happened to them. Mine start with a brief check in, then I let the group pick a few topics. We then have an open discussion and I'll bring in relevant tools that can be useful based on the situation. We don't work them in the group, but they are there to take away for "homework" That's my style and one that seems to work. The meeting I run has been this way since 1992. It is the longest runningSMART meeting. I've only been doing it the last 6 years. Keep in mind, the facilitator is not there to give "lessons." We learn this in our training. We facilitate a conversation through peer support. The facilitator should do very little talking and guide the group to have the conversation whether it's tool based or an open discussion.
When I started, it was with an online local SMART Meeting in Malaysia run by Hatrick. It's found on the smartrecoveryinternational.org website. There are many meetings run outside the US & Canada, I do attend meetings with SMART Australia at times. I found many meetings on the US website and attended many meetings initially to check them out and stuck with 5 regular meetings that I found suitable with regards to facilitator style and items discussed. One meeting in particular always discussed a tool and the rest at times worked a tool or was discussion topic related. Almost all of the meetings followed the standard SMART meeting format. However I did attend a few meetings that I could not relate to or was uncomfortable with the way it was conducted for my myself, although there were many other attendees. I learned that the path to recovery is different for every individual and there is no one size fits all where meetings are concerned. I hope you do find meetings that are suited to your needs and there are plenty of meetings available daily. ***Keep On Keeping On!***
Hatrick does a Monday morning meeting. I listen while he talks 80% of the meeting. Seriously, an hour in and 2 or 3 other people have checked in
There are definitely some more didactic meetings, but I you're going to have some hits and some misses along the way. Take note of your hits and return to those meetings.
From what I found is, it can go back-and-forth depending on who’s there. There are times that in my in person group. It’s a mostly informal kind of catch up. Talk about some of the struggles of the week. A few times that I’ve been the only one there and me and the facilitator sat down and worked through tools and reworked my lifestyle, balance, pie, and things like that. From my experience, the more people that are in there they kind of more informal it gets due to time constraints.
The meetings I attend run the gamut. One has the facilitator talking 80% of the time. One is very chatty and informal. One is brief check in and then tool focused…
It's difficult to demonstrate tools on Zoom the way one does live, thus they end up becoming informal chats, more often than not