Meeting Guidelines

Meeting Guidelines

Online SMART Recovery Meetings

We all agree that the sole aim of our meeting is to support our fellow participants and help each other and ourselves with recovery from any type of addictive behaviour. When participating in this meeting we understand that we agree to abide by the following guidelines.

Attendance

• We arrive on time.
• We stay in the room for the duration of the meeting (except for comfort breaks).
• The presence of children, dogs, cats and other distractions can inhibit participants from sharing. Please be aware of your online environment and use headphones to limit background noise if needed. It is important to consider all factors that might be distracting including, eating, drinking anything, smoking, vaping or any other behaviour that might be construed as inappropriate and unhelpful. Please keep your microphone and video on silent until you wish to participate.

Respect

• We do not label others or use offensive or threatening language or behavior.
• We do not discriminate; we use inclusive language.
• We accept the diversity within our group.
• When we attend a meeting, we have the capacity to communicate, which includes the ability to listen, convey information in a lucid fashion and not to be disruptive.
• We accept that our meeting takes place for the benefit of all who attend.
• We try to always be open, honest and show kindness and generosity in recognising the difficulties experienced by other participants and the efforts they are taking to change their behaviour.
• Threats, intimidation and verbal abuse will not be tolerated.

Confidentiality

• We ensure that all confidences shared, and personal information learned inside the meeting are kept to ourselves. We do not share these details outside of the meeting.
• We do not tell others outside of our meeting who attended the meeting.
• We do not identify each other as SMART attendees if we meet outside of our meeting.

Focus

• We avoid side conversations and remain focused on the group discussion, format and direction. If we send a private message it should be concise and appropriate.
• Inappropriate private messaging will not be tolerated. If you receive inappropriate messages let the facilitator or meeting helper know immediately.
• We keep our conversations focused on the here and now, we discourage the sharing of war stories.
• We encourage discussion focused solutions.
• We are curious.
• We welcome ideas and problem solving, we discourage advice giving.
• We listen to each other and try not to make assumptions.

Responsibility

• We take responsibility for our individual decisions and behaviours and allow others to be responsible for theirs.
• We view our addictive behavior as our own responsibility and as a result of choices we have made.

SMART Recovery participants who feel that they have been exposed to an adverse situation during a SMART Recovery meeting are encouraged to follow the Complaints Policy & Procedure of their national SMART Recovery office.

Face to Face SMART Recovery Meetings

We all agree that the sole aim of our meeting is to support our fellow participants and help each other and ourselves with recovery from any type of addictive behaviour. When participating in this meeting we understand that we agree to abide by the following guidelines.

Attendance

• We arrive on time.
• We stay in the room for the duration of the meeting (except for comfort breaks).
• We acknowledge that difficulties with childcare arise, but it is generally agreed that a SMART meeting is not a suitable environment for a child. The presence of children can inhibit participants from sharing and can cause emotional stress for those people who may be separated from their own child. Facilitators need to also consider any insurance liability risk they may be exposing themselves to by allowing a child to be present during a meeting. It is important to consider all of these factors before deciding if a child can stay in the room during a SMART Recovery meeting.

Respect

• We do not label others or use offensive or threatening language or behaviour.
• We do not discriminate; we use inclusive language.
• We accept the diversity within our group.
• When we attend a meeting, we have the capacity to communicate, which includes the ability to listen, convey information in a lucid fashion and not to be disruptive.
• We turn our mobile phones onto silent.
• We accept that our meeting takes place for the benefit of all who attend.
• We try to always be open, honest and show kindness and generosity in recognising the difficulties experienced by other participants and the efforts they are taking to change their behaviour.
• Threats, intimidation, physical and verbal abuse and possession of weapons will not be tolerated.

Confidentiality

• We ensure that all confidences shared, and personal information learned inside the meeting are kept to ourselves. We do not share these details outside of the meeting.
• We do not tell others outside of our meeting who attended the meeting.
• We do not identify each other as SMART attendees if we meet outside of our meeting.

Focus

• We avoid side conversations and remain focused on the group discussion, format and direction.
• We keep our conversations focused on the here and now, we discourage the sharing of war stories.
• We encourage discussion focused solutions.
• We are curious.
• We welcome ideas and problem solving, we discourage advice giving.
• We listen to each other and try not to make assumptions.

Responsibility

• We take responsibility for our individual decisions and behaviours and allow others to be responsible for theirs.
• We view our addictive behaviour as our own responsibility and as a result of choices we have made.

SMART Recovery participants who feel that they have been exposed to an adverse situation during a SMART Recovery meeting are encouraged to follow the Complaints Policy & Procedure of their national SMART Recovery office.