SMART Recovery Family & Friends is an alternative to Al-Anon and Johnson Intervention
Being close to someone who struggles with addiction or other problematic behaviours is highly stressful. SMART Family and Friends aims to help you develop more effective coping strategies and communication skills as you seek to maintain more balance with your life.
We are a science-based secular alternative to Al-Anon and Johnson Intervention. Our approach is based on SMART Recovery’s CRAFT (Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training) program.
Free SMART Family & Friends support meetings
Our online and in-person meetings are run by trained facilitators who often have their own experiences as a family member affected by a loved one’s relationship with alcohol, drugs, gambling or other problematic behaviors.
Currently there are no in-person Family and Friends meetings in the Montreal area. We are looking for volunteers who are interested in starting meetings locally. There are online meetings across Canada that you are welcome to join.
Here is what’s available online in Canada:
You can find other online Family & Friend meetings happening at other days and times throughout the United States.
CRAFT (Community Reinforcement Approach & Family Training)
For concerned significant others, SMART Recovery recommends CRAFT because their objective is to coach family and friends how to self-protect and obtain skills to be non-confrontational and help their loved one find recovery from addiction.
Since CRAFT’s approach is very new, groups may be difficult to find in your local area. You can get more information reading the book Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening by Robert J. Meyers, Ph.D. and Brenda L. Wolfe, Ph.D.
For those that are seeking a recovery program for their loved one; Get Your Loved One Sober is a great start. CRAFT has extraordinary success rate getting people into treatment and recovery.
CRAFT is an alternative to the traditional 12-Step approach, Al-Anon which recommends detaching yourself from your loved one. It’s different from the confrontational interventions used by the Johnson Institute. CRAFT program’s is based on using non-confrontational methods and promotes more behavioural changes like discovering and rewarding positive behaviours. CRAFT goes hand in hand with SMART Recovery’s program.
The book’s primary focus is to help the reader change their interactions with their loved one, which helps modify their behaviour. More information on CRAFT.
Robert Meyers, Ph.D. developed CRAFT. He has been working in Addictions for over 45 years. He is the director of Robert J. Meyers, Ph.D. & Associates and 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.
Resources at SMART Recovery
On SMART Recovery’s message board, we have a section dedicated to Concerned Significant Others (For Families and Friends) that provide online peer support. You are welcome to use any of our online resources and attend our meetings if you choose. You must register to participate.
- Other reading material for Family and Friends
- Other SMART Recovery Programmes
- Oxygen Mask Rule for Family & Friends
Recommended Reading
Recommended readings for participants of the Friends & Family meeting include:
- Get Your Loved One Sober: Alternatives to Nagging, Pleading, and Threatening by Drs. Robert Meyers, Ph.D., and Brenda L. Wolfe, Ph.D.
- I’m Right, You’re Wrong, Now What?: Break the Impasse and Get What You Need by Xavier Amador.
SMART Family and Friends Tool Chest: Friends & Family Worksheets
Other Support Services: Multiple Pathways Partner Directory
Listen to a Podcast: Dr. Robert Meyers discussing CRAFT
