The Not Drinking Alcohol Today Podcast
Meg and Bella discuss the ups and downs of navigating an alcohol free life in Australia's alcohol centric culture. This highly rated podcast, featuring in Australia's top 100 self improvement podcasts, is a must for those that are trying to drink less alcohol but need some motivation, are curious about sober life or who are sober but are looking for some extra reinforcement. The Not Drinking Alcohol Today pod provides an invaluable resource to keep you motivated and on track today and beyond. Meg and Bella's guests include neuroscientists, quit-lit authors, journalists, health experts, alcohol coaches and everyday people who have struggled with alcohol but have triumphed over it. Our aim is to support and inspire you to reach your goals to drink less or none at all! Meg and Bella are This Naked Mind Certified Coaches (plus nutritionists and counsellors respectively) who live in Sydney and love their alcohol free life.
The Not Drinking Alcohol Today Podcast
Breaking Barriers with SMART Recovery CEO, April Long
If you are sober curious or are on a mission to drink less, you will likely have heard about SMART Recovery, an evidenced based recovery method that is as an alternative to other recovery programs, including 12 step programs. Or perhaps you've attended a SMART Recovery meeting or two? Today we are joined by April Long, the CEO of SMART Recovery and social justice to champion, to discuss what SMART Recovery is, what distinguishes it from other recovery programs and how this goal-based recovery program empowers individuals to reclaim their lives.
Unlike traditional 12-step programs, SMART Recovery does not label addiction as a disease but instead focuses on personal goals, whether aiming for abstinence or reducing intake. With 370 meetings nationwide and a robust online presence, the program leverages practical tools like cost-benefit analysis to help participants make meaningful behaviour changes. April also talks about alcohol harm in Australia and the dire need for better support systems. April highlights Smart Recovery's efforts in marginalised communities and the innovative SMART Recovery app, which has already achieved 22,000 downloads. The app offers a range of tools, articles, and the capability to launch meetings, making recovery accessible to those who may find group therapy intimidating. Tune in to hear April's insights on early intervention, reducing stigma, and how you can get involved in supporting recovery for everyone.
SMART RECOVERY
Website: https://smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au/
MEG
Megan Webb: https://glassfulfilled.com.au
Instagram: @glassfulfilled
Unwined Bookclub: https://www.alcoholfreedom.com.au/unwinedbookclub
Facebook UpsideAF: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1168716054214678
Small group coaching: https://www.elizaparkinson.com/groupcoaching
BELLA
Web: https://isabellaferguson.com.au
Insta: @alcoholandstresswithisabella
Bi-Yearly 6-Week Small Group Challenges: Learn more: https://www.isabellaferguson.com.au/feb-2025-challenge
Free Do I Have A Drinking Problem 3 x Video Series: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/JTFFgjJL/checkout
Free HOW DO I STOP DRINKING SO MUCH Masterclass: https://resources.isabellaferguson.com.au/offers/7fvkb3FF/checkout
Online Alcohol Self-...
Hello everybody, today, on the Not Drinking Today podcast, we are joined by April Long, the CEO of Smart Recovery, so do stay tuned. You might have heard of Smart Recovery, you might be curious about what they do, you might have attended a few meetings, or you might just want to know what differentiates Smart Recovery from other recovery programs out there. Well, all of your questions are going to be answered today, so a big welcome, april.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for having me, Isabella. I'm very keen to talk all things Smart Recovery with your listeners.
Speaker 1:Oh, so am I. I'm just so thrilled you're here because, as we were saying before we hit record, we've been tentatively trying to reach out and have you on the podcast for a little while now, so I'm so glad that we've been able to line up our schedules. And in fact, when I was doing a bit of research just before, I saw you previously be named as one of Australia's top 100 women of influence for your commitment to social justice by the Australian Financial Review. I mean, that's pretty incredible.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was a wonderful recognition. So, yeah, something I'm really proud of and, yeah, such a nice acknowledgement.
Speaker 1:Oh, amazing. I don't think I've ever met anybody else who has claimed that title, so that's incredible. Look, I'd love to know, just on a personal note, what brought you to this role as CEO of Smart Recovery. And then also the question of do you drink alcohol yourself, because I know lots of our listeners like to know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great question, and I guess it does relate a little bit to that award that you just mentioned. So I'm actually a lawyer by training. People often ask well, how does a lawyer end up in the AOD sector? I was actually working at a corporate law firm and editing the Indigenous Law Bulletin at the Indigenous Law Centre, where, you know, I was writing about all this incredible work that was happening in the community and I decided that, you know, I didn't want to just be writing about it, I wanted to be on the front lines and doing it.
Speaker 2:So I've been working in the not-for-profit sector ever since so 15 years, with some incredible organisations like the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence and the Smith family, and it was actually when I was at Shine for Kids that I was working with children with a parent in prison and meeting these incredible parents, you know mums, dads, aunties, uncles, who had ended up in the criminal justice space and you know weren't getting any support for you know their alcohol consumption and you know, prior to incarceration, once they were in custody, and that really sparked in me professionally the need and the want to do more in the alcohol and other drug space.
Speaker 2:But that was also coupled with my lived experience. So you know, growing up I didn't see moderation role modelled for me. You know, if you think of any family function, you know it was surrounded by heavy alcohol consumption, drug consumption, family violence, domestic violence, the police being called, and so I had this. You know personal lived experience of both parental addiction and parental incarceration and then also you know, professionally, seeing the pointy end in the criminal justice space where people end up incarcerated and they don't have that early intervention prevention support. So I guess my journey into the AOD sector is very different and my relationship with alcohol is a complex one because, as I said, growing up I didn't see moderation. I think I wouldn't describe law school as a place of abstinence.
Speaker 1:No, no, and I'm also a previous lawyer. Agree entirely. Yeah, law school is often where it starts for many lawyers.
Speaker 2:Absolutely and you know we're not taught or we don't see. You know these tools or this ability to self-reflect and you know one of the tools we have at SMART is the cost-benefit analysis tool and it all says benefits to drinking but's also consequences. So I've had to work really hard in my life to be really mindful. So you know I classify myself as a moderate, you know, drinker, but I have to be really mindful around. Well, you know why am I drinking? When am I drinking? Are there any urges? Are there any cravings? And and I'll model that, you know, for my son, um, you know for my community, um, you know my family's aboriginal and irish and so you know growing there's, there's a lot of intergenerational trauma and you know really trying to break the cycle around. You know what does it look like, um, to have a healthy relationship with alcohol.
Speaker 2:And I also acknowledge there are people in my life and in the recovery community who cannot self-manage and abstinence is the only way that they have a relationship with alcohol. But I think as a community we have to have choice for people. And so you know, smart Recovery was actually born out of the US where a person was mandated to do AA and they said well, that violates my right to religious freedom. And so, you know, I love when I meet people that the 12 steps works for them, and I love when I meet people that Smart Recovery works for them, because, at the end of the day, you know, we all do a little bit too much or not enough of something, yes, and we need support. So, yeah, how do we wrap that support around people and give them that power of choice? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Thank you for really delving into your personal history there, and I wonder if a lot of all of the tools and the techniques that you've learnt through Smart Recovery and working in this space have been things that you've been able to apply to, I guess, yourself and when you're thinking about moderation and how to apply it in your own everyday life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and I think you know one of the real powerful things we do at our Smart Recovery training. So you know, a bit of a difference between us and AA is that we do have volunteers but all of our facilitators are trained facilitators and so they learn all of the CBT motivational interviewing tools. But on the second day of the training everyone has to do a mock meeting and you have to select a behavior and, as I mentioned, 70% of people come to SMART for alcohol, but we have people coming for gambling, sex addiction. You know gaming any behavior where you're doing too much of something can you need some support. So what we find in that training is that people come away from that, whether they have lived experience and they're in recovery or they, you know, are a professional with Turning Point or Odyssey House or Salvation Army. Everyone says I found that really useful for my own life.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Whether they chose their mobile phone as their addiction, or Netflix or you know, they take those tools away and they use it in their everyday life. So I absolutely use those tools and I think it's about you know how do we spread that out and give people access to tools that they just may never have had in terms of thinking about things?
Speaker 1:Yes, well, there's a perfect segue just into the question of what does Smart Recovery do? Where do you provide access to poor people that might want a group setting, some extra motivation and to learn these tools so you don't feel so alone? And what differentiates you from other recovery programs like the 12-step programs and all of those other choices out there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, great question. So if you're listening and you're thinking, I'd like to try a smart recovery meeting. We have 370 running around the country, wow. You literally go to our website, smartrecoveryaustraliaorgau, you put in your postcode and all the meetings come up. Now some people like a face-to-face meeting, and so it'll show you the meetings the closest to you, but some people like an online meeting, and you know we need to never forget the stigma and shame that is still attached to you know problematic usage of alcohol, and one of the good things about an online meeting is that you can keep your camera off, and some people choose to do that.
Speaker 2:So you know it is a community for people who are at all stages of their recovery journey. So you might be a bit sober, curious, pre-contemplative, you know, starting to question your relationship with alcohol, and so you can go to a smart recovery meeting and get support. You might be in the maintenance phase and you might be, you know, in recovery for a year or two, and for us, recovery is goal-based. So that might be abstinence or it might be reducing your intake. So I think that's really what is a key difference between us and the 12-step model is that you know we don't have a set amount of meetings, like 90 meetings in 90 days. Yes, we don't believe you need to hand your addiction over to a higher power, believe you need to hand your addiction over to a higher power. And you know we don't believe addiction is a disease. So, as an organization, being an evidence-based organization, you know I would say to people out there that there is a heap of evidence that shows that you're not a moral failing. It's not because you lack willpower. You know you're incredibly brave, you're incredibly resilient and you know it's about giving you tools to think a little bit differently. It's about giving you access to the support and the community where you know people have been, exactly where you've been. So you know, unlike 12 Step, you don't get a sponsor. We don't have a sponsor. But you know you've got generally 10 people in a meeting and a facilitator who are all there to support you, without judgment, without stigma.
Speaker 2:For us, relapse is a part of recovery. You know it's goal-based. We're not there to judge, but you will leave every meeting with a seven-day plan and when you come back that next seven, you know that meeting next week you will say well, how did you go with your seven-day plan? So you will be held accountable by the group in a supportive way. And I think you know that's a big difference between us and AA is that you know you don't attend for life, you attend for as long as it's useful.
Speaker 2:And some people, you know you don't attend for life, you attend for as long as it's useful. And some people, you know we celebrate 20 years this year and some people have been attending for that long. But we also see people who will come for alcohol. They'll, you know, get their alcohol on track and then they'll come back for gambling or they'll come back for, you know, phone addiction. So you know we're for all problematic behaviours and so people generally will come and you know they'll tackle something, they'll move on to the next thing and then, if they want to give back to the recovery community, they can become a facilitator themselves. So they're the stories I love, where people you know, start facilitating their own meeting, which is really powerful.
Speaker 1:Oh, I had so many questions that cropped up out of your description about the differences. I guess that set Smart Recovery apart from other programs. I really liked hearing that there isn't that concept that you're powerless over alcohol or that it's a disease. And just a question that I thought naturally followed there is well, if it's not a disease, how does smart recovery work, I guess, define the problem? How do you kind of give it a? This is why you've fallen into this trap and this is what you need to manage it going forward, if it's not that disease category.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So for us it's behaviour. And, as I mean, you know there's tools around well, giving people the actual knowledge around. Well, how do I actually start to develop behaviors? You know the cost benefit analysis, being mindful around, you know well, yeah, there are significant benefits but there are significant consequences. We have four points of our program and so we don't have 12 steps and all of our tools are developed around those. And so point four of our program is around living a balanced lifestyle. So, you know, it's really giving people the space and the time to go. Well, am I in balance, you know, and doing that lifestyle audit to kind of go? Well, this may have been working for me for a really long time and it was fine, but actually now it's not. I'm out of balance.
Speaker 2:And so when people ask me, how do you define addiction, we don't really like the word addiction, because it is a little bit addict is still in there, which is quite the word addiction, because it is a little bit addict is still in there, which is quite stigmatizing. We see it as behavior and, as I said before, you know, it's doing a little bit too much of something or not enough of something, and generally it's both. And so we do that lifestyle audit Am I exercising enough? Yes, and have I got enough connection? You know we talk about the four C's in our Yarn Smart program. It's country, community, connection and culture. And you know there's that famous quote we all know the opposite of addiction is connection. But you know, particularly during COVID we saw that. But we see it with technology and you know just the world we live in, that people need that connection. And so you know, I think, my personal view, you know the people I love who are in recovery and have been, you know, impacted by their own problematic behavior.
Speaker 2:There is always a pain or a discomfort, whether that's intergenerational trauma, it's a catalyst event. You know, a car accident, the loss of a loved one. There is that pain and trauma and people are self-medicating and trying to heal that and it works for people until it doesn't work for people. And so you know, I think, for us at SMART. That's why, you know, abstinence is not something that you know we're all about. We absolutely.
Speaker 2:You know my dad is now 12 years sober and I love that, you know. But we need to get people to that point and you know we need to work with people about where are they at on that journey? And, you know, for people in physical dependency who have, you know, significant trauma, you can't go from that to abstinence. And so, you know, self-determination for me is incredibly important. As an Aboriginal person, you know how do we help an individual to actually define for themselves what recovery looks like. An individual to actually define for themselves what recovery looks like, as opposed to imposing our own beliefs. And so, yeah, that harm minimisation approach is the smart recovery approach.
Speaker 1:It's so in alignment with the way that I would want other people to approach me as well, particularly when I was at the early days of dealing with all that I had to deal with around alcohol. I would have been frightened off with an approach that said this is a disease, this is with you for life. You won't be able to touch a single glass of alcohol again and all the stigma that comes with that. So it's a very kind of opens the doors. It allows people to come in at their own time and eventually, I guess, create that life that you're right with all the C, the four Cs, that allows them to not want to numb out and escape from eventually. It's logically enticing this approach that you're describing. I know that a lot of people would just appreciate a bit of a description of what does an average meeting look like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so our meetings go for 90 minutes and so you have a trained facilitator and you have generally 10 people is our optimal size um, and we have open meetings, which means you could be there for alcohol, somebody else is there for gambling, somebody else is there for cocaine. Um, because it's actually not about the substance but it's about the behavior that sits. Yes, um, we do have, um, you, sometimes like a gambling focus meeting, for example, but generally they're open to all behaviours. And so what that means is that you know you come in, you do a check-in, which is what's brought you to a smart recovery meeting. How's it been? So everyone does a check-in?
Speaker 2:And then we have what we call tool time, or work time, where we'll go through the different tools, or work time, where we'll go through the different tools and facilitators are trained to really, you know, bring those tools out in a way that is about mutual aid and peer support. So sometimes we have to untrain counsellors because you're not giving advice. You're really getting that out of the group. So somebody might say you know, I've got a wedding coming up and I know there's going to be an open bar and I know it's going to be one of my kind of triggers and I really want to, you know, not pick up or I want to drink less. And so the facilitator says, well, has anyone else in the group been in that situation and how have you managed that? And someone might say, well, yeah, you know, I just get a lemon and lime bitters and I hold that the whole time in my hand and that's the strategy for me.
Speaker 2:So the power of the meetings comes from the group and the facilitator is there really to guide and, as I mentioned earlier, the end of the meeting. So, after everyone does their work time, we do a checkout, which is okay, we've gone through all of this. What are you going to do in the next seven days? And it can be really small things, you know, because we want them. It's the SMART goals, but one actually stands for self-management and recovery training. But I always get asked about the SMART goals. But, yeah, that's how we end a meeting and so you know, people can go to the same meeting. They can go to different meetings where they'll see different people.
Speaker 2:One of the things I'm most proud of is that we've worked really hard over the last two years. That it is, you know, by your community, for your community. So you can go to an LGBTIQ specific meeting Fantastic, yeah, yarn, smart meetings, youth meetings. So, you know, really trying to make sure that you know, for me, as you know, a mum in a two mum family, I might not feel comfortable coming to a standard smart meeting talking about discrimination. I'm experiencing, you know, as a rainbow family, so I would go to an LGBTIQ meeting. So for me, it's really important that we have those safe spaces for people to really talk about. You know the pain and the trauma and then the things that have you know resulted in them attending a SMART recovery meeting that it's really safe. So we've got women's meetings, we've got men's meetings, we have meetings running in Korean and Vietnamese and Chinese. So, yeah, there's a space for everybody.
Speaker 1:That's absolutely fantastic and I guess you'd recommend people shop around to find the meeting that they're most comfortable in April. I'd love to know what do you think presently is the most concerning statistics around alcohol in Australia? What would you like to see change?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that there's a couple of statistics I find really concerning.
Speaker 2:Probably the most concerning, at the pointy end, pertains to people who are in the criminal justice space, and I was quite shocked to see the latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report that showed 44% of people currently in prison were at a high risk of alcohol harm in the past year, and so, to put that in perspective, we've got about 42,000 people in our country currently incarcerated but only 13% of those people actually receive drug and alcohol treatment while in custody.
Speaker 2:So you know, we can talk about the front end and the lack of access to services and supports and people not knowing where to go, but then at the pointy end, where we have criminalised people and they're in custody, we're not giving them the access to the support they need, and so for me that is really concerning and, as I mentioned, I've had family members in the criminal justice space. I still have family members in custody and you know, I know that they have significant trauma and drug and alcohol needs that aren't being met and I think that that's a failing on us as a country that we don't offer that to our most marginalized people. At SMART we run our Inside Out program and we're in 20 correctional centers.
Speaker 1:I was going to ask I wonder if SMART Recovery can jump on in. But you're doing it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so we are and it's. You know it's in 200 prisons around the world. You know it's an incredible program and, again, it's peer led it's actually the people in custody that run it with each other, and it's incredibly powerful. The other one, which I think you know affects every person listening to this podcast, is that on average it takes 15 to 18 years for people to first reach out for support. So you know that front door of not knowing where to go.
Speaker 2:You know if a loved one's struggling, whether it's your partner, you know your child. You know people really do flounder around in what I would say is a very disconnected service system because they don't know where to go. And if I think again about people who I love, if they'd gotten help 15 or 18 years earlier, what that would mean for them living their best life, but for their children and for their community, you know, if we can just chip away at that and really smash that stigma where people think that you know it is a moral failing or it's a lack of self-control or you know all of these things that are kind of out there in the media and in the general thinking, if we can just chip away at those, how many more people will be living a healthy, happy life. We would reduce the disease burden, you know, the hospital admissions, cancer rates, I mean across the board. But most importantly, people you know would be thriving parents, you know, and, yeah, there'd be a lot more happiness in our community.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Thank you for sharing those two very important critical statistics that are happening in Australia and how amazing it's smart recoveries at the forefront there in correctional centres how wonderful, I guess. What would you say to somebody that is listening? They're drinking too much and you know when you are. You've probably had a few people in your family tell you to calm it down, wind it back. There might be some behaviours like you're drinking in secret. Yeah, what would you say to that person that they need to do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the first thing I would say to that person is you're not alone, you know. I think you're incredibly brave for getting to a point where you're starting to question that relationship and that self-awareness is the most important thing. The first point of our program is motivation for change, and you know thinking through well, what is your motivation for change? You know believing and knowing that you can do it, because I know so many people who have, and you know also that it's not about white-knuckling it. You know also that it's not about white knuckling it. You know it's not about being cold turkey or you know, being strong enough to go cold turkey. You know it's about just having the support and tools that you need, and so it does take time.
Speaker 2:It is a lot of hard work in terms of, you know, finding the right support for you, but absolutely you know head to our website, see what supports are there. We actually have a partner directory of all the other incredible services that we work with, and so you know, for some of your listeners, they might be in physical dependency, they might need to detox. You know they might need to go to a residential rehab program. There are so many supports and it can feel overwhelming and I know a lot of people who go to their GP and they don't get the support they need so many examples of that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, I do too, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's really tricky. So, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation they have a great service called Path to Help and so you know, I think it is complex, it is hard work, but there is a community here for you and so taking those first steps is incredibly important and, you know, do shop around and find what works best for you. Again, if it's AA, that's fantastic. You know, if it's Smart Recovery, that's fantastic. But, yeah, you're incredibly brave and yeah, I know so many people who have found the right support for them and it is very personal and it's up to you what that looks like Often, it's just that first phone call to somebody to say I'm drinking too much.
Speaker 1:what do I do? That just opens up the door. But people can sit on that one phone call for years, like you said 15, 15 years absolutely yeah, um, because they're afraid of judgment, you know.
Speaker 2:They're afraid that, um. Well, for a lot of people that I speak to, this is what's been keeping me alive. You know this, I have all this pain and trauma and it's not until they start to get the tools and really look at well, what can I replace that with?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that they start to see that change in their lives April a question I probably should have asked a little earlier on. But there are four points to SMART recovery. Was I right in hearing that the first one is motivation for change?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we always start with motivation for change because it's different. Like we have some people that come to SMART and they're told to come by their lawyer because it's, you know, it looks really good. They might be before the courts for a particular year but they might not be necessarily motivated to stop drinking, necessarily motivated to stop drinking, but they're very motivated for staying out of jail. Or their wife comes, you know, their wife tells them to come and they might not be at first that motivated to stop drinking but they're very motivated to keep their relationship healthy. You know we work with people to build and maintain that motivation and start with where they're at and then help kind of get where we get they need to get to. So the second point is learning to cope with urges and cravings. Yep, we all have them and so you know, really getting people to understand that, yeah, that they're there, how do you actually motivate yourself? Distract, yeah, that they're there. How do you actually motivate yourself? Distract yourself all of the techniques.
Speaker 2:Finding that lifestyle balance I mentioned is the next one, and you know that's across that lifestyle audit. You know we look at the social emotional wellbeing wheel, particularly for mob, in terms of what does lifestyle balance look like. And then problem solving. So, unfortunately, you're never going to get away from problem solving. It's something that we all have to do. So you know again, how do we give you the tools to problem solve and deal with those feelings that are going to come up, those thoughts that are going to come up. So, yeah, all of our tools are designed around those kind of four points. They're not four steps, but yeah, everything in SMART is wrapped around those.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's great, it's a really great program and I imagine that those four points. It's not a four-week program, is it? Is it just do you move on to the stages when you need to, or how does it kind of operate in that sense?
Speaker 2:It's not sequential. So every meeting you might be in a meeting where you've got a tool that's around the lifestyle balance based on what somebody's sharing. You might have a tool that's around the coping with urges and cravings because someone's brought up in check-in. I've really been struggling this week, you know, because I really have been craving a drink. So it really depends on the group and what comes kind of from the group. I guess the problem solving is in every meeting, particularly the seven-day plan, in every meeting, particularly the seven-day plan, because it's about people identifying for themselves what are their problems and challenges and what are the goals that they're going to set for the next week.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, we don't move through each kind of point. The only program we do that is our family and friends program. So any of your listeners are supporting somebody else, whether it's their child, their partner, their mum, their dad. They can come to a Smart Recovery meeting and get support. We have nine of those family and friends meetings, oh wonderful. So that's where it's a little bit more sequential, where you step through the program Wonderful.
Speaker 1:April. Just two last questions. What are you most proud about when it comes to smart recovery and what's on the horizon for smart recovery? What's in the pipeline that you really want to achieve? Because I know that they're probably. Whenever I see any of your posts on LinkedIn, there's always something on the boil there for the future.
Speaker 2:Yes, I guess they probably interconnect, because what I'm most proud of is our innovation culture, which does mean we've always got something on the boil in terms of things up and coming. So, yeah, look, I think for an organisation that is 20 years old that has always had lived experience at its heart, I think lived experience is a bit sexy now. I know, yeah, the peer workers and it's incredible to see that growth. But you know, for 20 years Smart Recovery's had that pipeline where we train participants to become facilitators. So that makes me really proud. Know, the commitment to justice and marginalized communities, the fact that we had a program developed to run inside prisons, um, that dr liz dale had done her phd on the cultural competencies of smart. So, you know, as a ceo, I could, you know, literally walk in, take that research, put together an aboriginal action group and now have, um, an Aboriginal-specific recovery program, is something I'm incredibly proud of. And you know the fact that we have a trans-specific meeting, for you know, the trans community, you know I think recovery is hard enough, let alone when you are part of a marginalized community where there is discrimination and you don't feel safe going to some of these other services. So that's what I'm most proud of is that Smart Recovery is for everyone and you know, you can find your community regardless of where you're at in your recovery journey, regardless of what the substance or the behaviour is.
Speaker 2:And I guess what's on the horizon that I'm really excited to share with your listeners, because it's it's only a week old, um, and it's just kind of started, embryonic, but um is our smart recovery app. So, um, you can now literally download the app. All those tools I mentioned. Um, you can download those. Um, you can launch a meeting, uh, from the app. All those tools I mentioned, you can download those. You can launch a meeting from the app. There's, you know, some articles and support that's there. So it's available in the Google shop and on the Apple store.
Speaker 2:And you know, I think for some people, group therapy and going to a meeting is quite daunting. And you know, when we put these tools up on our website, we did it back in September last year, before we had the app, and so far we've had 22,000 downloads. Oh gosh, that's incredible, Incredible. But what I think is really interesting is, you know, obviously people attending the meeting are downloading them, but for those that might just want to, you know, sit at home, work through things themselves and they're, quite, you know, wanting to attend a group therapy session with other people, they can do that work as well.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, that's what I'm really excited about is how we are. You know, meetings will always be at the heart of what we do and it's that connection and that's community. But again, we've got to be there for everybody, and so if people just want to download those tools and get a bit of a feel for SMART and then attend a meeting, really exciting as well so yes, it's a bit of a you know, pitch to everyone to download the app, but yeah, I do think it will change the recovery space for people who, you know, might just not be ready for that first meeting just yet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, people like to do things tentatively, get comfortable, work out what it's like, so you know. They want to know that they're not being sold anything or that their anonymity might be protected. If that's what they need, so that's fantastic. So someone's out there. They want to download the app. So they just go to the app store. They want to attend a meeting. Where should they jump on? First of all?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so head to our website and, again, you can download all of those tools from the website as well. So that is the place to go if you want to attend a meeting, but also if you want to you know volunteer and you might be at a different point in your recovery and you want to give back to the community, you can also go to our website and sign up to volunteer. So, yeah, that's kind of what I would say to people listening. It's smartrecoveryaustraliacomau and, yeah, you can go there, find meetings, find tools, find articles, and people can also, if they want to purchase all of the tools together in a handbook, they can do that as well. But our meetings are completely free. The handbook really covers the cost of printing it and getting it out to you.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, there's a lot of options in terms of getting involved in the community. We trained over 700 facilitators last year, so there's quite a lot of smart recovery facilitators out there and, yeah, some of your listeners might be ready to take that step in their recovery journey and give back to the community as well. I think. So I think there'll facilitators out there and, yeah, some of your listeners might be ready to take that step in their recovery journey and give back to the community as well.
Speaker 1:I think so. I think there's going to be many of listeners that are looking for just something else. People looking for community. They're looking for face-to-face group, that sort of context where they can just feel like they're not alone because it's it's such, you're right, it's so connected with that kind of context where they can just feel like they're not alone because it's it's such, you're right, it's so connected. With that kind of need for connection and all the rest of it, can I just say a huge thank you, april, for coming on and informing us all about what Smart Recovery does. I think this is going to be a fabulous episode that will resonate with so many people out there. A huge thank you.
Speaker 2:Oh, thanks so much for having me. And yeah, let's spread the message about smart recovery and give people the power of choice to really choose what recovery works for them. Love it, thank you.
