We're Here for You When You're Ready!
SMART Recovery® Podcast
is a nonprofit agency that provides comprehensive human services across the state of Connecticut. Their vision is, "All people will have the opportunity to grow, change, and live healthier, productive lives." In this podcast we have a conversation with two representatives of Wheeler initiatives: Heather Clinger, a Program Manager at the Connecticut Center for Prevention, Wellness, and Recovery and Laura Zeppieri, Project Coordinator for . Both Heather and Laura share their passion for providing effective strategies for breaking into cycles of addictive behaviors and offering...
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SMART Recovery is Not Cringey or Lame
SMART Recovery® Podcast
When college student April Lombard first considered checking out a SMART Recovery meeting on her LSU campus, she worried that it would be both cringey and lame. Turns out it was neither. In fact, based on the value April found in the science-based approach, she decided to take the facilitator training and get even more involved. In this podcast April shares some of her personal recovery journey, her perspective as a young person in recovery, and why having multiple pathways available to students just makes sense.
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Love Yourself Ferociously
SMART Recovery® Podcast
Sarah Laurel is the Founder and Executive Director of , a nonprofit outreach and education organization focused on reducing the harm created by addictive behaviors. Sarah uses her lived experience to advance the organization’s commitment to providing trauma-informed resources in a judgement-free way. In this podcast Sarah shares her personal recovery journey and the "happy accidents" along the way that led to the work that she does today. Her hopeful message is filled with practical concern for how things are right now, along with encouragement for all of us to live in a ferocious...
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Holding Space For Choice
SMART Recovery® Podcast
There is a well documented connection between problematic substance use and mental health conditions. Since May is we asked SMART facilitator Kelly Scullin to join us in a conversation about mental health and recovery. She is a and has deep experience in the human resources field. Kelly brings a unique perspective to her work based on her personal journey with substance use, her status as a "self-proclaimed recovering type A," and the coaching skills involved with facilitating group meetings and helping people make the best decisions for themselves. As a person who stays curious and explores...
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The Many Dimensions of Collegiate Recovery
SMART Recovery® Podcast
College age youth often experiment with new behaviors when they perceive they have less formal restrictions, and Millie Goins knows all about it. She is a prevention advocate and certified wellness coach that leads student programs at the University of Central Arkansas. In her role she seeks to educate youth about the multiple dimensions of wellness and how substance misuse can negatively affect their ability to stay healthy and succeed in an academic setting. Because she has lived experience, Millie is able to connect with students and offer valuable support as they make choices. In this...
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Making It YOUR Choice
SMART Recovery® Podcast
Naltrexone has been used to treat alcohol use disorder for 30 years, ever since researcher Dr. Joseph Volpicelli identified its effectiveness. In this podcast we are joined by both Dr. Volpicelli and Jonathan Hunt-Glassman, the founder of an organization that supports the combination of medication and psychosocial supports to assist people seeking to change their relationship to alcohol. Dr. Joseph Volpicelli runs the and is a University of Pennsylvania’s Medical Scientist Training Program graduate, receiving both his doctorate of medicine and psychology. In this...
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Science Plus Kindness Equals Change
SMART Recovery® Podcast
Carrie Wilkens is the Co-founder and Partner of the , a group practice of dedicated clinicians and researchers who rely on science and kindness to help people change. She is the co-author of the award-winning book and companion workbook Beyond Addiction: How science and kindness help people change that is based in part on CRAFT, the evidence-based treatment approach to helping families. In this podcast Carrie talks about her immediate recognition as a young psychologist that she wanted to be part of helping individuals and families who are facing issues related to...
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That Knowing Smile
SMART Recovery® Podcast
Rebekah Robertson is a SMART facilitator in Columbia Missouri who found the program after a family member entered treatment for an addictive behavior. At first she thought she was different and people wouldn't understand all the circumstances that surrounded her. Then Rebekah experienced "that knowing smile" of others who had gone through similar situations and were able to navigate them in a positive way. She felt connected, learned much, and eventually moved on from attending meetings regularly. A few years later Rebekah returned to SMART Family and Friends meetings during a challenging...
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Where Passion and Purpose Collide
SMART Recovery® Podcast
Nichole "Nikki" Lowder is a Program Manager at the South Carolina Department of Corrections. She brings both her lived experience and professional training to her work with incarcerated individuals who are trying to make important changes in their lives. Prior to her own recovery journey, Nikki worked in the finance world but realized that she could no longer live the kind of life that was filled with dishonesty and deception. She discovered her passion for helping others who were facing similar crossroads, and made it the purpose of her career change. In this podcast Nikki talks...
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SMART Spirit: Dr. Joe Gerstein on Secular Conversions
SMART Recovery® Podcast
For more than 30 years Dr. Joseph Gerstein has been collecting stories from SMART participants about powerful emotional experiences related to their recovery journey. He has now written a captivating essay about the nature of these occurances that includes examples and analysis of what he calls "secular conversion experiences." His insight into the value of these experiences and the common elements found paints a picture of how our cognitive functions connect with the more emotive features of our lives. Dr. Gerstein is SMART's Founding President and a retired professor of medicine at Harvard...
info_outlineMichael Marcum is a licensed professional counselor at the VA, and a former Army sniper. By his own admission he changed "countries, continents, and careers" to try and escape the reality of his substance misuse which plagued him for decades. After multiple stints in rehab and other pathways to recovery, he found SMART and it transformed his life.
In this podcast Michael shares his recovery journey and explains why the practical tools and future orientation of SMART finally allowed him to choose a different kind of life.