SMART Recovery® Podcast

Alex received his first video game station at the age of two. His love and eventual addiction to video gaming continued throughout his life. It wasn’t until recently that Alex found SMART Recovery, and has made positive changes to his life and began managing his problematic behavior.

• His dad buying him a VecTrex at two years old
• The progression of gaming systems and how the technology over time
• The “water cooler” conversations around new video games
• First realizing that there was an issue with gaming when he didn’t “grow out of it”
• The “Just Say No to Drugs” PSAs being counterproductive in video games
• The opportunity cost of continuing to play video games
• Video gaming addiction characteristics
• Trying other recovery programs, then finding SMART
• The ways SMART talks about addiction and the nuances for helping each person differently
• How the pandemic affected his addiction
• Knowing he can’t keep throwing his life away

Alicia Renegar is a Certified Addiction Peer Recovery Coach and SMART Facilitator in Columbus, Indiana. As a gay woman, she faced much adversity and discrimination throughout her life. She shares how she has turned this negativity into strength and is helping others on their path to recovery.  

In this podcast, she talks about:

• The challenges and discrimination she faced from administrators and peers during her school years
• How people’s fear of change impacts their decisions and attitudes towards what they perceive as different
• Her parents being very supportive and giving her a solid foundation to be who she is
• The journey to becoming herself
• How her deep-seated trauma pushed through and ultimately led to her addiction
• Volunteering then working for ASAP Hub
• Finding SMART and taking the facilitator training course
• Starting an LGBTQIA+ meeting in Columbus, Indiana
• Why SMART resonates with people
• The proudest moment of her life was becoming a Certified Addiction Peer Recovery Coach
• The obstacles and dangers of being an LGBTQIA+ activist

Maia Szalavitz is an award-winning, best-selling author and opinion writer, whose focus is on changing the narrative of addiction and recovery. Two of her books Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction and the Future of Addiction and Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction, are among a long list of publications that address this issue.

In this podcast, she talks about:

• Her New York Times opinion piece about Oregon decriminalizing drug possession
• How external force undermines internal motivation
• How the Black Lives Matter Movement shows the racial disparities in the justice system
• That criminal drug laws aren’t based on science and how emotions are decision algorithms
• The debate over decriminalization is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what actually works
• Explaining the analogy of addiction to that of falling in love or having a baby; people do crazy things
• People with addiction are not lazy, they are hurting
• Trying to punish our way out of addiction is not the answer
• Why it’s important to meet people where they are and welcome them to treatment
• Not calling doctor prescribed medication Medically Assisted Treatment (MAT)
• Why we need more expansive definitions of recovery
• How chronic pain patients are being negatively affected by the opioid epidemic

Dr. Nora Volkow recently spoke to the SMART Recovery community about the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) holistic approach to helping those with substance use issues. As a follow up to that conversation, we talked with Dr. Wilson Compton, Deputy Director of NIDA and Dr. Will Aklin, Director of the Behavioral Therapy Development Program, about research on the health aspects and treatment of substance use disorders.

In this podcast, they talk about:

• How their college professors got them excited and passionate about careers in scientific research
• Medications that help with various addictions, including a new focus on stimulant use disorders
• Bridging the gap between treatment and recovery
• Individualized, personal treatments
• Examples of harm reduction measures
• Creating a net positive to society
• The four pillars of overdose strategy: primary prevention, harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and recovery support
• Explaining value of CBT and MAT
• How research helps us understand the impact of mutual support and recovery
• The research behind using Contingency Management to shape positive behavior
• Making treatment less intimidating and more welcoming
• Working across boundaries and departments, within the government, to address the drug abuse problems and find solutions

Ted Perkins, aka the “Tips & Tools Guy” is a SMART facilitator and producer of our popular SMART Recovery video series including Tips & Tools for Recovery That Works, Life Beyond Addiction, Facilitator Spotlights, and more.  A natural skeptic and avid humanist, he has always been open to ways to better himself, especially in his recovery. One way in which he’s done this is looking into the possible therapeutic value of psychedelic drugs. In this podcast he openly shares some of his experiences with people so they can understand the powerful impact they made in his life.

• How alcohol was normalized growing up in other countries 
• His path from college to the entertainment industry being full of parties and substances  
• Realizing he was living a suboptimal life because of alcohol  
• Finding SMART and becoming a facilitator  
• Trying LSD in the 1980’s and integrating the experience into his ongoing relationships 
• Trying to be the best Ted he can be 
• Learning about the popularity of psychedelics to aid in recovery 
• His experience at a psychedelic summer camp in Costa Rica 
• Being treated with Ketamine by his therapist  
• The connection between his psychedelic experience and using SMART 
• Getting what you need, not what you want 
• Having a deeper emotional connection to the people in his life

In this podcast, Loretta talks about:

• Being one of the pioneer women who started the women’s meeting
• Why the meeting has grown in popularity in the last year
• Notable guest speakers from the recovery community
• Her four levels of collective sharing
• Why inclusivity needed to be a part of the SMART community
• How we’re all recovering from something
• Humanity being the great connector
• Using practices instead of tools
• The journey down a new road of recovery

Dr. Ashley Grinonneau-Denton is the founder and co-owner of Ohio Center for Relationship and Sexual Health in Cleveland, Ohio. She has a doctorate in marriage and family therapy and is a certified sex therapist.  

In this podcast, Dr. Ashley talks about: 

• Being one of only 16 people certified in sex therapy in Ohio  
• The social and cultural aspects of Valentine’s Day 

• Not marginalizing sexual background of clients 
• Creating a sex positive environment   
• Behaviors involved with couples and their sexual health  
• Looking at all sides of an issue to see the client’s whole self 
• Her soapbox about labels  

• Getting to a healthy sexual life 
• How the intimacy conversation is changing with each new generation  
• The form and function in music and pop culture  
• Conducting virtual consultations (even before the pandemic)  
• Seeing co-occurring behaviors in clients that are making it harder for them to change 

Paul Tieger is the Founder and CEO of Speed Reading People, LLC. He is also a principal of IConnect Health, an international expert on personality psychology, and the author of five bestselling books. Paul’s current project is the lead researcher for the SMART De-Stress RX Study, to determine the connection between personality type and addiction issues.

In this podcast, Paul talks about:

• His extensive background in personality psychology and trying to understand who people are
• His most famous case from when he was a jury consultant
• The new SMART study’s purpose is to determine genetic predisposition to addiction issues based on personality type and how SMART can tailor its approach to different people
• Why personality type trumps all other factors like age and gender
• How to prevent confirmation bias
• Tom Horvath’s enthusiasm for this groundbreaking study
• The three parts of the study the participants will take
• Developing the De-Stress RX personality test as an individualized approach to reducing stress based on the 16 personality types
• The value in receiving personal RX results
• How the COVID era stress has influenced personality types
• How SMART will be communicating how people can participate in the study in the coming weeks
• How to register for the webinar on Wednesday, March 2nd

Dr. Joe Gerstein is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Founder of SMART Recovery. He is also a retired Harvard University professor and lectures at addiction symposiums. Joe introduced SMART to the world and has facilitated over 3,000 meetings.  His passion and motivation for helping others is still going strong after 50+ years. Joe shares some of his thoughts and perspectives and being for staying motivated in your recovery.

Dave Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Fletcher Group, based in London, Kentucky. His background in social work, healthcare, and academia led him to starting Fletcher Group with the help of Ernie Fletcher, the former Governor of Kentucky. A recent grant connected them to SMART Recovery with the Rural Centers of Excellence Initiative. 

In this podcast, Dave talks about:

• His journey from Big Sky country to the Motor City
• Flunking retirement after meeting Governor Ernie Fletcher 
• Developing and operationalizing the Fletcher Group organization at record speed 
• Being the catalysts for change
• Caring about the ones whom no one else does
• Receiving a HRSA grant for the Rural Centers for Excellence Initiative (RCOE)
• How and why recovery homes have gained public awareness in the last decade
• Connecting with SMART and implementing the curriculum and best practices into the houses
• Coaches and motivation
• The benefits for a recovery home participating in the RCOE program
• Gauging success: initiation, engagement, retention 
• What recovery capital is and why it’s important