Participant Checklist - SMART Recovery

Participant Checklist
by
Julie Myers, Psy.D. and Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D
You can use this checklist to see how much you are learning from SMART Recovery ® . Feel free to fill it out and
share with others! We would appreciate any feedback you have about this checklist. You may direct comments,
questions, insights, concerns, etc. via this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/feedbackchecklist. Thanks!
SMART Recovery ® Behaviors
How many of the following behaviors do you presently practice Please click on the box to put a check mark
next to each behavior that you now do as a result of participating in SMART Recovery ® .
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Attend SMART Recovery ® meetings. I attend ____ times per week.
Understand the SMART Recovery ® 4-Point Program SM : Enhancing and Maintaining Motivation, Coping
with Urges, Problem Solving and Lifestyle Balance.
Follow a schedule that makes life feel ordered.
Create a cost-benefit analysis (CBA). My costs (disadvantages) of using drugs/alcohol outweigh the
benefits (advantages) of using.
Recognize triggers that lead to using, including social pressure, interpersonal conflict, external cues
(people, places, situations), internal cues (hungry, thirsty, tired) and strong emotions.
Use urge-controlling techniques, such as riding-the-wave, delaying, distraction, reviewing my cost-benefit
and Destructive Self-talk Awareness and Refusal Method (DISARM).
Change my vocabulary to change the way I think and feel.
Set short, medium and long-term goals.
Set healthy limits and boundaries for myself.
Take charge of the things I want to change.
Recognize and try to reduce my self-destructive behaviors.
Work toward progress, not toward perfection. I can accept myself unconditionally
Try to follow a healthy, balanced lifestyle, including exercise, good nutrition and sleep.
Seek enduring satisfactions in my life. Participate in vital and meaningful activities.
Use my life’s goals in my recovery process.
Look at my beliefs and see how these beliefs can contribute to my addictive behavior (for example,
viewing people as doing things to me “on purpose”).
Allow myself a peaceful time and place to decompress, reflect and regain calm when I am stressed, fearful
or unhappy. Seek emotional and mental balance.
Reach out to people who support abstinence and who are willing to support my efforts to change. Build a
solid support network.
Practice deliberate planning as a way to attain mini, short-term and long-term goals.
Take responsibility for full-participation in my recovery by working through the SMART Recovery
Handbook, completing homework and tools or reading additional materials.
Share what I have learned in SMART Recovery ® with others.
01-2011

SMART Recovery ® Beliefs
Please put a check mark next to each belief or self-statement that you now hold, from participating in SMART.
I Now Believe That
Thinking Behaviors
_ I am not powerless.
_ I can change my beliefs that contributed to my drinking/using, for example, the “should,” “musts” and
“wants” in my life.
_ I can recognize that relapse is part of recovery and that each lapse, should it occur, is a learning
opportunity.
_ I own my reactions to the world and the events in it; I can take responsibility.
_ I can manage my own thoughts and emotions using the SMART Recovery ® tools.
_ I can put a space between the thought and the action, allowing time for better outcome.
_ I can recognize the difference between my thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
I Now Believe That
Coping Behaviors
_ I can consider my options and remember that I have choices.
_ I recognize that my feelings pass eventually; I can tolerate uncomfortable feelings, recognizing them as a
normal part of everyday living.
_ I can tell myself that having short-comings is a sign of being human.
_ I can enjoy the process and not be so stressed about outcomes.
_ I have SMART Recovery ® tools (such as coping statements and the ABC’s) to help manage my emotions
and reactions to them.
I Now Believe That
Nurturing Hope
_ I can acknowledge my mistakes and hold myself accountable for making them – but without berating
myself for creating them.
_ Change is possible. I do not have to continue as before.
_ I can become comfortable with my past.
_ I see myself of value to others and I can share my experiences with them.
_ I can identify signs of resilience. I can give several examples of each of the following:
I can
I have
I am
_ I can live a healthier, more satisfying life.
_ I can learn to stop thoughts of helplessness, hopelessness and low self-worth.
_ I can reach out and grab the potential that life has to offer, being fully aware and present. I can live the life
that I chose to live, as long as I am willing to work for it
_ Other beliefs I learned include