Principles And Guidelines For Facilitators

Principles Involved in being a SMART Recovery Facilitator

1. Promote Independence From Addictive Behaviour: We promote gaining independence from addictive behaviour based on the principles and concepts of SMART Recovery. 

2. Serve as a Community Resource: We make SMART Recovery available to our local communities and serve as a resource for our communities and Health sectors.

3. Respect the Dignity and Worth of the Person: We strive to treat each meeting participant with care and respect, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity.

4. Act With Integrity: We strive to act honestly and responsibly and to conduct our personal lives in a manner consistent with the goals and Code of Conduct of SMART Recovery.

Behavioural Guidelines for SMART Recovery Facilitators

1. Maintain Commitment to Meetings and Participants: We are responsible for conducting meetings consistent with the principles and concepts of SMART Recovery. This includes our striving to maintain focused discussions and to balance opportunities for individual participation with the needs of the group. We will endeavor to hold all meetings as scheduled.

2. Support Self-Determination of Participants: We respect and promote the right of participants to be socially responsible, have self-determination and assist them in their efforts to identify and clarify their goals regarding addictive behaviour within the context of SMART Recovery. Where a participant’s goals are outside the scope of SMART Recovery, we can encourage them to seek more appropriate options for assistance.

3. Pursue Knowledge and Competence: We are expected to learn about the concepts within SMART Recovery and to apply them in facilitating SMART Recovery meetings. Facilitators function as leaders within a peer-group, self-help setting. It is not the role of a Facilitator to provide an answer for every question or for questions outside the scope of SMART Recovery. Rather, the Facilitator’s role is to help foster a group process that encourages learning and development in gaining and maintaining independence from addictive behaviour.

4. Support Social Diversity: We strive to actively understand and respect issues of social diversity, including race, ethnicity, national origin, colour, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital/partner status, political belief, religion, and mental or physical ability.

5. Protect Confidentiality: We respect and promote confidentiality and the participants’ right to privacy at all times, both in and out of meetings, including all verbal, written, and electronic communications. During the course of a meeting, a Facilitator should not solicit or disclose private information about a participant (or themselves) that is unrelated to the focus of SMART Recovery or that may put a participant at risk. If a meeting participant appears to be at risk of imminent harm to self or others, a Facilitator may need to contact the local crisis intervention agency, or the local police/medical/mental health authority. The Facilitator may want to call the SMART Recovery Head Office to debrief the event. If a SMART Recovery group is being run and an issue arises that requires Mandatory Reporting then the Facilitator needs to consult with their own organisation or SMART Recovery regarding a child abuse or homicidal disclosure within the group setting.

6. Avoid Conflicts of Interest: Under no circumstances should we exploit a participant relationship or meeting to further personal, religious, political, or business interests. We must strive to be alert to and avoid conflicts of interest.

7. Avoid Engaging in Harassment: Under no circumstances should we engage in any form of verbal, emotional, or physical harassment. Under no circumstances are we to seek to exploit a participant relationship for sexual activity or engage in sexual harassment of participants, including sexual advances, sexual solicitations, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.

8. Work Together: We strive to work cooperatively with other members /agencies outside of the SMART Recovery organisation. We strive to acknowledge the positive contributions of other programs aimed at gaining independence from addictive behaviour.

9. Provide Accurate Representation: We make clear distinctions between statements made as a private individual and those made as representatives of SMART Recovery.We represent ourselves as knowledgeable only within the scope of our experience.

10. Seek Solutions: In the event that an SR Facilitator has a lapse/relapse into addictive behaviour then the SMART Recovery Coordinator at Head Office needs to be notified and an appropriate course of action will be determined. 

Note: These guidelines are to be read in conjunction with the full SRAU Code of Conduct available here.