Home » Expert Q & A » Living With An Addict » Living With An Addict: Jennifer Hamilton

Smart Recovery Family Support

  • anonymous Asks ...
    anonymous

    Can you give me any information on smart recovery’s family support program. In your opinion is it as good, not as good or better than alanon. I have a problem with alanon component where you have to let go and watch your spouse drink to death. I do not know if this is my issue or just a common sense issue that alanon makes no sense!

  • Jennifer Hamilton Says ...
    Jennifer Hamilton

    I do not know much about the program from personal experience, but I do know about the CRAFT model and it is well documented to be effective. It is a model that is conducive to the principles I believe in for the person in recovery. It teaches you to do a lot of what I would do in therapy with your loved one, from what I can tell. I think this would probably suit you a LOT better than Al Anon. Al Anon is wonderful at teaching a person to "detach" which is a wonderful skill to learn, even if you learn these SMART Recovery techniques to reach your loved one. You cannot make or force another to listen, to want to recover, but with the proper ability to detach and be willing to allow another to not change, to know you cannot force it, you can better be in a position to get them to listen. Try this, put a folder in your hand and have another put theirs on the other side. You push, they push back. Stop pushing and let go. Then they may begin to listen.

Featured Experts