"Smart Recovery group - Drug Arm, Ipswich."

I started attending Smart Recovery meetings a few years ago, for help with alcohol addiction. Whilst I now have my alcohol consumption in control I still regularly attend meetings to help me stay on track, and retrain learned behaviour patterns.

The facilitator of the group - Sharon - has helped me work through the issues that led to my drinking problem. I have learned to eat when I crave alcohol because the brain mistakes the calories in alcohol as hunger (such a simple step that actually works! ), to look for disconfirming evidence of distorted beliefs, to reframe difficult events in a more positive way, to accept achievement in goals I set no matter how small and many, many other tips and tricks on how addiction alters the brain. I've also worked on the stuff 'underneath' my addiction, and have gained better skills in boundary setting, assertiveness and anger management, and being gentler on myself when I make a mistake.

Sharon is one of the most amazing people I have met, and the knowledge she has passed on to me has saved my life, literally. She has been the calm voice of reason and encouragement through many storms, and my motto now is WWSD? (what would Sharon do? ), which helps me stay on track. The staff at Drug Arm are always welcoming and encouraging, and have provided me a safe place to sit when old, bad habits pop up under stress.

I plan to continue going to meetings to keep working on the stuff 'underneath', and am looking forward to training up as a peer group facilitator later in this year, and with Sharon's urging, possibly a new career further down the track. I cannot thank her, and the rest of the staff at Drug Arm, enough for all their time and support. Smart Recovery groups are truly life-changing.