SMART Family & Friends Handbook 2nd ed.

Updated in 2025!

The SMART Recovery Family & Friends Handbook is for people affected by the addictive behavior of a loved one. Your loved one may be experiencing problems with substances like alcohol, opioids, tobacco, stimulants, or other drugs. Or activities that may become addictive like sexual activity, gaming, gambling, shopping, and eating. Regardless, this handbook is designed to help you develop more effective coping strategies and communication skills as you seek to find and maintain balance in your own life while supporting your loved one, as you choose.

For over 30 years, the non-profit SMART Recovery has been providing practical tools and supportive meetings for those working to gain independence from any addictive behavior and their affected family members and friends. This newest edition of the SMART Family & Friends Handbook continues the legacy of SMART keeping up with the current cognitive behavioral science of behavior change with new tools to support self-compassion and interpersonal relationship skills. The language has also been refined to reflect the full range of experiences and goals that exist in a self-empowered approach to change.

You won’t be told what to do in this handbook. You will be offered a range of tools from SMART's 4-Point Program, CRAFT (Community Reinforcement Approach Family Training), and the Invitation to Change approach from CMC: Foundation for Change.

This handbook can be used independently or as a basis for participating in SMART Family & Friends mutual support group meetings. It is explicitly supportive of medication-assisted treatment, harm reduction, and abstinence goals.

 Don't wait. Start your change journey today!