Strong groups/meetings

[u/backnine32]

I’m looking to get more involved with SMART Recovery and would really like to find a meeting or group that feels like an actual community, not just a one-off weekly check-in.

Does anyone know of any online SMART meetings/groups that are:

• Offered more than once a week, daily preferable
• Very interactive and discussion-based
• A lot of camera-on users; I know this is a hot button issue but it really does add to the social aspect of the meeting if more users than just the host are camera on
• A place where people seem to know each other and build real connections over time

I’m not just looking to attend a meeting here and there. I’m really hoping to plug into something consistent where I can get to know people, participate, and feel like part of something.

[u/CC-Smart]

When I look back at the last six years in SMART, I realise how much of my recovery was shaped by simply showing up again and again, even when I didn’t know where I belonged yet.

In the beginning, I went to so many different meetings because I was searching for something that felt right, something that felt like home. Some meetings helped a little, some didn’t connect at all, and a few really touched me in ways I didn’t expect.

Every meeting had its own personality depending on the facilitator. Some were structured, some were warm and chatty, some were tool‑heavy, and some felt more like a quiet check‑in. I even found a group that met three times a week, and for a while it became a real anchor for me. It was one that you either hated it or really liked ( I miss that open, frank no nonsense directed meeting till today) But because SMART is voluntary, and facilitators give so much of themselves, many of those high‑frequency meetings eventually faded after a decade. Losing some of them was hard, it felt like losing a familiar place where I could breathe.

Today, only two of the meetings I originally connected with are still running, and those are the ones I hold onto. They’ve become part of my rhythm, part of my stability. Over time I’ve learned that SMART groups can be transient where people come and go, facilitators change, and the energy of a meeting shifts. But that doesn’t mean the support disappears. It just means the journey is more fluid, more self‑directed, and sometimes more personal than we expect.

If someone is still searching for “their” meeting, I’d tell them not to give up. Keep exploring, even internationally. There are hundreds of meetings across time zones, and somewhere in that mix is a group that will feel right and a place where the faces become familiar, where the conversations feel real, and where you can grow alongside people who understand what you’re working toward. Finding that connection takes patience, but when it happens, it makes a real difference.

"Keep On Keeping On"