02/20/2026
OPEN DOOR SMART RECOVERY GROUP NEWSLETTER | FEBRUARY 2026
Welcome to the Open Door Newsletter
— a space created with care, compassion and community in mind.
Our SMART Recovery group offers a trauma-informed environment where healing and connection can take root.
In collaboration with SIU Medicine and Arrowleaf with contributions from SIRAC and RCHW, we provide weekly virtual meetings that use evidence-informed, self-empowering tools to support your recovery journey.
Whether you’ve joined us before or are just exploring the program, you are welcome here.
We meet every Thursday from 6–7 p.m. CT.
Alchemical Recovery: Cristina’s Concoctions of Love and Dignity
A Gentle Beginning: Goals, Growth, and a Little Magic
The beginning of a new year often arrives carrying expectations, new goals, new habits, new versions of ourselves. At Open Door SMART Recovery, we invite you to pause and take a gentler path. What if this year isn’t about fixing yourself, but about listening to yourself?
Recovery, like nature, doesn’t rush. Trees don’t bloom all at once. Rivers don’t demand perfection to keep flowing. Growth happens through small, steady moments of care, awareness, and self-compassion.
As you think about goals this year, consider approaching them with curiosity and a touch of intentional acts instead of pressure. Goals can be flexible. They can change. They can be as simple as:
Putting your hand on your heart, taking a mindful breath, putting a gentle smile on your face, and telling yourself: “I am the most important person in my life.”
Show up a smiling face to the sun, and thank the sun for accepting you just as you are.
Step outside and notice one living thing, a bird, the wind, yourself.
Hold a stone, pinecone, a fallen branch as a reminder that you belong to the natural world.
Write an intention for yourself, or tell yourself something beautiful on paper and tuck it somewhere safe, not as a demand or vanity, but as an invitation to love yourself more.
Nature teaches us something powerful for recovery: you already belong. You don’t have to earn your place here. You don’t have to be “ready” or “perfect” to begin again.
Compassion is not a reward for success—it is the foundation that makes change possible. When setbacks happen, they are not failures. They are moments of learning, recalibrating, and returning to yourself with kindness.
As this year unfolds, remember:
You are allowed to move at your own pace.
You are allowed to revise your goals.
You are allowed to rest.
You are always welcome here.
May this year feel less like a test and more like an invitation to an Open Door to a beautiful You.
With warmth and care,
Cristina
Getting SMARTer with Quinn
Addiction recovery is difficult to categorize in the mind. How do I know when I have recovered? What does recovery mean to me? When do I know that I've "made it"? These questions linger in the minds of current and former users of substances. They may serve to hinder improvement and sow doubt, or they may drive further inquiry into consideration of indicators of success.
So, how do we know that we've recovered? Costello, Sousa, Ropp, and Rush (2020) give us an idea in their article, "How to Measure Addiction Recovery? Incorporating Perspectives of Individuals with Lived Experience." In this study, albeit small in size (23 participants), we get a qualitative look from participants into their idea of recovery, how/when someone can consider themselves "recovered", and markers we can look for when determining our own recovery status.
Abstinence may be our first thought- "If I'm abstaining from using, then I'm in recovery" we may say. This point isn't wrong in its own right! Participants in Costello’s study noted that abstinence is a key factor, especially in the early days of recovery to help prevent relapse. Some participants noted, however, that abstinence wasn't everything. If certain key factors in someone's life were left unaffected or unchanged, individuals still risked high likelihoods of relapse.
Here are some examples of other key life improvements shown to lower relapse likelihood. Participants noted emotional improvements that included less depression and anxiety, as well as more peace of mind. Participants were in a 12-Step program, so some people discussed increased spiritual connection saying that religious activity and connection to higher powers was vital for them. Some participants described social development where they adjusted their social networks to include other individuals in the recovery process. Attending to physical health by participating in healthy habits, like exercise and a good diet. Participants also said returning to work or school was important, but only once "one felt ready." Lastly, participants said that managing responsibilities, such as being able to take on chores, social networking, bills, and other responsibilities associated with daily life was an important factor in recovery. –
Participants described a possible "ultimate outcome" was life satisfaction. This means that participants could note progress based on how satisfied they were in their daily lives after days, weeks, months, or years into recovery.
There are several key takeaways from this article:
Recovery is what we make it. We as the individuals in recovery decide when to consider ourselves recovered.
Recovery is a life-long effort. Every day we make choices that indicate our commitment to recovery.
Abstinence isn't everything. We have to improve other aspects of our lives to assure continuous recovery efforts won't be hindered.
It may not be a large sample size, but we do get high-quality qualitative answers from real individuals in recovery.
In short, if you're looking for an answer as to when you can consider yourself recovered, the only person who has the answer is you. You have to make the tough decision as to when to pat yourself on the back for all of your hard work.
My opinion? Do so often. There are many steps to recovery, and you deserve applause for each step taken.
If you found this article interesting and would like to know more about addiction, recovery, and the science behind both, check back next month for a new article and discussion!
Written by
Costello, M.J., Sousa, S., Ropp, C., & Rush, B. (2020). How to measure addiction recovery? Incorporating perspectives of individuals with lived experience. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction,18, 599–612. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-018-9956-y
Cammy's Musical Moments
Since February is the month that is most known for celebrating love, I wish to focus this segment on self-love. Self-love is the practice of having high regard for your own well-being, happiness, and mental health. It's treating yourself with the same compassion and acceptance you would offer a loved one. It involves honoring your needs, setting boundaries, and accepting all aspects of yourself—strengths and weaknesses—without needing external validation.
There are many aspects of loving oneself such as: treating yourself with kindness, especially during failures or when experiencing difficult emotions, rather than harsh self-judgment; protecting your time, energy, and emotional well-being by saying "no" to others' demands that conflict with your own needs; actively taking care of your physical, emotional, and spiritual health; embracing your imperfections and understanding that your worth is inherent, not based on achievements; and being true to yourself, not settling for less than you deserve.
As we prioritize the importance of loving ourselves, let's consider nurturing our physical and mental health regularly, replacing self-criticism with positive, supportive affirmations, letting go of shame and past mistakes, and truly learning to enjoy our own company.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Sharing February's Musical Moment, sung by Whitney Houston, I ask you to allow the thought that Learning to love yourself is the Greatest Love of All
Step Inside the Open Door with Angie
In our Open Door meetings, we’ve been talking about the idea that recovery is not only managing an addiction; recovery is creating a whole life we want to live.
As such, we’ve been discussing questions like:
● What is most meaningful to you?
● How do you find calm?
● What delights you?
● What do you want to cultivate?
To answer these questions honestly, we must believe in our own potential.
You are capable of more than you know. Your life contains more potential than you may see.
We put these beliefs into action by engaging in positive change. The direction of that change is up to each individual. According to the Stages of Change (handout below), simply thinking about a goal is engaging in the change process.
Inside Open Door, people discussed many goals: stress reduction, having more fun, cultivating healthy relationships, building community, better sleep, and finding pleasure and passion outside of addiction.
All of these goals are meant to support us in navigating difficult life obstacles or to find the inner serenity and satisfaction that we crave. Below are SMART Recovery tools that you can use to take a deeper dive into identifying your personal goals, make a plan to achieve them, and help shape the course of your recovery journey.
Stages of Change: https://smartrecovery.org/the-stages-of-change
Five Questions: https://smartrecovery.org/five-questions
Effective Goal Setting: https://smartrecovery.org/set-an-effective-goal
Change Plan: https://smartrecovery.org/create-a-change-plan
Additional Resources
Take Time To Reflect
These resources were suggested and submitted by an Open Door participant.
A Complete Guide to The Good Life in a Meaningless Age (Philosophy of Soren Kiekegaard (2026): https://youtu.be/YBpJ4u1FSYA?si=TlDBGn-F5Jb7WWej
The Inner Child’s Vow: “Something Is Wrong with Me!”|Tap Dialogues (2026): https://youtu.be/CDvbmNAMH4c?si=vX0f_Ir4FAb1V3dq
Pausing to reflect is an act of strength. Support is available.
The initiative is funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services' Division of Substance Use Prevention and Recovery through a State Opioid
Response grant (TI087748) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The SIU Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Service Development is in place to help address health care
and social service issues impacting the lives and productivity of those in our state and nation. We do this through grants and
project development, research and evaluation, training and workforce development, and community engagement and outreach.
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