Two-and-a-half years ago Robyn Lewis was regularly visiting Dubbo to buy the drug ice.
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The 52-year-old from West Wyalong wants to return to the city soon, but for an entirely different reason.
“Clean and sober” for about 20 months, Ms Lewis is keen to promote the work of non-profit SMART Recovery Australia, for which she is a facilitator.
She wants to tell her story to groups such as Rotary and raise awareness of “how bad the ice epidemic is and how many lives it is destroying”.
SMART, which stands for Self Management and Recovery Training, helped her kick multiple addictions that made her life “hell” for 37 years.
The free group program running across Australia is helping people address problematic behavior including addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, food, shopping and the Internet.
SMART Recovery Australia reports that through the guidance of trained peers and professionals, participants “come to help themselves and help each other using a variety of cognitive behaviour therapy and motivational tools and techniques”.
A SMART Recovery group meets at Dubbo Neighbourhood Centre from 3pm to 4.30pm each Friday.
Ms Lewis was referred to a group by her GP after she had “tried everything” to free herself of addiction to marijuana, amphetamines, cigarettes, alcohol and ice, which she used for 15 years.
“I couldn’t kick it and then I went to SMART Recovery for about four months and I have been clean and sober for about 20 months,” she said.
“I’ll never touch anything again.”
Launched in the United States, Ms Lewis said the group program was “going to be the way of the future”.
“With SMART you’re talking to people who have a similar experience and who understand and have empathy,” she said.
“There’s no judging, no labeling and the program is available to anyone with any addiction. You’re not sitting across the the table from someone who is working out of a textbook, who is hypocritical and has no clue what it’s like to be awake for five days on ice.”
Ms Lewis believes that ice is a “huge problem” in Dubbo and more accessible to younger people as it becomes cheaper.
As she waits for an invitation to visit Dubbo, Ms Lewis will be the guest speaker at Canowindra's International Women's Day event on March 8 and a suicide prevention forum at Bogan Gate on March 17.
Dubbo residents interested in SMART Recovery can turn out to the group meeting or call 0428275584. Ms Lewis can be contacted on 0403523711.
