Anniversary Meeting - Agency, Autonomy, and Empowerment in Recovery
Details
Join us for a compelling talk by Pete Rubinas, Executive Director of SMART Recovery, on how recovery can—and must—honor individual agency over paternalistic control. Drawing from lived experience and deep organizational insight, Pete will explore how traditional addiction frameworks often erode autonomy under the guise of help.
Rather than pathologizing struggle, Pete advocates for recovery rooted in choice, dignity, and mutual respect. He challenges the idea that care requires control, arguing instead for ethical, evidence-based support that trusts people to lead their own change.
This isn’t a feel-good recovery story—it’s a call to rethink how power operates in helping relationships. Pete will explore how language, systems, and even good intentions can strip people of agency, and how we can build communities that empower rather than prescribe.
With a background in counseling and social theory, and as someone who still volunteers locally with SMART Recovery, Pete brings both philosophical depth and practical wisdom. His work aligns with core humanist values: respect for individual autonomy, a commitment to evidence over dogma, and the belief that growth is possible through compassion—not coercion.
Pete’s mantra—“You are enough”—is more than reassurance. It’s a challenge to shift from deficit-based thinking toward human dignity and capability.
Come engage in a transformative conversation about recovery, power, and what it means to truly support one another.
Join us for our 36th Anniversary cake, coffee and conversation at 6:30 PM followed by Pete's talk at 7:00 PM.