Sober Curious? UNM to relaunch Collegiate Recovery Center

Are you a current student on campus currently in recovery from substance use or even sober-curious? UNM Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA) announces the relaunching of the Collegiate Recovery Center (CRC) in partnership with Student Health and Counseling (SHAC).

"We wanted to honor the historical work that has been done in the peer space that has been created," said Lesley McKinney, director of SHAC.

The main goal of this center is to create a peer space on campus where students can come and seek recovery support and resources. This is important because the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) suggests that approximately 11.6% of full-time college students aged 18 to 22 had a past-year substance use disorder (SUD).​ Young adults face a heightened risk of SUDs due to various factors such as peer pressure, academic stress, and life transitions.

"As a person in long-term recovery and a UNM student, college can be a challenging time for anyone, but for students wanting to live a life in recovery from substance use, the hurdles are even greater. The academic pressure, social anxieties, and potential for substance use within the college environment can exacerbate our mental health struggles and increase the risk of relapse," said Liliana Spurgeon, a current student enrolled at UNM.

"The thing that I love about recovery is it's one of those very self-defined topics. It really depends on what that person needs and it can be anything from, dropping in, getting some resources, just seeing what resources are even available for yourself, for other people, having questions about what sobriety could mean for you and being able to enter a space with peers who are in various levels of recovery themselves and needing different kinds of support," said McKinney.

Another important aspect of the CRC is to help students get connected with resources outside of UNM so that they have a community when they graduate. Some of these resources are the Soul Recovery Cafe, 12-step meetings, and connections to recovery specialists and therapists. These programs equip students with healthy coping mechanisms and relapse prevention strategies, in order to continue their recovery outside of UNM.

While the CRC historically has been a place where students can have a safe space to experience recovery, due to COVID the center moved to virtual, and from there fizzled out.

"I'm coming to the CRC with just excitement to get it back up and running," said Nina Christie, a postdoctoral fellow in CASSA.

The main concept of the CRC is to have it be student-led. Although there are a multitude of spaces on campus to meet, many of these areas can be less welcoming environments for students in recovery. For example, the SUB has a brewery inside which may make students feel uncomfortable. The idea of this CRC space is to allow students a space to "chill" and a place where people are not going to ask them if they want to drink or use other substances.

"We are in the process of getting more of a community needs assessment going. Who's really interested? What do we need to support students' needs?" said Christie. "The goal is to provide support not just for sobriety, but also to build community. That's how I would love for the CRC to be led - by the community, and for the community."

"My approach to recovery is always to make it look fun, make it look cool. As we know college can be a party atmosphere. Creating a safe, fun space for students is amazing," shared Will Watts, a current student enrolled at UNM.

Importantly, the CRC is looking for student voices to provide input for this program.

In the past, the CRC offered a wide range of resources including: 12 step meetings, recovery community, nutrition and recovery workshops.

The goal of CRC is to create space for a community of recovery-oriented students. For example, if a group of students want to attend the football game, and there's always tailgating/drinking it may make some feel awkward or uncomfortable. CRC wants to come together as a group to do fun activities like hiking, attending football games, or going to a concert with people that have shared goals and can keep one another accountable. Christie explains that it's important to be around people who are going to support one another in these environments that are hard to navigate.

"We're very passionate about recovery and supporting people. If someone is interested in beginning their journey, or they're 'sober curious', they possibly want to challenge themselves. We are here to support each other, and everyone involved is either a peer, or a person in recovery themselves. We can lend that support," explained Christie.

The planning committee has a major focus on making the CRC inclusive for all students. "I hope to bring this type of community to the students at UNM who need that extra support in navigating an environment that glamorizes excessive use of alcohol as a coping mechanism. I hope to share experiences with other students who need support in finding their place with others in an individualist environment where we feel alone at times," said Spurgeon.

The CRC space is going to be housed across from the pharmacy area in SHAC in the Plaza Level. It's an easily accessible space to the public, it's a non-clinical, and non-medical space. The idea of this space is that students can have a recovery-oriented space to be in on campus or even attend recovery meetings. The CRC is going to fall under the SHAC Health Promotions department, meaning it will be part of the public health programming and a support students can access whenever they would like.

"We want to keep it as independent and self-sustaining as possible so that we can keep it mobile, so that the resource is still available. That space will be for people that just come and go," said McKinney.

The CRC is actively looking for people who might be interested in participating and getting programs started. CRC is expected to launch this fall; however, they are looking for students to get involved as either part of the planning committee, or who want to eventually participate/provide feedback. CRC wants to hear from students about their goals, and desires for this program.

"We have a very diverse and experienced team who have lived their own experiences, own identities, and own places in the academic pipeline. The program will be much stronger if we could represent even more students, especially in the early stages of planning. We're looking for all levels of interests. Please offer your opinions. We want to shape this by the voice of the community, and by the needs of the students," said Cassandra Boness, research assistant professor at CASAA.

"This is not a treatment center. It's not a structured detox or any of that sort. This is a community. This is somebody that's going to walk alongside of you, where it's for a couple of hours, or a whole semester, it's what you need at that moment. And it's all by people who understand your journey," explained Christie.

"That's what I'm really excited about is to kind of see how it evolves and see what students want to do with it, because that's really the whole point of this, is to see, what is it that students need? And it's that's an exciting thing to be able to be in a position where we can be responsive to that," said McKinney. "Recovery is an individual process that takes place typically within communities. and kind of finding that connection and community of individuals in recovery. We're offering a place for folks to come and create that; we hope that they will. And it's been a place that's been impactful on a lot of people across the country."

The CRC is a sober, safe, recovery-focused space on campus for students to relax or even attend recovery meetings.

"The benefit of recovery is I was able to find myself through recovery. Finding yourself with a clear mind, hanging out with stable people, allows you to not put yourself in unsafe, unpredictable situations," said Watts. "You can get guidance, and I think that alone is the best way to help someone navigate through college and help them graduate and do the best that they can."

"I had joined the first CRC at UNM when it first started, and it sadly ended during COVID," said Spurgeon. "I was able to get connected to an online BIPOC recovery group through the CRC that saved my mental health and recovery several times. Being part of a recovery group where we shared our academic struggles helped to build the confidence needed to continue with higher education. I have lifelong friends from that group."

Let CRC hear your voice! Reach out at [email protected] or follow them on Instagram at unm_crc. To learn more, visit their website.

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