• Table of Contents
  • Background
  • Understand Disorder
    • Substance Use Disorder
    • Motivations for Use
    • Misperceptions
    • Person-First Language
  • Recovery
    • Understanding Recovery
    • Collegiate Recovery
  • How to Help
    • How to Help Someone Struggling with Substance Use
    • Recovery Ally
    • Collegiate Recovery Communities
  • Conclusion
  • Citations
  • Resources
  • Posttest

How to be a Recovery Ally

Click the play button below to hear this page read aloud.

There are many ways to support individuals who are in recovery on campus. This training has already discussed a few main ways (using person-first and recovery friendly language, busting myths) but as a recovery ally there are other things you can do to foster a recovery friendly campus community and be a personal ally to people in recovery.

Support Behavior Change

1. Decrease desirability: Avoid phrases like “I need a drink,” do not hold meetings in bars
2. Practice empathy: Think about difficult behavior change you have had to go through
3. Provide feedback: Encourage people in their recovery progress
4. Provide choice: Suggest new coping strategies, like art or exercise
5. Clarify goals: Talk with the person about what recovery means to them, why they choose to be in recovery

As an Ally…

1. Be available to listen
2. Know about resources
3. Avoid and discourage stigmatizing language and behaviors
4. Avoid normalizing substance use
5. Celebrate recovery!

Champion a Recovery Friendly Community

1. Foster a non-judgmental community that has empathy and understanding
2. Encourage harm reduction strategies to lessen the negative consequences of risky behaviors (think: seat belts, condoms, and designated drivers)
3. Make sure assistance is accessible and culturally competent so that someone seeking help can be easily directed to the right resources
4. Practice recovery-informed prevention. Introduce the idea of recovery in a non-judgmental way during prevention and early intervention
5. Understand treatment options. This can include counseling and medication delivered by a licensed professional
6. Advocate for recovery support including peer support, mutual aid group meetings, and more

A recovery friendly campus and community is an environment where students in or seeking recovery feel accepted by their peers, are empowered to live genuinely, feel comfortable asking for help and are celebrated.

When to Get Assistance

If you are not a mental health professional, there may be times when someone struggling with substance use or recovery may need assistance beyond what you can provide. In those situations, you can still provide support:

1. Share resources that the person may want to access
2. Walk with the individual to behavioral or mental health services
3. Provide help as soon as possible, as the window for opportunity may be limited