The Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE)

A Personal Story from the Executive Director

Kristina Canfield, M.Ed., Executive Director
Association for Recovery in Higher Education 

When I began my collegiate journey in the Fall of 2001 as a bright-eyed, first-generation college student, it felt like the world was my oyster. I have so many memories of that day: my grandmother and her loving pride in watching her eldest grandchild be the first to seek a college education, meeting my roommates, and heading off to my first college party. American pop culture has long glorified the party culture in college; selling this idea that “these are the best years of our lives” without regard to consequences or the fact that life hopefully extends long after the time a person spends at a college or university. All I knew about college life at that time was what I saw on the television or in movies. I had no idea that my life would take a sharp and sudden detour within 4 years. 

In December 2004 I landed in a medical detox and the following month I returned to school. 21 years old with just a few weeks of sobriety under my belt and little to no support upon my return to campus was a recipe for disaster. I didn’t know how to interact with my peers or how to explain why I didn’t want to go to parties or to the bar. My social skills and social network shrank, and my anxiety skyrocketed. I felt like an alien on another planet, and I certainly did not believe that I would be able to succeed. I dropped out of school after the first two weeks and reentered that same medical detox on

February 11, 2005. It would take another year before I was comfortable returning to school to take classes and another 4 years before I would finally graduate. 

 

When I was introduced to the concept of collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) in 2010, I knew then what I was going to do for the rest of my life: ensure that any student seeking recovery would have the support they needed on their campus. A CRP is a college or university-provided program that includes a supportive environment within the campus culture. CRPs reinforce the decision to engage in a lifestyle of recovery and are designed to provide an educational opportunity alongside recovery support to ensure that students do not have to sacrifice one for the other. 

 

The Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE) was formed in 2010, at the very first Collegiate Recovery Conference. The focus of ARHE is to serve as the central support for experience-based modeling for fostering and supporting those in recovery who seek to excel in higher education. ARHE is the central authority on the modeling and tailoring of CRP’s to best integrate them into the institution, and ultimately to best serve students in recovery. ARHE has experienced consistent growth over the last 14 years and has over 150 member institutions supporting students in recovery. In addition to hosting the annual conference for CRPs, ARHE provides numerous resources to support the continued growth of collegiate recovery. In recent years, ARHE published Standards & Recommendations for CRPs, Ethical Considerations for CRP Professionals, developed an 8-hour online training course for new CRP professionals in partnership with The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery (HECAOD), published a Getting Started Guide to support institutions looking to build a CRP into its infrastructure, and provided technical assistance support to CRPs to assist with program sustainability. ARHE offers a variety of regular educational programming and networking events and will be launching an accreditation program for CRPs this year. The vision is that one day all of collegiate culture will embrace recovery. 

The Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE) is the only association exclusively representing collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) and collegiate recovery communities (CRCs), the faculty and staff who support them, and the students who represent them. ARHE provides the education, resources, and community connection needed to help change the trajectory of recovering student’s lives. We are a network of professionals, administrators, faculty, staff, students, parents and policy makers.

 

The 2024 National Collegiate Recovery Conference (ARHE/ARS/AAPG Annual Conference) will be held in San Diego, CA from June 30 through July 3, 2024. 

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