What is a Recovery College?

A Recovery College is an online and in-person community of people with experience of mental health difficulties; their family members, carers, and supporters; and mental health professionals.

Recovery Colleges offer a programme of courses, talks, peer support, and social events to help people share knowledge about different coping strategies, develop ways of making sense of psychological distress, and experience belonging, meaning, and empowerment.

Recovery Colleges help people recognise and make use of their own talents, competencies, and resources; explore possibilities; and achieve goals and ambitions. Recovery Colleges focus on empowerment and building community. The environment is non-competitive and there are no assessments.

In ARCHES Recovery College, every 3 months, we launch a programme that gives our community a range of Recovery Education options. People choose what courses or events they want to attend. Our programme can help people achieve a wide range of goals. Some examples include using creativity to improve mental health, advocating for trauma informed care and human rights in services, and learning how to decrease rumination when experiencing anxiety.

The first Recovery Colleges began in the United States in the 1990s. Recovery Colleges now exist in over 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Israel, and Sri Lanka.