Celebrate National Recovery Month: Enter the NRAP R5K Recovery Run/Walk 2021

What is Nevada’s Recovery and Prevention (NRAP)?

According to its Mission, “NRAP provides an environment of nurturing support and peer connections for students recovering from substance and behavioral addictions and students choosing a substance-free lifestyle.” This two-pronged mission has meant that since 2011, when it was founded on the UNR campus, NRAP has provided not only support for recovery, but support for those students who wish to be substance free for whatever reason during their college careers. Prior to NRAP, sober peer groups were difficult to find  were difficult to find for students in recovery, a “hidden” group on campuses, but also for students who chose sobriety for other reasons, an even more “hidden” and often disparaged group. Many students fell victim to the stereotypical college student image of parties and drinking lots of alcohol which detracted from healthy activities and a focus on wellness and school success.

As a collegiate recovery community (CRC), NRAP is “a supportive environment within the campus culture that reinforces the decision to disengage from addictive behavior.  It is designed to provide an educational opportunity alongside recovery support to ensure that students do not have to sacrifice one for the other,” according to the Association of Recovery in Higher Education (ARHE). Because most colleges and universities across the nation did not initially have a formal structure for collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) early in the movement which began in the late 70s, most institutions adapted existing resources from multiple offices on their campuses to meet students’ needs. Read more about how this works for funding and programming, and about the history of CRCs and CRPs and NRAP in our previous blog post Collegiate Recovery Communities: Valuable and Successful.

How Does NRAP Support a Sober Lifestyle?

NRAP provides a variety of social support, recovery-oriented meetings, and educational opportunities. Because the students lead these groups, the environment supports peer to peer connections and bonding that are so important to recovery. Lounges and other locations are kept open for students by student workers to maintain a high degree of availability when students are on the main campus location at UNR, the Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) campus, and the Redfield campus. Peer led meetings for students include:

• Narcotics Anonymous (NA) – “NA is a nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem.”
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) – “Alcoholics Anonymous is the fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength, and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from alcoholism.”
• Eating Disorders Anonymous – “Eating Disorders Anonymous is a fellowship of individuals who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problems and help others to recover from their eating disorders.”
• All Recovery – “All Recovery focuses on sharing the experience of hope gained through recovery regardless of the particular or addiction.”
• Wellness Group – “Wellness group is an introspective, counselor guided group that focuses on SAMHSA’s eight dimensions of wellness; emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual.”
• Meditation Group – “Meditation Group is a guided meditation group that lasts about 15-25 minutes.”
• Caring for Self as a Woman group – “Caring for Self as a Woman is a group in which women work on their inner, outer, sexual and spiritual selves.”
• Inner Canvas – “This group uses art as a way of reflecting into self and releasing emotions…”
• Impulse Management – “This group offers recovery and maintenance support for individuals dealing with impulse-control disorders.”
• Music Therapy – “How does music motivate? Hinder? Help? Heal? Inspire? Relieve? Relax? Examine music selected by students and explore through open peer discussion the relationships that exist between music and recovery, spirituality, wellness, and related themes.”
• Refuge Recovery – “Refuge Recovery is a mindfulness-based addiction recovery community that practices and utilizes Buddhist philosophy as the foundation of the recovery process.”
• SMART Recovery – Based on the leading self-empowering addiction recovery support group, Participants learn research-based tools for recovery.

Faculty led groups include:

• Grief & Inner Healing – This “educational group creates a safe environment in which to look at old ideas and beliefs about dealing with chronic pain, shame, trauma, and the myriad of losses and to look at what losses and situations have affected your life.”
• Sexual Trauma Support Group – This group is “for college women to express feelings and share their story, to witness and be witnessed, and to advocate for one another on their journey towards healing.”
• Purposeful Change – This group helps students “to rewrite your story and unfreeze aspects of your life that may be hindering your experience of joy, freedom, and peace.”

More detailed descriptions are available on the NRAP Meetings page. The NRAP Calendar is a handy place to find a meeting or event sponsored by NRAP. The NRAP Trainings page describes the NRAP Recovery Ally Training, that enhances attendees’ ability to support those in recovery ,and the Peer Mentor online training for learning how to help peers reach their recovery goals.

You Are Invited!

Join Nevada’s Recovery and Prevention in celebrating Recovery Month by registering to attend their Recovery 5k run/walk Celebration. September 2021 is the 32^nd year of National Recovery month, observed to educate Americans “that substance use treatment and mental health services can empower those with mental and substance use disorders to live healthy and rewarding lives. NRAP would like to host this event to honor those in recovery or living a sober life, as well as family, friends and allies!” (NRAP r5K Recovery Run/Walk 2021 webpage).

Race Start Times

The September 25, 2021 start times will be staggered and start as follows:

• Runners: 9:00 AM, line up at 8:50 am.
• Joggers 9:15 AM, line up at 9:05 am.
• Families, strollers, and walkers 9:30 AM, line up at 9:20 am.

To register for the NRAP R5K, visit the event website. You are welcome to attend to cheer on participants in this year’s event. Remember the theme for Recovery Month this year is “Recovery is For Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community.” To read more about Recovery Month 2021, complete details are contained in the August 25, 2021 blog post National Recovery Month – Updated for 2021: “Recovery is for Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community”.

For additional posts and resources about collegiate recovery and self-care, visit the Catalyst blog and the Resources & Downloads page.

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