Substance Misuse Prevention and Support

Recovery in community.

UMass Recovery booth at Fresh Check Day 2025

Welcome to your recovery community! 

Substance Misuse Prevention and Support is an integral part of the Campus Life and Wellbeing (CLAW) collaborative. CLAW's mission is to create a thriving student community centered in connection and wellbeing, and supporting your recovery journey is central to that mission. Our team offers confidential, judgment-free care, including harm-reduction education, one-on-one consultations, peer support, and referrals. Whether you are curious about your relationship with substances, ready to make a change, or sustaining long-term recovery, you belong here.

More information about our programs, services, and resources can be found below. 

BASICS: Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students

BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students) is a harm reduction program that helps students examine their substance use in a supportive, non-judgmental environment. The goal is to reduce risky behaviors and prevent substance-related harm.

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The Drinker’s CheckUp

The Drinker’s CheckUp is a quick, anonymous online screening tool that helps you take a closer look at your alcohol use. In just 3-5 minutes you’ll receive personalized feedback, tips for making safer choices, and information on relevant campus resources.

Take the Drinker's CheckUp Survey

Why Take The Survey?

  • It’s anonymous and free
  • You’ll receive tips and strategies tailored to your drinking patterns
  • It can assist you in making informed decisions that support your wellbeing, academics, and social life
  • You’ll learn about various campus resources that can help you throughout your UMass journey

Overdose Prevention & Harm Reduction

Harm reduction is an evidence-based approach that saves lives and promotes student well-being. Backed by federal support and real-world results, harm reduction strategies help prevent overdose, injury, disease, and substance misuse.

I love someone in recovery

UMass Recovery

Supporting and connecting UMass Amherst students in recovery from addiction. Allies, friends, and anyone curious are welcome!

Weekly Events

  • Recovery Lunch — Mondays, 11 AM – 1 PM, Worcester DC 155
  • All Recovery Meeting — Fridays, 4:30 PM, Worcester DC 155
  • Worcester Unplugged — Games, Music, Connection — Mondays from 4-7 PM, Worcester DC 155
Follow us on Instagram for Events and Offerings

UMass Recovery: Collegiate Recovery Community

We are a group of UMass community members in every stage of recovery and exploration. We are building a strong, proud, connected campus community, celebrating growth and healing, and talking openly about the challenges of addiction in college.

Services and Support

Campus and Community Resources

UMass provides a range of safe and confidential resources to support individuals and their loved ones on their recovery journey.

UMass Recovery Contact and Social

📧 @email | 📞 (413) 577‑5188 
📸 Instagram: @umassrecovery 
📍 Worcester Dining Commons 155, UMass Amherst | Get Directions 

UMass Recovery: One Student’s Story

The moment I took my first sip of alcohol, something in me quieted. I felt a sense of comfort and ease I had been searching for my entire life. For once, I wasn’t uncomfortable in my own skin. I could finally breathe. Though, this relief did not last long. What first felt like a solution slowly turned on me. The comfort began to be replaced by anxiety, depression, and pain. The more I looked towards alcohol for relief, the more my grades, health, and social life started to suffer. Every day at UMass — in my classes, at the dining commons, and social gatherings, I was surrounded by thousands of peers. But inside, I had never felt more alone.  
I knew I needed help, but I was too scared to let anybody in on my struggles. I repeatedly tried to limit my drinking on my own, but to my dismay, I continued to fail. It was not until I decided to go on medical leave from UMass and finally ask for help that my journey began.  
After moving back home, I started to meet with counselors and attend peer-based recovery groups, which opened up my eyes to another way of life. People in recovery meetings with long-term sobriety took me under their wing, invited me to hang out, and made me feel welcome. These people were there for me when I needed someone to listen, and they fully understood what I was going through. These deep, personal connections taught me how beautiful and exhilarating life can be sober. And for the first time in my life, I did not feel alone.  
In the fall of 2021, seven months sober, I decided to re-enroll at UMass. I knew the only way I could succeed would be by finding students in recovery and forming a community similar to the one that brought me so much fulfillment back home. I spent the first few weeks of that fall trying to get connected to other students with the same mindset. Through an employee at Substance Misuse Prevention, I connected with two other students in early recovery looking for support. The three of us started meeting by the campus pond and shared our stories and challenges with staying sober in college.  
At the end of the semester, I had almost a year of sobriety and felt incredible. I was getting the best grades of my life, proving to myself how capable I am when I am in the right state of mind. I became fervently motivated to help students facing addiction and developed an insatiable drive to enhance my understanding of substance use disorders. I enrolled in any class related to substance use or mental health I could find. Specifically, in my course titled Drugs and Society, I gained the insight of looking at addiction not as a personal or moral failing but as an adaptation to an individual's circumstances, environment, and lack of belonging. I heard the quote, "The opposite of addiction is connection," by Johann Hari and aspired to use this philosophy to help students at UMass.  
That same year, I began working with Substance Misuse and Prevention to help build what is now UMass Recovery. With the support of mentors and campus leadership, we expanded outreach, created programming, and secured a dedicated space where students in recovery could gather, connect, and feel a sense of belonging. What began as a few students meeting by a pond has grown into a vibrant community now serving over forty students.  
Over the summer, I took a course to become a certified recovery coach and began meeting with students the following fall. Through this work, I discovered my passion for counseling. Meeting with students each week, watching them build confidence, find joy, and begin to believe in their future has been the most meaningful experience of my life. As my role expanded, leading UMass Recovery events became my graduate assistantship, and I am now just weeks away from completing my Master of Education and Ed.S. in School Counseling.  
The lively community of UMass Recovery that I have the privilege to be a part of has filled that feeling of emptiness that I tried for so long to fill with alcohol. Today, I am five years sober and have been relieved from the desire to drink. I dream of a world where nobody has to feel alone in their struggles as I once did. I cannot imagine anything more worthy of my total commitment. 
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