Supporting Collegiate Recovery Across Missouri: A Collaborative Partnership in Action

Counselor with students

Supporting Collegiate Recovery Across Missouri: A Collaborative Partnership in Action

-Katherine Melton, MPH

Katherine MeltonOne of the most energizing parts of my work through Integrated Well-being Consulting & Coaching is our ongoing partnership with Missouri Partners in Prevention. Through this partnership, we come together to support colleges and universities across Missouri as they build, strengthen, and sustain collegiate recovery programs that truly meet students where they are in a way that aligns with their unique needs and strengths. At the center of this partnership is a shared belief: recovery is prevention, and campuses are stronger when recovery is supported with compassion and intentionality at all levels.

Why Collegiate Recovery Matters

Collegiate recovery programs can support students navigating recovery from substance use, eating disorders, and other co-occurring mental health concerns, with their impact reaching beyond individual students.

From a prevention and well-being standpoint, recovery supports:

  • Normalizing help-seeking and reducing stigma
  • Strengthening protective factors like connection, purpose, and wellness-centered routines through a trauma-informed lens
  • Improving long-term health outcomes
  • Reducing crisis and reactive decision-making through education and awareness around self-care, coping, and recovery maintenance
  • Reinforcing academic persistence, retention, and overall student success as a student and beyond

When recovery is integrated into campus systems, not siloed efforts only available to those in recovery, it becomes part of a broader culture of well-being and care.

A Shared Approach to Program Development and Support

Through Integrated Well-being Consulting & Coaching, my role within this partnership focuses on supporting campuses at every stage of readiness alongside the amazing staff at PIP. Some institutions are just beginning to ask, “What could recovery support look like here?”, while others are growing programs that already exist.

Our work together includes, but is not limited to:

  • Guiding campuses to design recovery supports that fit their unique culture, size, and capacity
  • Advising on sustainable program structure and long-term vision
  • Supporting staff, faculty, and prevention professionals balancing multiple roles
  • Ensuring recovery efforts are trauma-informed, inclusive, strengths-based, and student-centered
  • Developing resources, trainings, and educational materials for individuals and campuses

PIP’s strong campus relationships keep this work responsive and prevention-focused, while Integrated Well-being Consulting & Coaching partners with PIP to provide tailored consultation, customized resources, and practical strategy support for campuses.

Action Step for Campuses: Start by identifying one question or challenge related to recovery support that keeps coming up (for example: Who is supporting students in recovery right now? or What happens when a student discloses they are in recovery?). Connect with campus or community partners to help answer these questions, identify support that is currently in place, and identify partnerships.

Strategic Planning and Asset Mapping

A cornerstone of this collaboration is strategic planning and asset mapping. Many campuses already have strong resources, especially with a nationally renowned resource like PIP, but may not always be connected to what is available on campus and in their communities.

Together with campus teams, we take time to:

  • Identify on- and off-campus recovery supports
  • Clarify referral pathways and communication strategies
  • Align recovery efforts with prevention, well-being, and student success goals

Asset mapping is both practical and empowering. It helps campuses move from “we know this matters” to clear, actionable recovery systems that are realistic for growth and sustainability.

Action Steps for Campuses: Complete a recovery asset map to identify on- and off-campus supports, referral processes, and visibility, revealing gaps and partnership opportunities.

Case-by-Case Guidance for Supporting Students in Recovery

Another important part of this partnership is providing individualized, case-by-case consultation to campus professionals when a question, need, or concern arises. Recovery is personal and nonlinear, and sometimes teams need a space to think through potentially complex situations.

These conversations may focus on:

  • Supporting students with dignity, autonomy, and compassion
  • Navigating accommodations, boundaries, and ethics
  • Developing recovery-focused policies and procedures
  • Responding to return to use, grief, or crisis in recovery-informed ways
  • Identifying resources, interventions, and referral pathways
  • Supporting staff and recovery allies in helping well

This work is never about “having all the answers.” It is about building confidence, clarity, and capacity across campus teams.

Action Step for Campuses: Establish a clear internal consultation pathway for recovery-related concerns, identifying points of contact and when to engage external resources or mental health providers to ensure calm, consistent, and coordinated support.

Resource Development That Grows with Campuses

Integrated Well-being Consulting & Coaching also collaborates on resource development designed to be practical, accessible, and adaptable for campuses across Missouri.

This includes many components, such as:

  • Developing resources and reflection tools for students and staff
  • Creating accessible blog content on recovery and prevention
  • Offering webinars and trainings on recovery, grief, well-being, and trauma-informed practices

Action Step for Campuses: Identify one existing recovery or well-being resource and integrate it more intentionally into campus systems, adapting it to reflect your campus language, population, and priorities.

Getting Started: Practical First Steps for Campuses

If your campus is interested in developing or strengthening recovery supports, getting started does not require having everything figured out. It is about taking that next best step. Here are a few first steps campuses may consider.

1. Start With Listening

Begin by listening to students and staff. Ask what support currently feels missing, what feels helpful, and what barriers exist. Recovery support is most effective when it reflects lived experience. Look and see what qualitative and quantitative data is available to you or that you can implement on your campus.

2. Identify a Point Person or Small Team

Recovery initiatives benefit from having a clear point of contact. This does not need to be a full-time role, but someone who can help coordinate, communicate, and connect supports.

3. Map What You Already Have

Before building something new, take inventory. Counseling services, wellness programs, disability access, campus ministry, and community partners are often already supporting students in recovery, just not in coordinated ways.

4. Clarify Language and Messaging

How recovery is talked about matters. Clear, compassionate, trauma-informed, and inclusive messaging reduces stigma and helps students recognize that support is available to them.

5. Build Recovery into Prevention and Well-being Efforts

Rather than creating a standalone initiative, look for ways recovery can align with existing prevention, mental health, and student success strategies.

6. Reach Out for Support

You do not have to do this alone. Collaboration with partners like Missouri Partners in Prevention and Integrated Well-being Consulting & Coaching can help campuses think strategically, avoid common roadblocks, and move forward with confidence.

What Makes This Incredible Partnership Work

What makes this collaboration with Missouri Partners in Prevention so impactful is shared values, compassion, and trust. There is a strong mutual commitment to:

  • Listening to campuses
  • Honoring strengths, individualization, and complexity
  • Centering around student well-being
  • Treating recovery as an essential part of prevention rather than an add-on

It is a partnership rooted in respect, collaboration, and a genuine desire to create systems that promote health and healing for generations to come.

Let’s Stay Connected

Stay connected with Integrated Well-being Consulting & Coaching and learn more about the great work happening at Missouri Partners in Prevention below.

Connect with Missouri Partners in Prevention

Connect with Integrated Well-being Consulting

We are honored to partner with Missouri Partners in Prevention and campuses across the state to build intentional, sustainable, and compassionate recovery programs and supports. Whether your campus is just beginning to explore recovery support or looking to strengthen what is already in place, help and support are available. Recovery belongs on campus, and when it is supported well and integrated at all levels, everyone benefits.

Katherine Melton, MPH, is the founder, lead recovery consultant, and health educator of Integrated Well-being Consulting. She brings an interdisciplinary background in education, mental health, and public health, allowing her to approach well-being, recovery, and prevention work through a comprehensive, evidence-based, and systems-informed lens. In addition to her consulting, public speaking, and training work, Katherine provides individualized, one-on-one health education and coaching grounded in best practices in health education, behavior change, mental health, and whole-person well-being. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Kansas, specializing in Community Health, and a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Administration from Concordia University Nebraska. Her professional experience spans postsecondary education, government, K–12, corporate, and nonprofit sectors, providing her with a nuanced understanding of how policies, programs, and people intersect across systems.