Galway Recovery College

About Us

Galway Recovery College is a community-based centre for recovery education based at the Institute for Lifecourse & Society (ILAS), University of Galway. Its mission is to advance personal recovery through vibrant adult education, creating opportunities for people to learn, connect and develop practical skills that can support their mental health and wellbeing.

The College offers recovery education to people with lived experience of mental health challenges, as well as family members, friends, carers, mental health professionals and members of the wider community. Its programmes are designed around the belief that recovery is a personal and individual journey, with education providing opportunities to build confidence, self-awareness, resilience and greater control over one’s life.

Learning at Galway Recovery College is interactive and collaborative rather than lecture-based. Courses and programmes are co-designed and co-facilitated by people with lived experience, family members or carers, and mental health service providers, ensuring that lived experience remains central to the College’s approach.

The College offers a diverse range of recovery-focused education, including programmes addressing trauma and recovery, self-compassion and self-care, anxiety and depression, addiction and recovery, Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP), relationships and personal empowerment. Through this approach, Galway Recovery College aims to foster hope, promote social inclusion and create a culture in which people are empowered to shape their own recovery journeys.