New support groups offer students a place to work through struggles and focus on healing
October 20, 2026 : By Rosa Cerna - Office of Communications & Public Engagement
Liberty University’s Office of CARE and Support is now offering Celebrate Recovery support groups, giving students the chance to acknowledge their struggles, pursue healing, and grow in their relationship with Jesus among community.
The groups are being offered through Flames [Re]ignited, Liberty’s new Christ-centered recovery community that launched in the spring.
Celebrate Recovery is a ministry in place at thousands of churches, rescue missions, recovery houses, and prisons around the world. The ministry aims to provide support for individuals working through a wide range of challenges and struggles, including substance use, unhealthy behaviors, and relationship struggles. At Liberty, the program will help students recognize patterns and experiences that may be affecting their lives and work through them in a supportive community.
Celebrate Recovery guides individuals through a “hurts, hang-ups, and habits” model. Hurts refer to painful experiences, such as family difficulties or abuse; hang-ups are psychological roadblocks that can keep people from moving forward; and habits are the behaviors people use to escape or numb their pain.
“These three areas don’t encompass the whole human experience, but they offer a framework for understanding our stories, why we operate the way we do, and how we experience the world,” said Jonathan Ignacio, senior associate director of CARE and Support. “From there we can bring those things to Jesus and allow Him to bring healing and transformation.”
Celebrate Recovery has three different types of “doors” of support. The first is a large group gathering that includes worship, testimonies and lessons; the second is a set of open-share groups, separated by male and female, where they can process their experiences in a confidential environment; and the third is a “step study” — a small group where participants work through a structured workbook based on the eight principles and 12 steps of Celebrate Recovery, fostering healing, self-understanding, accountability, and support.
Ignacio said regardless of which door they enter, students can expect a warm and welcoming environment.
“I think everyone there, including the leaders, acknowledge their weaknesses and their vulnerabilities and that there’s no pressure to be a certain person,” he said. “It’s where they can take the mask off and be themselves.”
One student in the Celebrate Recovery program emphasized the freedom they have found through forgiveness, saying, “I remind myself daily of who I am and whose I am.”
The student also shared how difficult forgiveness can be after experiencing trauma but encouraged others to pursue it: “If you only hear one thing from my story, I hope it’s that forgiveness is possible and that it is worth it, not for the other person, but for you. You are worth the freedom that forgiveness brings.”
The CARE and Support Office observed National Recovery Month in September and is hosting additional events this semester. On Oct. 22 at 6 p.m., the group will hold a discussion and viewing of the movie “Beautiful Boy,” which details a father’s relationship with his son struggling with addiction. A Thanksgiving potluck and game night is scheduled for Nov. 12. More events are planned for the spring, including a recovery photo exhibit with submissions from students scheduled for April 12-23.
Liberty’s CARE and Support office strives to bridge the gap between those who need support and those who can help by assessing specific needs, collaborating with university and community resources, and empowering individual success. For more information on Flames [Re]ignited, or to join a Celebrate Recovery group, email recovery@liberty.edu or visit the website.
