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The Wellness Recovery Action Plan
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Your plan could be considered a recovery "shopping list". You list the things you need to do regularly to maintain self control and recovery. This includes items like:
Time to enjoy a hobby, or activity
Exercise
Quiet time alone
Volunteer work
Watching a movie
Journaling
Once you have committed the activities you need to paper, it is much easier to see if you have been doing them, as you should, to continue you self management and recovery.
Much like your shopping list, if you don't check the items off as you put them into your cart, when you get back home you will find that you forgot the eggs or milk. This will mean another trip to the store, or a change in what you can or can't have to eat.
And if you share your Wellness Recovery Action Plan with those close to you, if they see you are not feeling well, are seeming out of sorts, or "just not yourself", they can remind you that you need to get the "eggs or milk".
This is, of course, a very simple explanation of what a WRAP can mean to you and your recovery. There are several exercises and examples included in the book, which was authored by Mary Ellen Copeland. Although it was put together by people dealing with mental health issues, it has also been used by people who are dealing with medical conditions, with similar success.
The main purposes of your WRAP are:
- To increase personal empowerment
- Improve the quality of your life
- Decrease or prevent intrusive or troubling feelings and behaviors
- Assist people in achieving their life dreams and goals
Your plan is created by you, using practical day to day terms, and for many, it holds the key to recovery and long term stability. Your WRAP alone should not replace traditional treatments, but it should be used in conjunction with other treatment options you may be using.
In developing your own Wellness Recovery Action Plan, you’ll identify the wellness tools that will most benefit you and will learn how to use these tools when needed, every day or when you have particular feelings or experiences. Your plan will help you monitor and relieve uncomfortable and distressing feelings and behaviors and identify your best course of action. This planning also includes Crisis Planning (an Advance Directive) that lets others know how you want them to respond when you cannot make decisions, take care of yourself, or keep yourself safe, and a Post Crisis plan to guide you through the often difficult time when you are healing from a crisis.
Key elements of Wellness Recovery Action Plan:- Wellness Toolbox
- Daily Maintenance Plan
- Identifying Triggers and an Action Plan
- Identifying Early Warning Signs and an Action Plan
- Crisis Planning
- Post Crisis Planning
If you are interested in WRAP training, newsletters, or books, please visit the following sites....
Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery
Wellness Recovery Action Plan
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