It’s fea­tured on grants, it’s advised for most par­tic­i­pants in Fayette Coun­ty Men­tal Health Court, and it’s on the sched­ule at Par­tic­i­pa­tion Sta­tion on a reg­u­lar basis.  It’s a core part of the Recov­ery we talk about.

But what is WRAP really?

WRAP stands for Well­ness Recov­ery Action Plan.  Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD cre­at­ed this method for track­ing and help­ing her­self stay well. Over time, she per­fect­ed and cre­at­ed a work­book for oth­ers to fol­low in her foot­steps. More on her pro­gram here.

WRAP isn’t going to tell you how she got bet­ter. Instead, it lets you iden­ti­fy what makes you feel bet­ter. Define what “bet­ter” means to you. What dai­ly things make you the best per­son you can be right now? What do you need to write down so you remem­ber to do it?  Those ques­tions and more are answered with­in the plan.

“In my opin­ion, every­one needs a WRAP plan,” says our Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, Phill Gunning. 

He’s not jok­ing. Every­one sets dai­ly rou­tines. Reminders of what makes YOU hap­py can make you smile even through tough times. Know­ing what to do in a cri­sis, and hav­ing a plan in place, well that’s part of any orga­ni­za­tion’s necessities.

And a plan for han­dling stres­sors? Well every­one needs that for over­all men­tal wellness!

WRAP is cen­tered on a “Well­ness Tool­box” — a list of cop­ing skills and infor­ma­tion bro­ken into the fol­low­ing sections:

• Dai­ly Main­te­nance Plans are the reg­u­lar dai­ly rou­tines we all need remind­ed of some­times. Things like “take a show­er”, “do a load of laun­dry”, and oth­er items that just keep you feel­ing like YOU go in this part of the plan.
• Trig­gers sec­tion helps you iden­ti­fy what sets you off — whether that’s anger, anx­i­ety, dis­ap­point­ment, or mis­com­mu­ni­ca­tion — we all have them!
• Ear­ly Warn­ing Signs helps YOU know when your recov­ery is slip­ping back­ward a few steps.
• Break­down Symp­toms are those things that come into play when it’s time to see a doc­tor and/or ther­a­pist right away.
• Cri­sis Plan is where YOU are empow­er­ing your­self to han­dle a psy­chi­atric cri­sis, but the prin­ci­ples apply to all crises.  Who will take care of your dog if you go to the hos­pi­tal? Do you have an Advanced Men­tal Health Direc­tive in place? Do you know which hos­pi­tal you pre­fer and where your insur­ance is accepted?
• Post Cri­sis Plan is the last step, and reminds you how you get back on the path to recov­ery. Where will you go dur­ing the day? (We hope it’s Par­tic­i­pa­tion Sta­tion or a Sup­port Group, but do what works for you!)

THE NEW WRAP APP 

Can’t get to Par­tic­i­pa­tion Sta­tion to attend a WRAP class? Not sure if WRAP is for you? Want a good plan­ning tool, regard­less of whether or not you have men­tal illness?

There’s a new WRAP App for most smart phones and tablets.  It is now real­ly easy to keep your WRAP with you at all times if you use the new WRAP App.  Keep track of your Well­ness Tool­box, a list of cop­ing skills you enjoy and that can help you with the dai­ly stres­sors we all encounter.  You can also use this app to keep track of your Dai­ly Main­te­nance Plan, Trig­gers, Ear­ly Warn­ing Signs, Break­down Symp­toms, Cri­sis Plan and Post Cri­sis Plan.  The App gives a brief overview of the dif­fer­ent sec­tions of the plan if you are not familiar.

WRAP class­es are on Mon­days and Wednes­days from Noon to 1pm and are good for brain­storm­ing and shar­ing ideas with your peers.

Ques­tions about WRAP not addressed here? Call Par­tic­i­pa­tion Sta­tion at (859) 309‑2856.

Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: Advanced Directive, Advanced Mental Health Directive, Lexington, Life under control, Mental Health Court, Participation Station, Recovery, Support, WRAP | No Comments »