Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) WRAP is designed and managed by you and is designed to Decrease and prevent intrusive or troubling feelings and behaviours Increase personal empowerment Improve quality of life Assist you in achieving your own life goals and dreams Copyright by Mary Ellen Copeland, PO Box 301, W. Dummerston, VT 05357 Phone: (802) 254-2092 e-mail: info@mentalhealthrecovery.com Website: http://www.wrapandrecoverybooks.com. All rights reserved. Wellness Recovery Action Plan and WRAP are registered trademarks.
Wellness Toolbox A key question I always ask myself when I am trying to increase my wellness tools is What helps me feel better? Memory Box (in Progress). - holding and remembering some of the happy times and happy things in my life. Spending quality time with xxx and xxx - This reminds me of my worth as a mother and the role I have to play in their lives. Spending quality time with friends getting out with friends can distract me from my thoughts Having sofa days with xxx chilling with xxx means I don t have to speak but I m with someone who can support me if needed. Going to church/spirituality reconnecting with my spiritual beliefs and having a sense of calm Mountain meditation mindfulness Cuddling the dog sense of calm and time to be in the moment with her unconditional love Hiding (in moderation) help recharge my batteries Weekends away taking myself away from some of the stresses for a few days Going for a drive in the country time to think and reflect Watching the waves - Reading and reading trashy mags Being creative (crafty) Cooking Watching television (soaps, reality shows, films and documentaries) Being Creative (Crafty) doing crafts Remember my self-worth as a person (everyone has worth no matter who they are) Value schema therapy work ( look at the different modes this information is in my therapy file under construction may 2014)
Making fudge use this tool as a wind down from busy days delivering training Other peoples descriptions of me this can be helpful when I can t see the positive in myself ( this can also be found in my therapy file) Knitting distraction from my thoughts Daily Maintenance List What am I like when I am well? Sociable Giving eye contact Communicative Easy going Have a sense of humour Logical and rational Good hygiene High levels of tolerance Funny Caring and giving Happy to do most things and go most places Happy in my own company Love spending time with kids and the boys Always keep appointments and remember when they are Passionate about voluntary work and want to be involved Take my meds ( this is the first thing that goes when my mood dips) Things I need to do everyday to keep myself well Eat a healthy diet Take all medication appropriately Go to bed at a reasonable time Shower Talk to friends/family Have contact by text or telephone with xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To have structure to my day Planning nice things such as going away for weekends, going to events at church, days out Inviting people over for lunch/dinner Pamper nights/girly nights Keep appointments with care team (Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) Read and look at things in memory box Buy happy Wednesdays List the wellness tools that I need use every day to stay well Spend time with friends Embrace mindfulness and the techniques Mountain meditation Cuddling Dog xxxxxxx Remember my self-worth Take meds
Eat healthy diet Go to bed at a reasonable time Have structure to my day List of things I might need to do to stay well Engage with at least one of the above wellness tools at least once in a day but more when possible. Remembering the reasons why Im doing the activity and remembering that it may not always change my mood straight away Triggers Triggers are external upsetting events or circumstances which produce discomfort. These are things I don t expect and which I have may little control of over. Triggers are different for everyone. These reactions are normal but if not dealt with may make me feel worse Places Comments Negative Judgement Anniversaries Unexpected stress Action Plan List wellness tools I can help myself feel better when I have experienced a triggering event or circumstance. Use mindfulness techniques Look at schema therapy work working on the mode or modes that have been triggered Look at descriptions of me from other people, remembering my self-worth as a person Spending time with family and friends, using away days as distraction Try to normalise the stress, remembering that my reaction to some stresses could be the way I have reacted in the past
Early Warning Signs Early warning signs are those internal signs that I notice when I am starting to feel badly. Sometimes I am not sure why I am experiencing these early warning signs. I just know that they are there My early warning signs are very much attached to how they make me feel along with starting to Feel hopeless Self-esteem starts to drop Start to isolate myself Ignore my phone Anxiety starts and increases Start to miss medication Stop eating healthy and start to comfort eat Poor housekeeping Start to cancel appointments Telling people I m fine Putting on a front Start to increase the amount of commitments I have Not able to say no Start to think negatively Thoughts of self-harm Collecting/hording meds Ignoring bills Avoiding my children Not cooking dinner Writing becomes harder for me to do (find it hard to sign my name) Concentration starts to get worse Things become more of a chore to do rather than enjoying things Start to forget my tools I have learned in therapy Skip breakfast Noticing lots of bread and milk Lots of out of date food in the fridge Become over animated with lots of smiles and saying yes to everything Spending excessively Appearing more irritable Lack of confidence Reduced tolerance levels Action Plan List of wellness tools I can use to help myself feel better when I notice that I am experiencing early warning signs Spending time with family Spending time with friends Sofa days with xxxx Embracing mindfulness Mountain meditation Cuddling Dog xxxx
Weekends away Drive in countryside Watching the waves Remembering my self-worth Cooking Eating healthy Structure to my day Buy happy Wednesdays When things are breaking down At this stage my wellness tools are starting to fail. No matter what I try I am feeling worse every day Do things I normally wouldn t do Not turn up for appointments Run away Make active plans to end life Send Dog to sons house Stop doing voluntary work Stay in bed all day Excessively misuse medication to hide and stop thoughts Buying into illogical/negative/damaging thoughts Sense of humour changes to a black humour No tolerance levels Lack of eye contact Lack of confidence in everything List my plan to address symptoms of things breaking down. The plan needs to be very directive with fewer choices and very clear instructions. Take some time to think about my illogical and negative thinking before acting on this behaviour. Talk to people about how I am feeling and ask for help from supporters and care team where necessary Make appointments if this will help to discuss the here and now issues
Personal Crisis Plan Part 1: What I m like when I am feeling well. Sociable Giving eye contact Communicative Easy going Have a sense of humour Logical and rational Good hygiene High levels of tolerance Funny Caring and giving Happy to do most things and go most places Happy in my own company Love spending time with kids and the boys Always keep appointments and remember when they are Passionate about voluntary work and want to be involved Take my meds ( this is the first thing that goes when my mood dips) Part 2: Symptoms or distressing experiences. List signs that would let others know that I am no longer capable of taking care of myself and need support When my plans of overdosing goes from thoughts to actual plans to doing it When I have excessive amounts of bread and milk in the house ( as I don t drink milk and don t eat bread) When I disengage from services Part 3: Supporters. Make a list of people I trust to take responsibility for my care when I am unable to care for myself This is a list of family friends and supporters I have taken names out Make a list of people I do not wish to be involved in my care This is direct names and who they are for me there are four
Part 4: Medical information and medication I am currently taking GP Name and number Care co ordinator/cpn Name and number Others Medication name, dose and when taken Acceptable medications Medications to avoid Avoid all antipsychotic medication Allergies Part 5: Treatments that help and those that don t List treatments that have been helpful in the past and that can be used now Extra appointments with people already involved in my care Early access to Crisis input where clear home-based treatment is outlined List of treatments I don t want and an explanation of why this is Avoid hospital admission where possible as the confinement of hospital environment is not always of benefit to me Part 6: Home/Community/Respite Information about your home/community/respite plan. This could help prevent a hospital admission for me Being able to take time out having a few days away for respite If for any reason I need home based treatment this needs to be face to face as I respond better to this. I find it very difficult to actually state how I m feeling over the phone
Part 7: Acceptable/unacceptable hospitals to be admitted to Acceptable xxxx Unacceptable xxx hospital admission to this site would cause more crisis. The environment would not be a therapeutic one for me and would cause me great anxiety and would bring the issues to the forefront. Part 8: Help from others List things that others could do that will help me Encourage me to do some of my wellness tools but to do this please don t say do a wellness tool, think about how you will encourage me to do this without saying refer to your wrap plan and wellness tools as this would be a barrier for me to actually do it Encourage me to go out with them Remind me that this doesn t last for ever, even if I think it s going to Always be open and honest with me no matter how I may react Help me to do a self-monitoring circle ( if I don t have one encourage me to think about a self-monitoring tool) List things that don t help me Please don t shout at me Don t point out that I have choices etc at this point I don t think about the choices Part 9: Signs that the plan is no longer needed List ways that supporters are able to tell that I am able to care for myself and that they no longer need to follow this plan Sleeping improves Wanting to eat more healthy Being able to do shopping on my own Starting to be good to me Take dog back from xxx Signed: Name: Date: