Integrating

Our agency (organization) is considering using the Mental Health Recovery and WRAP Curriculum as a basis for our recovery oriented system. How do you propose we do that?

To use Mental Health Recovery and WRAP Curriculum as the basis for your recovery oriented system, you need to educate people in your organization and build your recovery capacity. There are several key steps you can take to begin this process. You can decide how and when you will use each of these strategies. Begin by reviewing the article Mental Health Recovery and WRAP at http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/art_wrap.php

1. Work with consultants at the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery, people who have experience with implementing recovery-oriented initiatives, to develop and implement your recovery strategy.

2. Have several people in your agency or organization attend a Copeland Center sponsored seminar on system transformation.

3. Set up a committee that includes peers (or is all peers) to work on setting up this program. This committee can decide how you will want to make mental health recovery and WRAP concepts available to people who use your services. The usual process for this is:

training people so they can facilitate WRAP groups and work one-on-one with people in developing a WRAP and learning mental health recovery concepts by sending people to Copeland Center training’s or sponsoring a training in your area,
sponsor WRAP groups,
have a WRAP and mental health recovery conference in your area,
offer workshops and seminars on mental health recovery, WRAP and mental health recovery values and ethics, and,
integrate the mental health recovery values and ethics throughout the organization.

4. Ask recovery committee members and key people in your agency to review some of the many resources that describe the Mental Health Recovery and WRAP program. They are available along with many other resources that would be of interest at http://www.mentalhealthrecovery. Suggested resources for initial review would include:

You may see others on the site that would be of particular interest to your organization.

5. Establish a mental health recovery library for use by people who use your services, group facilitators and care providers. The books that you purchase for review can become part of this library. Other books from the site can be included in that library

6. Assess the recovery capacity that already exists in your area or agency. Are there trained WRAP facilitators, Advanced Level Facilitators or Copeland Center trainers in your area that already know this work and can assist you as you integrate mental health recovery and WRAP into your system through consultation and training? Could they be on your recovery committee? Could they do some training for you?

7. Sponsor a WRAP conference, workshop or seminar. These one, two or three day conferences introduce many people (as many as 500 people) to the mental health recovery and WRAP concepts. You can arrange a conference by contacting the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery.

8. Set up training for WRAP group facilitators in your area or send prospective facilitators to a Copeland Center training. A prerequisite for this training is that the prospective facilitator must already have taken a basic mental health and WRAP course either through the Correspondence Course offered by the Copeland Center, the WRAP conference or through a workshop of seminar offered by a Certified WRAP trainer. For more information, contact the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery.

As you develop and use these strategies, next steps will become apparent. As you move forward you will have pleasure of seeing more and more people feel a sense of hope, take personal responsibility for their own wellness, educate and advocate for themselves, develop strong support system. As this happens their need for services will decrease and they will move forward, working to fulfill their life dreams and goals.

What mental health recovery and WRAP resources should people who lead groups, provide care and make decisions in my agency have in their own work-related library?

Mental Health Recovery and WRAP Curriculum Facilitator Guide,
WRAP and Peer Support
Wellness Recovery Action Plan
Winning Against Relapse
Creating Wellness DVD

Others may be appropriate depending on their specific role and the focus of your agency. Complete descriptions of each book that has been developed by Mary Ellen Copeland are available at http://www.mentalhealthrecovery.com/shop/index.php

We are plannning to do Advance Directive training. Do you think we should work on the other parts of WRAP first?

It is great that you will with people on developing Advance Directives or Advance Statements. WRAP is a prevention oriented recovery document that includes an Advance Directive. While the beginning sections of WRAP, like building a Wellness Toolbox and figuring out what you need to do every day to stay as well as possible, are easier wellness steps, developing an Advance Directive Statement is hard and, to write a good one that has a high likelihood of working, takes some self knowledge and skill. That is why I recommend that before people develop an Advance Directive they develop the beginning sections of WRAP which are much easier for most people. Hopefully they will never need the Advance Directive. But, everyone should have an Advance Directive just in case. It makes the crisis time so much easier if others know how to help.

Regarding WRAP facilitator training, you can learn more about it at
http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/trainings.php Then I suggest you contact The Copeland Center http://www.copelandcenter.com directly to discuss training options in Scotland, or having some of the people in your agency or organization come to the States for a training.

Other questions you might have may be easily answered by going to http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/faq_main.php

A growing body of rigorous research is developing around WRAP. Judith Cook PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago has summarized it in her paper Mental Illness Self-Management through Wellness Recovery Action Planning at

http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/wrap_research_findings_judithcook.php. Judith is conducting an intensive study of WRAP at this time and initial findings should be available in December, 2007. WRAP is one of the programs currently being reviewed by the Center for Mental Health Services to be included in their listing. I will post information on that as soon as it is available.

What mental health recovery and WRAP resources should we be purchasing for the people we serve? Why would they need their own copy?

People benefit from their own copies of mental health recovery and WRAP books for easy access when issues arise and so they can fill out the forms for their personal use.

Most people who are dealing with mental health difficulties would benefit from having their own copy of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan. They might also benefit from a personal copy of the Depression Workbook.

If a person is a veteran or in the military, they would benefit from having their own copy of WRAP for Veterans and People in the military.

Choose WRAP for people with Dual Diagnosis for people who have addiction issues.

Teens who are dealing with any kind of mental health difficulties would benefit from a personal copy of Recovering from Depression: A Workbook for Teens.

Children will benefit from having their own copy of a WRAP Workbook for Kids.

Women who are working on trauma related issues could benefit from having a personal copy of Healing the Trauma of Abuse: A Women's Workbook.

People who are concerned with loneliness issues would benefit from The Loneliness Workbook.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Survival Manual is specifically for people who experience chronic pain.

People who have been working on their recovery for some time, might benefit from a personal copy of Winning Against Relapse and/or Living Without Depression and Manic Depression.

In our mental health facility, people usually have very brief stays, a day or two, a week or at most a month. It is hard to work with them on WRAP in such a short time. Can we develop our own abbreviated WRAP to use in this situation?

WRAP is found to work very well in its entirety. Chopping it up is not a good option. For short terms stays such as you describe, focus on developing the Wellness Toolbox. Work with people to develop a strong list of Wellness Tools that they can use when they are feeling badly to help them feel better, and to keep them well. The book Winning Against Relapse, available through our website, would be a good reference for you on doing that.

Then, if there is time, begin working with them on the Daily Maintenance Plan. If they leave your facility with those two things it will be really helpful to them. Give them a red Wellness Recovery Action Plan book as they leave so they can continue to work on this on their own. If you have binders or notebooks that they can take with them when they leave, it will help assure that they continue to do this work. Perhaps people could contact you or someone else on your staff, especially a peer, to ask questions and get support if they are going to be working on their plan on their own.

You could also offer people a brief overview of WRAP, an hour or two, when, using the slides in the Mental Health Recovery and WRAP Curriculum Facilitator Manual (also available through the website) from time to time so people know what it is about. Don't expect people to work on their plan at this time, although they can take notes if they want to.

As they leave your facility, give them information on WRAP groups in the community. Perhaps your program could sponsor an on-going WRAP group.

How can I start a WRAP group? Do I need special training to facilitate a WRAP group? What resources will I need to do that?

It is best if you get some training in WRAP group facilitation before you begin a WRAP group.

See if there is someone in your area who is certified to lead a WRAP facilitator training. Your mental health peer support program, statewide peer organization or mental health center should have information if that training is available. The Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery might know of a trainer in your area.

You could also attend a WRAP facilitator training sponsored by the Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery. For more information on those trainings, go to http://www.copelandcenter.com

If training is not possible for you at this time, and there is no one in your area who has the training who can lead the group, purchase a copy of the

Mental Health Recovery and WRAP Curriculum Facilitator Guide and review it in detail. In addition, study intensively WRAP and Peer Support and Winning against Relapse. View the video Creating Wellness Workshop. Know the WRAP format and the Values and Ethics very well before you begin leading a group.

Then, if you have not had training, begin by leading a small group-4-6 people at most. For such a small group you can usually get participants by word-of-mouth or through your peer or mental health organizations. Use your resources to keep you on course and for helping in addressing problems.

Purchase a WRAP book for each participant. Your agency or organization may be willing to pay for these books. Or people may be able to purchase their own. There are special adaptations of this book for people with addiction issues, Spanish speaking people, for people who are veterans or are

You will need to find a space to hold the group (I suggest a room that is comfortable with plenty of windows, one that is accessible for everyone and is easy to reach by public transportation. Set a time that is convenient for everyone. Ask people to sign up for the group in advance. Remind people who have signed up before your first meeting.

You can get WRAP facilitator certication by attending a WRAP failitator training led by a certified WRAP facilitotor. You can learn more about this training at
http://mentalhealthrecovery.com/trainings.php Contact the Copeland Center http://www.copelandcenter.com directly to discuss possible training options in your area. If you are not sure that the person leading the facilitator training is certified, you can ask to see there certification certificate or check with the Copeland Center.