Marisa Smith and Leah Fagundes get WRAP certification in Marin County

I have been asked to write about one of the most empowering tools that I have learned in my recovery. After doing a few process groups, a client made me aware of the WRAP program for recovery and insisted on the need to bring it to the Enterprise Resource Center. I jumped on board and Leah Fagundes advocated for scholarships for her and I to become 2 of three Wellness Recovery Action Plan facilitators in Marin County. After completing the sixty page document on my computer, I was cleared for the training to help others complete this oh so important document. The document is known as a working document, meaning that it changes as you change but the key to this helpful tool is that you complete it when you are relatively well so that your needs can hopefully be met when you are not well. 

Currently, we are meeting at WET meetings monthly and working on having funds to bring this to the mental health consumer and provider community. Another facet of the WRAP plan is that you can tailor it to anything you need help with. For instance, our trainer did a WRAP plan when she was unemployed to get a job and she accomplished that task. It is great for mental health consumers especially because it designates for people to take over when you are not capable of making decisions on your own. In my experience, I never thought it would be possible for me to need the help of others to make good decisions but that has definitely been the case for me once in my lifetime. That is enough to make this an important and powerful document for me. If I had made a WRAP plan prior to my first manic episode, I would have limited the PTSD symptoms I suffer now from hospitalization. I would have had more control over my situation and had supporters who knew my wishes clearly.

The intense five day training, of which only half of the group passed, focused tremendously on the facilitation of a group of clients and the rights that they maintain while attending the group. These skills proved helpful for all of my group facilitation for people with mental illness. A key principle is that participation and any work is all voluntary. I think this is important for anyone who wants to be in charge of their own recovery and life in general. Also, the groups are accepting of all views. For instance, if someone tells me that drinking a glass of wine is a wellness tool for them, I am not going to argue but I might point out that our wellness tools will change over the course of our recovery and lifetime and are different for everyone.

I refrained from giving the technical information of the program in this article but if a WRAP plan sounds like it is something you would like to have to help you in times of crisis, talk to me or ask about when these groups will be coming to a venue that you frequent. You can also follow Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery on Facebook. It's proven very worthwhile for me and I look forward to advocating to make it a normal part of recovery in Marin County.