Customer Reviews

Wellness Recovery Action Plan

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The Wellness Recovery Action Plan teaches people with psychiatric symptoms step by step how to make a plan to manage their symptoms, from daily maintenance activities, through early signs of trouble, to signs that things are breaking down, to making a crisis plan for a time when they may need the help of other people to temporarily make decisions in their lives. This process is appropriate for people with any kind of symptoms, or for people dealing with stress or life crises. The format is simple and clear, and there are lots of suggestions to help the reader with their plan. There also short sections in the book about journaling, peer counseling, building a support system, relaxation, diet, exercise and other tools that they can use with the W.R.A.P I have made my own W.R.A.P. and use it in my life to help me manage my symptoms. I also teach it to other people in Recovery Education classes based on the model developed by Mary Ellen, where it is very successful. You can't go wrong with this book!

This WRAP book and its do-it-yourself plan are easy to use for any kind of upsetting symptoms or stressors. The plan walks you through the steps of deciphering what you need to have a good quality of life, and what to do when you see it slipping away. It is simple, powerful and easily shared with your supporters, who can have a role in helping when you need them. I have been trained to teach this plan, and 100% of the time the people I introduce it to walk away thrilled to have a new resource and a structure to help deal with difficult times. You won't be disappointed in this purchase.

I recently started up a Mental Health Wellness and Recovery program using this book as a guide. So far it has been a great success. This book provides the details needed to set up a Wellness Recovery Action Plan. It also has a wealth of other information and resources. This book can also be used by individuals who want to take responsibility for their own health, no matter what the illness.

I am using this book with my clients, and am getting excellent feedback. The recovery model and everything WRAP stands for is very much in line with my own values and beliefs about working in Mental Health. I greatly recommend this book to any professional in the field who is working with clients on their recovery!

I haven't began working diligently on this book, but from what I've gone over so far, it is extremely helpful. For anyone working through mental illness or chemical dependency (or both), this book is a great resource. It's helpful to complete in a time that you are feeling well, and helps you plan for the times that things are going harder. It looks like it's an old book, but remember, don't judge a book by it's cover. :)

This book is an excellent guide to taking control of your illness and your life in a way that works best for you. Write your WRAP and then pass this book on to someone else who could benefit from it.

Released in 2008, as a sequel to W.R.A.P. - compiled by Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, psychologist, The WRAP Story presents 82 first-person accounts of recoveries, written by people who used W.R.A.P. themselves or with clients. A fascinating overview of how patients can help themselves using wellness recovery action planning tips and tools as presented in the W.R.A.P book.

If you or a family member or a friend or a client suffers with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, schizophrenia, psychosis, or another mental condition, you can use WRAP tools to help yourself recover and keep well.

Note that Wellness Recovery Action Planning is compatible with any other treatment(s) - meds, talks or other therapies.

Review of The WRAP Story follows -

The WRAP Story [WRAP = Wellness Recovery Action Plan]
First Person Accounts of Personal and System Recovery and Transformation
compiled by Mary Ellen Copeland, Ph.D, 2008, Peach Press, Vermont

review by Robert Sealey, BSc (author of Finding Care for Depression, 90-Day Plan and www.searpubl.ca)

The WRAP Story, an anthology, has 82 stories written by people who recovered from mental illnesses: depression, anxiety, ADD, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. These heartwarming accounts share strategies for recovering which Vermont psychologist, Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD studied, researched, developed, wrote about and taught, even when she had her own problems with depression and a bipolar diagnosis.

Story #1, in the first chapter, explains where WRAP came from. When Mary Ellen Copeland was ill, she struggled with symptoms. As her life unraveled, her family did not know how to help. After several hospitalizations and trials of strong and stronger medications, Mary Ellen asked her psychiatrist, `How do people recover, get well and stay well?' Her doctor said there was no such information, but he learned that you do not say no to Mary Ellen Copeland. She wanted recovery information so badly that she developed it herself. She kept going when people said that her research methods would not work. She continued when people said that she could not get published or put on a workshop. She wrote and taught so well that patients started to recover and tell other patients. Her latest book, an astonishing compilation of recovery stories, shares Mary Ellen's own recovery as well as her research and development of self-help tools and recovery strategies. She encourages recovered patients to pay forward what they learned.

My story appears as #7 in the chapter about using wellness recovery tools. After decades of problems with a bipolar II mood disorder, migraines, anxiety and other diagnoses, I was sick, suffering and deteriorating. My healthcare professionals offered quick labels and easy meds, but those shortcuts did not help. I was victimized by substandard care, misdiagnoses, mistreatments, lies and smiles. As a trusting patient, I wanted an accurate diagnosis and restorative treatments. Then I needed tips and tools to rebuild my shredded life and keep well. Mary Ellen Copeland's books about living with depression and bipolar disorder proved exceedingly useful. Her WRAP concept encouraged me to develop a wellness recovery action plan. My wellness `toolbox' includes: bibliotherapy (reading to heal), orthomolecular medicine, networking and volunteering. My written recovery plan identifies trigger factors and early warning signs and outlines daily activities to maintain wellness. If a crisis looms or a relapse starts, I review my plan, adjust my doses of vitamins, minerals & amino acids (brain `fuels'), check my medications, call my health professionals and connect with my support network.

The recoveries in The WRAP Story anthology speak to the problems of psychiatry and offer self-help solutions which patients found safe and effective. Rather than trusting the tradition of nihilism in psychiatry [careless doctors who do nothing to heal], patients can develop wellness recovery action plans. Eighty-two people explain how they took responsibility for educating themselves about diagnoses, found effective treatments, identified vulnerabilities and sustained commitments to self-help. They recovered. While modern psychiatry focuses on quick labels and easy prescriptions, Mary Ellen Copeland offers self-help strategies to help sick, suffering and vulnerable patients recover and live well. Her Wellness Recovery Action Plan helped thousands of patients - the stories in The WRAP Story anthology tell readers that Mary Ellen's wellness recovery action planning concept has performed well under pressure and proven itself practical, safe, adaptable and flexible enough for everyday use by patients and health professionals.

The single-minded determination of Mary Ellen Copeland, herself a recovered patient and a PhD psychologist in Vermont, powered her series of 16 self-help books and WRAP plans, videos, workshops, trainers and facilitators across the United States. Thousands of recovered patients, worldwide, can thank Mary Ellen for teaching us how to recover using self-help tips and tools. If you or someone you know gets sick during episodes or has a chronic mental health problem, please remember that The WRAP Story comes with Mary Ellen's intriguing wellness recovery action planning concept and 82 inspiring stories written by patients who used her tools to plan, cope, recover and stay well.
www.mentalhealthrecovery.com

I highly recommend this book. This book gives me hope of restoring my life. There are studies with real people who put in words how they feel. That part alone helped me realize I'm not alone and I do not have to live my life around this illness but I can be in control. A good reference book to have.

I received my book in a very timely manner. The book itself met my expectations; it was worth its price.

This is a must have book to put your life and your wellness into your own hands. If you ever found yourself hospitalized and wondering why were people doing this to you, then you can benefit from taking charge of your life with this step by step guide to having a clearer life and better coping strategies. This book helps folks with problems from depression to bipolar to schizophrenia. It allows you to take charge of your life instead of having others take charge for you. It helps you avoid crisis. When you develop a WRAP plan you find clear insight into what triggers your problems and how to keep on top of your difficulties. If you ever do have a crisis and need to be hospitalized, there is a written part of this plan that tells people you trust which hospitals, doctors and medications are acceptable for you. It is like a mental health directive that explains what you know that you need because you are living inside your experience and this will help people to listen to you when you are in a crisis.