Wellness Recovery Action Plan
The journey to mental and emotional health and wellness is often a path laden with unique challenges and surprises. It demands not only professional interventions but also proactive involvement and self-care practices from the individual. Self compassion plays a vital role in creating and implementing your self-care plans. One significant tool that has emerged in the field of mental health is the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP), a self-designed prevention and wellness tool that anyone can utilize to get well and stay well. The Wellness Recovery Action Plan, or WRAP, is a holistic, person-centered approach to managing mental health and maintaining wellbeing. This approach is designed around the principle of self-determination, focusing on individuals’ ability to understand their personal triggers, early warning signs, and effective strategies to manage their mental health.
Creating Your Wellness Recovery Action Plan
Building your personal WRAP involves several steps. Each step builds on the last, with the primary goal of promoting wellness and resilience. Here’s how you can develop your own WRAP:
- Wellness Toolbox: Create a comprehensive list of resources, activities, and strategies that help you feel better when you’re unwell or under stress. This can include anything from a favorite hobby, spending time with loved ones, to professional help.
- Daily Maintenance Plan: Determine what you’re like when you’re well, and what you need to do every day to maintain that wellness. This step helps to establish a healthy routine, which can be invaluable in maintaining mental health.
- Identifying Triggers: Identify and document external events or circumstances that, if they happen, may make you feel uncomfortable, and activate firefighters, the protective parts of your personality. These ‘triggers’ can worsen your mental health if not managed properly. Once identified, you can then develop an action plan for responding to these triggers, using the tools from your wellness toolbox.
- Early Warning Signs: Identify and document the subtle, early signs that indicate you might be feeling worse. These signs might be changes in your thoughts, attitudes, or behaviors. As with triggers, you should have a set of responses ready to counteract these warning signs.
- When Things Are Breaking Down: How can you recognize the signs that show you’re feeling much worse, like feeling miserable or unable to carry out your daily responsibilities. For these situations, the plan must involve more robust responses, which can include reaching out to mental health professionals or trusted support persons.
- Crisis Plan: A ‘crisis plan’ or a ‘mental health advance directive,’ involves determining the signs that show that you’re in crisis, like feeling suicidal or unable to take care of your basic needs. It’s crucial to involve your healthcare provider in this step, as they can provide necessary support during a crisis. It’s also necessary to identify a support person who can execute your crisis plan when you’re unable to do so. If you are creating an advance directive, registering it with the appropriate agencies is required legally in some states in order for it to be recognized by professionals, and doesn’t guarantee the plan will be followed if you are a danger to yourself or others.
- Post-Crisis Plan: After a crisis, it’s important to review what happened, what worked, what didn’t, and what could be done differently next time. After analysis you should update the plan in the places in the plan where changes are needed. This step helps to rebuild and reassess, aiming to prevent future crises and foster recovery.
The WRAP approach to mental health is a significant shift from the traditionally passive roles patients often find themselves in. It encourages an active, self-guided role in managing mental health. Each step builds on the last, creating a chain of preparedness and resilience, which can help individuals to lead healthier, more balanced lives. By creating a personalized Wellness Recovery Action Plan, you gain the tools to navigate the difficult terrain of mental health with agency and confidence.