Wellness Recovery Action Plan, or WRAP, exercises are designed to help people with mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. The exercises help them overcome their chronic mental illness so that they can function on a daily basis and develop skills and strategies or achieving stability and wellness.
Aims
The aims of the Wellness Recovery Action Plan exercises are many, and each exercise is equally important. WRAP offers exercises that help you learn self-management skills so that you can maintain stability without expensive therapies. They can decrease the frequency of your symptoms, which decreases the trauma you associate with them. WRAP exercises also help you understand your illness to enable your to overcome stigmas and help you become more optimistic about getting well.
Function
The Wellness Recovery Action Plan was developed in Vermont 1997 by Mary Ellen Copeland, author of the bestselling "Depression Workbook." The residential courses are now available in communities throughout the Unites States, for all ages and last just eight days. During this time, you are encouraged to participate in lectures, hands-on developmental exercises, group discussions and behavior reinforcement activities. Groups include people who suffer from psychiatric symptoms, their partners or family members and trained mental health professionals.
There is also a wide range of follow-up recovery seminars available for those committed to ongoing support. The WRAP exercises you learn during the residential segment are intended to be used daily outside the program.
Learning Triggers
An important exercise in the program can help you to learn what triggers your psychiatric symptoms and to develop an action plan to help you cope. Triggers are situations that cause an increase in symptoms, such as work stress, holidays, family get-togethers, crowded places, insomnia, drinking or using drugs. Action plans utilize methods for preventing triggers from becoming more serious, such as walking the dog, listening to relaxing music, meeting a support group, or positive thinking or meditation.
Recognizing Early Warning Signs
Another WRAP exercise can teach you to recognize early warning symptoms that indicate more severe psychiatric symptoms may be approaching. These signs may include anxiety, forgetfulness, poor concentration, feelings of hopelessness, overeating, dizziness, negative thoughts and feeling fatigued. Your action plan may include talking to your doctor, relaxation exercises, positive thinking, asking a friend for support or journal writing.
Member Comments