Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) was created by Mary Ellen Copeland, an author, educator and mental health recovery advocate in the USA.
“WRAP is a tool that can aid an individual’s recovery and its underpinning principles support the recovery approach. WRAP is a way of monitoring wellness, times of being less well and times when experiences are uncomfortable and distressing. It also includes details of how an individual would like others to support them at these different times.”
WRAP has five key principles:
1. Hope: people who experience mental health difficulties get well, stay well and go on to meet their life dreams and goals.
2. Personal responsibility: it’s up to you, with the assistance of others, to take action and do what needs to be done to keep yourself well.
3. Education: learning all you can about what you are experiencing so you can make good decisions about all aspects of your life.
4. Self advocacy: effectively reaching out to others so that you can get what it is that you need, want and deserve to support your wellness and recovery.
5. Support: while working toward your wellness is up to you, receiving support from others, and giving support to others, will help you feel better and enhance the quality of your life.
There are different styles of WRAP – click below for a few examples:
You can also download a free Wellness and Recovery Action Plan App – further information can be found here.