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Success Strategies

1. Know what success is. If you do not know what success is (for you), how can you create it? Success is different things for different people and one person’s success (a pregnancy for example) might be another person’s catastrophe. That is because success (or failure) is not so much about the situation, circumstance, event, or outcome as it is about what that “thing” means to the person in the middle of it. In order to create success, you must first define it – and far too many people have not. Be noticeably clear about what you want and do not want for your life. Clarity produces excitement. Excitement produces momentum. Momentum produces behavioral change. Behavioral change produces different results and eventually, the internal vision becomes an external reality. Giddy-up.

2. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Some people will live a life of second-best, of compromise and of under-achievement simply because they are (1) controlled by fear (2) always looking for the magic pill or shortcut and (3) not prepared to do the tough stuff. People who always take the easy option are destined for mediocrity. At best. Constantly avoiding the discomfort means constantly avoiding the lessons and the personal growth. Pain is a great teacher. Not always what we want, but sometimes what we need.

3. Seek to be righteous, not right. The need to be “right” speaks of arrogance, insecurity, ego, and stupidity. It is also synonymous with failure. The person who constantly needs to be right will miss much of what life has to teach him and alienate himself from others. Arrogance repels, humility attracts.

4. Seek respect, not popularity. It has been said that our nature is “who we are” and our reputation is who people think we are. When the two are synonymous, we are usually on the right path.

5. Embrace mess. To embrace mess is to embrace life because life is messy, unpredictable, unfair, uncertain, lumpy, and bumpy. So, get used to a little chaos. Embrace it even. While others succumb to the messiness and unpredictability of the human experience, make a conscious choice to be the calm in the chaos.

6. Do not become your parents. Or your boss. Or anyone but you. The enormity of conformity is a problem for the want to-be success story. Sure, your parents are great and by all means respect them, love them, and learn from them, but please do not become them; that is only plain ugly and a little bit tragic. Listen to, and learn from other people, but think, act, and decide for yourself. And no, you do not need anyone’s approval or permission; you are big now. It is okay.

7. Use more of what you already have. Imagine what you could achieve if you took all the knowledge, intelligence, opportunities, time, skill, and talent that you currently have and absolutely milked it. What if you already have more than enough talent to become wildly successful? Well, you do. There go the excuses. And that voice that is telling (some of) you right now that you do not have what it takes to become successful, that is called fear. Not logic, fear. Not reality, fear. Unless of course, you allow that to become your reality. Be mindful that the voice in your head (the very loud, annoying, and persistent one) is rarely a reflection of your potential and mostly a manifestation of your insecurity. And no, you are not alone in your self-doubt; it is a universal condition. Many people fail, not because they do not have what it takes, but because they do not use what they already have. Successful people typically do not have more innate potential, luck, time, or opportunity than the next person, but they consistently find a way to use much more of what they have at their disposal. While the majority are rationalizing their lack of decision making and action taking, these guys are finding a way to get the job done. The question is not “how much ability do you have, but how much will you use?”

8. Be an innovator, not an imitator. Not too many sheep succeed. Bawah. Sometimes it is a clever idea to build your own team rather than join someone else’s. Do not let your fear stand in the way of your potential to create, innovate, or lead. When I set up Australia’s first commercial personal training center, most people told me it would not work. Glad I did not listen.

9. Do what most will not. If you want to achieve what most people will not (happiness, joy, calm, wealth, optimal health, balance) then do not do what they do. If you want to be like the majority, then do what they do. Producing different results comes from doing different things. Simple really. And effective. Most people will not persevere, will not finish what they start, will not find the good, will not do what it takes, will not question their long-held beliefs, will not be purposeful, will not do what scares them, and will not “be the change” they want to see in their world. Choose to be different.

10. Be like water. Powerful. Gentle. Adaptable. Ever-changing. Being static in a dynamic world – like the one you and I inhabit – is a recipe for disaster. If you cannot adapt, you cannot succeed. Our practical, three-dimensional reality, and everything in it, is in a constant state of transition, while some of us are in a constant state of “same.” Statues do not succeed; they just get crapped on.

Mental health conditions

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety can be a precursor to many types of mental health disorders. Therefore, suffering from anxiety can make daily life insufferable and present many symptoms, including feelings of panic, nervousness, fear, and the physical symptoms of sweating and a rapid heartbeat.

While it’s normal to experience anxiety occasionally, an anxiety disorder goes beyond regular nervousness.

Instead, it occurs when your anxiety interferes with your ability to function normally, often causing an overreaction when something triggers your emotions.

Certain people may be at a higher risk than others for anxiety disorders if they have certain personality traits such as behavioral inhibition or shyness (1).

In addition, those feeling uncomfortable with and avoiding unfamiliar people, situations, or environments are also at high risk of developing anxiety disorders.

Stressful and traumatic events that may have occurred in early childhood or adulthood can also leave a mark. Also, having a family history of anxiety and other mental health conditions may leave you at a higher risk of anxiety disorders.

Among the different types of anxiety disorders, the most common that you may come across include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.

 

Depression

Depression is a common mood disorder and mental illness that involves a persistent sensation of feeling sad and a loss of interest. It differs from fluctuations that people may regularly experience as part of their daily life (2).

Depression is often confused with anxiety as the two can share certain symptoms. For instance, anxiety is felt after losing a loved one or experiencing sadness after a traumatic event.

This feeling can include positive and happy memories paired with feelings of emotional pain.

Depression, while it makes you sad, also involves feelings of self-loathing or loss of self-esteem. Whereas grief tends to decrease over time and occurs in waves, depression is not a passing problem but an ongoing one.

Depressive episodes can last for several weeks, months, or even years.

When depression is not treated in time, it can lead to the risk of self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and other abnormal thoughts.

Fortunately, this mental health issue is considered treatable. In fact, it is among the most treatable of mental disorders, with between 80 to 90% of people with depression eventually responding well to treatment, according to the American Psychiatric Association (3).

 

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder which is a medical condition. Anyone diagnosed with ADHD has differences in brain development and brain activity that affect attention, the ability to sit still, and self-control.

ADHD is typically identified and diagnosed in children who show signs of poor concentration and hyperactivity-impulsivity. Such children generally are very inattentive, easily distracted, and find it hard to focus their attention, concentrate, and stay on task.

Children with ADHD are also hyperactive, restless, fidgety, and become easily bored. They have a hard time sitting still, quiet, and rushing through things making careless mistakes (4).

 

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that swings between extreme mood changes, including emotional highs known as manic episodes and extreme lows bordering on depression.

When someone diagnosed with bipolar disorder becomes depressed, they may feel extremely sad and hopeless, losing pleasure or interest in otherwise preferred activities.

But when their mood veers to mania or hypomania, they may feel energized, euphoric, and uncharacteristically irritable. These extreme mood swings tend to easily affect energy, judgment, behavior, sleep and hamper the ability for clear thinking.

This mental illness is a lifelong ailment, but symptoms like mood swings can be managed by following a rigorous treatment plan. For the most part, treatment is carried out with medications and psychological support or psychotherapy.

 

Personality Disorder

Personality disorders are a type of mental illness in which a person’s thinking takes on a rigid and unhealthy pattern paired with abnormal functioning and behaving.

As a result, people with this mental illness often have trouble perceiving and relating to situations and other people. The result can be significant problems and limitations in social activities at work, school, and interpersonal relationships.

Some of the different types of personality disorders include the following:

  • Paranoid personality disorder makes it hard for people to confide in others, including their friends and family.

  • Antisocial personality disorder is another type of personality disorder where a person demonstrates no regard for right or wrong and ignores the feelings and rights of other people. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate, or treat others harshly.

  • Schizoid personality disorder makes it hard for a person to function well. The mental illness does not have the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia but still makes it difficult to form close relationships with other people.

  • Histrionic personality disorder is a personality disorder where there is an overwhelming need to be acknowledged by others, and people with the disorder usually exhibit dramatic or inappropriate behavior to get noticed. Individuals with this mental health issue often have a lot of unstable emotions and a distorted self-image.

 

Dissociative Disorders

Dissociative disorders signify an uncontrolled avoidance of reality. People suffering from these disorders experience a disconnection between their identity, thoughts, consciousness, and memory.

The dissociative disorder first presents symptoms to respond to a traumatic event such as military combat or abuse.

However, stressful situations may also aggravate symptoms and trigger problems with everyday life and functioning. The symptoms someone experiences will vary based on the type of dissociative disorder that the individual may have.

There are three types of dissociative disorders defined in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, including:

  • Dissociative amnesia is where the person finds it difficult to remember important information about themselves.

  • Depersonalization disorder involves persistent feelings of depersonalization and detachment.

  • Dissociative identity disorder is previously known as multiple personality disorder. This mental health condition characterizes switching between different identities or having a split personality.

These various identities are responsible for controlling a person’s behavior at different times.

Dissociative identity disorder can trigger memory loss, depression, or delusion caused by past trauma. Typically, therapy helps manage behaviors and can reduce the frequency of identity switches.

Anyone with dissociative identity disorder should have a robust support system, including family members and friends, as well as health care providers who can help manage the condition.

 

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are serious physical and mental illnesses involving a damaging relationship with food, exercise, and body image. These disorders are complicated and can vary significantly from one person to the next.

The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.

  • Anorexia nervosa centers around an immense fear of weight gain or becoming fat. As a result, people suffering from this condition have abnormally low body weight and distorted weight perception.

  • Bulimia nervosa is a mental illness and eating disorder that can present severe lifetime consequences. People who struggle with this condition suffer from episodes of eating excessive amounts of food followed by compensatory behaviors such as fasting purging, or excessive exercise.

  • Binge eating disorder is the most common among eating disorders and involves the common symptoms of eating a lot of food in a relatively short period. People who struggle with this condition also lose control during the episode, paired with extreme shame and guilt later on.

However, unlike other eating disorders, people who have binge eating disorders do not throw up food or exercise too much.

Therefore, even though this is a severe health problem, people with this eating disorder can get better with treatment.

 

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health issue involving unwanted thoughts and fears that cause an individual to engage in repetitious behaviors.

For someone to be diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, the cycle of obsessions and compulsions gets in the way of important activities that the person values.

Obsessions are thoughts, impulses, or images that occur repeatedly and feel outside of the person’s control.

Individuals with OCD can acknowledge these thoughts as irrational but feel compelled to perform them. The desire to break free and resist gets overtaken by the fear of them being genuine.

Typical examples of obsessions include checking multiple times to see if the stove has been turned off or whether you locked the door or not.

On the other hand, compulsions are repetitive gestures that offer some passing relief from the anxiety triggered by obsessive thoughts.

For the most part, compulsions are often carried out to dissipate obsessions. However, when people try not to perform compulsive acts, the obsessive thoughts may reappear even stronger.

Common examples of compulsions include repetitive hand washing for fear of contamination, excessive cleaning of household items and other objects, arranging objects in order till they feel “right,” or asking something repeatedly to get reassurance.

People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder can get help with medications and psychotherapy, and most treatment plans will use a combination of the two.

 

Psychosis

Psychotic disorders are a group of severe mental illnesses that affect the mind causing abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychosis lose touch with reality, with delusions and hallucinations being two of the main symptoms.

Delusions are false beliefs, such as imagining that someone is plotting against you or that the TV is sending you secret messages.

On the other hand, Hallucinations are false perceptions such as hearing, seeing, or feeling something that is not there.

This mental health disorder has different types where the person’s personality is severely confused, and they lose touch with reality. When a psychotic episode occurs, the person becomes unsure about what is real and what isn’t and suffers from incoherency.

Psychotic disorders are primarily treated by a combination of medication and therapy. The signature medications to treat psychosis includes antipsychotics that help in managing the symptoms of the condition like hallucinations and delusions.

Psychotherapy for psychotic disorders may include individual sessions, family sessions, and social support groups.

With proper treatment, many people diagnosed with this psychotic disorder can lead productive lives and function normally.

 

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder most commonly associated with a split personality, though this is not entirely correct.

Instead, it is a type of psychotic disorder causing people to interpret reality unusually. Schizophrenia often results in a sequence of hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking. The resulting behavior can impair daily functioning and be highly disabling.

People struggling with schizophrenia often withdraw from the outside world, feel confused and afraid and are at an increased risk of attempting suicide especially, during psychotic episodes, periods of depression, and in the first six months after starting treatment.

Even though it is a lifelong chronic disorder, most people with schizophrenia do get better over time, and there are plenty of options to help manage the mental illness.

Since this mental illness is often episodic, periods of remission are ideal times to employ self-help strategies to limit the length and frequency of any future episodes.

With the proper support, therapy, and medication, people with schizophrenia can better manage their symptoms, function independently, and enjoy entire, rewarding lives.

 

Stress-Related Disorders

Stress-related disorders are severe psychological reactions that can develop in people following exposure to a traumatic or stressful event such as childhood neglect, physical or sexual abuse, combat, natural disaster, an accident, serious injury, or torture.

Symptoms for stress-related disorders are broadly classified into four categories: intrusion symptoms involving involuntary, recurrent, and distressing memories, thoughts, and dreams of a traumatic event.

Then there are avoidance symptoms that are efforts to avoid internal memories, thoughts, and feelings or external people, places, and situations reminding the person of the traumatic event.

A third symptom is negative alterations in cognition and mood, where the person may have problems remembering important aspects of the traumatic event. They may also experience fear, shame, guilt, depression, and feelings of isolation from others.

The fourth symptom is hyperarousal, which includes being easily startled and jumpy, irritable, angry outbursts, problems concentrating, difficulty sleeping, and self-destructive behavior.

Even though there are different stress-related disorders, most people have heard of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which occurs after a traumatic or stressful event. Symptoms for all of the categories discussed above must be present.

 

Sleep Disorders

Common sleep disorders include insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and restless leg syndrome.

These conditions can affect every aspect of life, including safety, school, work performance, relationships, thinking, mental health, and even diabetes and heart disease development.

In other words, not getting enough quality sleep can hurt the overall quality of life.

Different sleep orders disorders that impair sleep or prevent you from getting restful sleep often result in daytimes drowsiness and other symptoms.

This is different from not getting enough sleep. Sleep disorders can interfere with cognitive function, leading to learning disabilities in children, memory impairment in people of all ages, personality changes, and even depression.

Sleep-deprived people often experience difficulty making decisions, have problems with performance, are irritable, and have slower reaction times.

These disorders can be caused by genetics, medications, aging, environmental factors, and working the night shift.

 

Substance-Related Disorders

Substance-related disorders involve an individual’s excessive substance use, such as alcohol or drugs, leading to problems and health issues at work, school, or home.

This disorder is also called substance abuse. Many people who engage in substance abuse also have accompanying depression, PTSD, or another mental illness.

In addition, such individuals may be experiencing a chaotic or stressful lifestyle and have low self-esteem.

Commonly used substances include opiates and other narcotics, stimulants, depressants, and marijuana. Many of these substances yield a rewarding feeling to the brain that may be so profound that people neglect normal daily activities in favor of taking the drug.

This addictive behavior can trigger substance-induced mental disorders, which are cognitive problems that develop in individuals who otherwise do not have mental health problems before using the substances.

 

Neurodegenerative Disorders

Neurodegenerative disorders affect the body’s various parts and functions, such as movement, balance, breathing, talking, and heart function.

Many neurodegenerative orders may be genetic, caused by a tumor or stroke, and usually worsen over time without a cure.

Conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease result from progressive damage to cells and nervous system connections essential for mobility coordination, strength sensation, and cognition.

Currently, there are no therapies available to cure neurodegeneration, and medication can only alleviate symptoms to improve the patient’s quality of life.

Basic Fundamental Elements of Rehabilitation

Basic a rehabilitation plan

Following is a summary of The National Consensus Statement on Mental Health and Recovery created by an expert panel convened by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

 

The panel worked to define the key elements of recovery in mental health. They are:

 

  1. Self-direction: Essentially, a person with a mental health condition leads the process of recovery by defining life goals and then designing a unique path toward those goals.
  2. Individualized and person-centered: The pathway to mental health recovery is based on a person’s unique strengths, needs, preferences, experience, and cultural background.
  3. Empowerment: People with a mental health condition have the authority to choose from a range of options and to participate in all decisions that will affect their lives. They also have the ability to join with others to speak as advocates for their needs, wants, and desires. Through empowerment, they control their own destiny.
  4. Holistic: Mental health recovery comprises mind, body, spirit, and community. It encompasses all aspects of a person’s life such as employment, education, mental health, addiction treatment, spirituality, creativity, social network, and family support.
  5. Nonlinear: Mental health recovery is an organic process that is based on growth, occasional setbacks, and learning from experience. The initial stage of recovery is the awareness that positive change is possible, and from there, being able to take an active role in the recovery journey.
  6. Strength-based: The mental health recovery journey builds on a person’s strengths and talents, and moves forward through interactions with others in supportive, trust-based relationships.
  7. Peer support: Mutual support plays a key role in recovery. People with mental health conditions can encourage each other, share experiences, and provide each other with a sense of belonging and community.
  8. Respect: Acceptance and appreciation of people living with mental health conditions — including protecting their personal rights and eliminating discrimination and stigma. Self-acceptance and self-confidence also are vital.
  9. Responsibility: Individuals have a personal responsibility for self-care, and their recovery journey. Working toward goals can require great courage. Identifying coping strategies and healing processes can promote wellness.
  10. Hope: Recovery is a message of hope and understanding that people do overcome the barriers and obstacles that confront them. Peers, friends, and family can help to foster that hope. Hope is what can get the recovery process started.

1) Prioritize your goals

Prioritize your list to first focus on goals that are vital to your health (maintaining sobriety, managing mental and physical health issues) and that secure basic needs (housing, income, transportation). Additional goals can then be addressed.

2) Write it all down

Your plan must be written down. This can be either handwritten or stored electronically, but your plan has to be captured in some medium so you can go back and review it regularly. Don’t rely on your memory, because it’s really hard to remember all the details of your plan. Plus, writing your plan makes it concrete and real. If you do not like doing this step or have challenges that make it difficult for you, have someone help you write down your plan.

3) Start with just one goal

Start with your most important goal and develop a plan for it using these steps. Then repeat the process for your next most important goal, and so on. It gets too confusing to develop multiple plans for several different goals all at once. Also, the specific plan for each goal will look quite different.

4) List specific action steps

Generate a to-do list of small, specific action steps that will lead you in the direction of your overall goal. Each step must pass the test of being realistic, important to you, and measurable, which means that you (and others) will be able to know when the step is completed.

Examples of possible action steps for a goal of maintaining sobriety might include: 1) Don’t use drugs or alcohol; 2) Attend a 12-step meeting or another support group; 3) Request a sponsor at the group meeting; 4) Read addiction recovery self-help materials; 5) Attend counseling sessions; 6) Get eight hours of sleep each night.

5) Add time frames

Without specific time frames for each action step in your plan, it is all too easy to drift and put things off. Then your plan can get derailed, and you may find weeks or months have gone by and you are no longer moving forward toward the desired goal.

Add tentative time frames or deadlines to each action step. For items with specific dates, like therapy appointments or group meetings, put in the exact dates and times. If some steps are ongoing, add frequencies like “three times a week,” “weekly,” or “daily.” Other steps may only need an estimated target date for completion. This is also an enjoyable time to start using a calendar or planner to schedule your standing appointments and other time-bound tasks or reminders.

6) Enlist your support team

You will need support to help you achieve your goals. I am still amazed how many people think they must fight their battles alone and who cannot or will not ask for help. There are a lot of emotions that sometimes keep us from asking for help, including pride, shame, guilt, anxiety, and fear of rejection. Help is available, but you will need to ask others directly to help you.

Who should you ask to be part of your support team? That is a personal decision, but first look for people who are positive, healthy, and available. Likely candidates will include friends, family, co-workers, health care professionals, peer supporters, faith leaders, and support group members or sponsors. Talk about your needs with them and discuss how they may be able to assist you with specific parts of your plan.

7) Include crisis contacts

Even the best laid plans do not always go smoothly, and the inevitable obstacle or crisis will occur, often when you least expect it. To prepare for this, include names and phone numbers of people or agencies you can call for immediate help if you are in crisis.

In the US, “911” is always available for emergencies, but also look for 24-hour crisis lines dedicated to mental health or crisis intervention. Additionally, therapists and support group sponsors may often agree to be available for crisis-related calls. This step is vital for mental health concerns and some physical health issues but may not be necessary for other types of personal goals.

8) Build-in rewards

Working towards your goals takes a lot of effort and may take a long time. But as we know, all work and no play made Jack a very dull boy. So, make a list of fun rewards you can give yourself for making progress toward your goals. Ideally, build in a simple reward each day. The only rules for rewards are that they have to be affordable, accessible, and healthy.

Rewards can include hobbies, physical activity, getting together with friends, watching a movie, and so on. The possibilities are limitless. This gives you something pleasant to look forward to each day and helps keep your motivation strong. Who says recovery cannot be fun?

9) Make a commitment

Now that you have most of your plan developed, make a commitment to carry it out to the best of your ability. First, make a private commitment to yourself and then make a commitment to your support team. Making a public commitment is tough, but it is stronger than a private one because now you are accountable to others, and you will not want to let them down. To seal the deal, give your support team a copy of your written plan or at least discuss your plan in detail with them.

10) Set a start date

As you finish developing your plan, set a date to launch it in the near future. Don’t procrastinate too long because you don’t want to lose all the great enthusiasm and momentum you have built up while putting your plan together. Tell your support team what the start date will be so they can also be ready to jump in and actively help you.

If you have followed these steps, you should have a well-developed personal recovery plan. In an upcoming post, we will talk about how to put your plan into action and keep it moving forward in a positive direction to reach your goals.

 

WRAP Is…

Wellness Rehabilitation Action Plan (WRAP) is a simple and powerful process for creating the life and wellness you want. With WRAP, you can: 

  • Discover simple, safe, and effective tools to create and maintain wellness

  • Develop a daily plan to stay on track with your life and wellness goals

  • Identify what throws you off track and develop a plan to keep moving forward

  • Gain support and stay in control even in a crisis

The WRAP process supports you to identify the tools that keep you well and create action plans to put them into practice in your everyday life. All along the way, WRAP helps you incorporate key recovery concepts and wellness tools into your plans and your life.

Discover the Key Concepts of WRAP

Explore the Parts of WRAP

The foundation of WRAP’s six parts is the wellness toolbox. Using the tools in our wellness toolbox, we build our WRAP.

  • Wellness ToolboxA list of skills and strategies for keeping ourselves well and for feeling better if we don’t feel well. Wellness tools are simple, safe, accessible, and often free things we can do to recover or maintain our wellness. They give us hope and help us feel connected to others and to ourselves.

  • Part 1: Daily Plan. The daily plan is a simple structure for putting wellness tools into action for daily living. This includes a description of how we look and feel when we’re well, things we need to do every day to stay well, and things we may want to do on a particular day to maintain wellness and make our life how we want it to be.

  • Part 2: Stressors. These are events, circumstances, or situations that may lead to uncomfortable feelings or behaviors. Some people prefer the words “triggers” or “red flags.” Whatever you call these occurrences, when they happen they cause a normal reaction to the events in our lives—but if we don’t respond to them and deal with them, they can make us feel worse and disrupt our wellness. In this part of WRAP, we identify our stressors and the wellness tools we will use to respond if they occur.

  • Part 3: Early Warning Signs. These are subtle signs of change that indicate we may need to take some action to keep our situation from worsening. Whereas stressors are things that happen around us, early warning signs are things we notice about ourselves or our environment that tell us we need to be proactive to protect or restore wellness. In this section, we identify our early warning signs and the wellness tools we will use to respond if we notice them.

  • Part 4: Signs That Things Are Breaking Down or Getting Much Worse. When things are breaking down, we’re feeling worse and worse despite our best efforts. This is the time to take immediate action to prevent a crisis. In this section, we make a list of our signs that things are breaking down and the specific, concrete plan we will follow to use our wellness tools to help prevent a crisis.

  • Part 5: Crisis PlanIf a crisis happens, it’s not your fault. The crisis plan helps you stay in control even when things feel out of control by making advance plans for yourself and for your supporters for what you need during this time. In this section, we define what a crisis looks like for our personal situation, who supports us, what supports we want and do not want, and how we want to be supported by others, including medical professionals if appropriate.

  • Part 6: Post-Crisis Plan. The post-crisis plan helps us navigate the period after a crisis so we can return to our daily plan on the timetable and in the way that makes sense for us. It also helps us evaluate our WRAP to identify new tools or strategies we want to use based on what we learned about ourselves through the crisis we experienced.

 

Each part of WRAP listed above links to blog articles on this site that touch on that element of WRAP in some way.

Our Sample WRAPs & Tools can help you see WRAP in action and give you ideas for tools and strategies you want to include in your own WRAP.

Want to learn more? Check out the WRAP materials in our bookstore and learn how to find a WRAP Co-Facilitator near you.

Want to share your WRAP story or a sample WRAP? Read our Writers’ Guidelines to learn how to submit an article or plan for our blog.

 

Whatever your goals or challenges, WRAP can help you make a plan that really works, with results you can really see. For more than 20 years, people around the world have used WRAP to support their goals and transform their lives. However you define “wellness” for your situation, WRAP can help you achieve it, step by step, your way, and on your terms. WRAP can help you:   

  • Shape every aspect of your life the way you want it to be

  • Gain freedom from troubling thoughts, behaviors, or patterns that repeat in your life

  • Feel empowered in making decisions about your life

  • Build a strong support network of people and resources to help you reach your goals be in the long run.

 

Elements of WRAP

WRAP was developed in 1997 by a group of people who had been dealing with difficult feelings and behaviors for many years. They were working together to feel better and get on with their lives. Since its creation, WRAP has been developed into a curriculum and co-facilitation practice that has been studied extensively, with more research being done every year.

In 2010, WRAP was designated as an evidence-based practice by the United States–based Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Randomized controlled trials of the co-facilitated WRAP peer group model showed improvements in WRAP participants compared to controls from baseline to 8-month follow-up, including:

  • Reduced psychiatric symptoms, especially depression and anxiety

  • Increased hopefulness

  • Increased quality of life

  • Increased recovery

  • Increased empowerment

  • Increased self-advocacy

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