I am absolutely delighted with this new listing in SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices. It is the result of many, many years of intensive work and rigorous research. My goal has always been, and continues to be, to get WRAP and the other mental health recovery information, key concepts and values and ethics I have learned through over 20 years of intensive research, out to more and more people, people with mental health challenges who are desperate to reclaim their lives.
A WORD OF WARNING. The WRAP intervention that is listed on the NREPP site has been rigorously studied. We know that this model is what works. And we know that it can be easily adapted, staying within this model, to make it work well for people with all kinds of issues and in all kinds of circumstances. People who have serious mental health challenges and other major life issues deserve the best intervention possible. They deserve WRAP as it has been studied so intensively over time.
However, from time to time, I hear about agencies and organizations that are “short changing people”–1. giving them some modified, untested version of WRAP, 2. changing the order of the plan, 3. not including information on the Key Concepts, 4. not following the values and ethics, 5. not referring to the manual and other resources that have been developed to describe this innovation, 6. not adequately training WRAP facilitators, or 7. not making information and resources available to people who would benefit from it. This is unfair. People who have mental health issues deserve the best. If you are not sure whether your program meets the standards that will most benefit everyone, please contact The Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery at info@copelandcenter.com or call them at (802) 254-5335.
We have also heard, and seen, resources and training models that are clearly plagiarized from my work and the work of the Copeland Center. They often have slightly different wording, leave out important information, add information that is not part of this program, leave out or change the values and ethics, and may be retyped and designed as a form of disguise. These materials are always ethical violations and are often legal copyright violations. They are not evidence-based. They siphon financial resources from our organization which is doing everything it can to develop, publish and distribute legitimate, well-studied materials wherever they are needed, while keeping the cost of these resources low and accessible to everyone who needs them–often even giving them away. We are so appreciative of the many, many people who use this program and materials as they have been so intensively studied.
Happy WRAPPing. And thanks for all your good work.
-Mary Ellen Copeland PhD.
Mary Ellen Copeland, PhD, developed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) with a group of people with lived experience who were attending a mental health recovery workshop in 1997. She is the original author of the WRAP Red Book, as well as dozens of other WRAP books and materials. She has dedicated the last 30 years of her life to learning from people who have mental health issues; discovering the simple, safe, non-invasive ways they get well, stay well, and move forward in their lives; and then sharing what she has learned with others through keynote addresses, trainings, and the development of books, curriculums, and other resources. Now that she is retired, and that, as she intended, others are continuing to share what she has learned, she continues to learn from those who have mental health issues and those who support them. She is a frequent contributor to this site.
