

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.


WRAP Turns 25!
Looking Forward to the Next 25 Years of WRAP! By Mary Ellen Copeland, Ph.D. This month twenty-five years ago, a bold group of peers decided they wanted and needed a different way to work toward recovery and wellness, a way that would allow them to live the life of...
You are Far More Than a Diagnosis!
Have you been given a dire prognosis about your future because you experience mental health issues? Have you been told medications are the only treatment and that your “symptoms” will persist throughout your life? I am concerned that the word about RECOVERY from...
The Journey to Self-Esteem
It seems to me that there is a worldwide pandemic of low self-esteem, especially among those of us who have had mental health issues or been traumatized or mistreated. Although I am retired, I continue to have many opportunities to support people. And these days I...
Turning to Heavy-Duty Wellness Tools in a Difficult Time
The next few months may be challenging. There is colder weather (I am envying my friends in the southern hemisphere) and less daylight. We are in the midst of a raging pandemic that is expected to get worse before it gets better, with no certainty about when it might...