[Ida Marie]

Hey everyone,
I became a wrap facilitator in 2015. Just got a refresher last month bc I am now facilitating at my current job. My question is, What can I do to get participants more interest in this wellness approach? Also when facilitating the WRAP group does anyone include WHAM? Or do you facilitate a separate class. Thankyou in advance.
-Ida Marie

[Sarah Farmer]

Hi Ida,

Congrats, first of all.

What are you doing now to get more participants, do you create flyers, use the WRAP brochure, send emails, send person invitations, etc.?

I am not trained in WHAM, but in general, WRAP is its own program, which should be facilitated by itself. But maybe doing a “Wellness Training Series” and offering WRAP and then WHAM (or vice versa) would work to pull more people into a series and start building a network of supporters.

Do others have ideas?

[Lynn Patrone-Miller]

Hi Ida,
I do not facilitate WHAM along with WRAP as it is a different program. I stick solely to WRAP because of the consistent outcomes I experience and see in others. All of the ideas you have are great ones. Maybe using social media could help as well.

[Mickey]

Contact the NAMI and SAMHSA groups in your area, and join them. if you can find out how, in your state to become a Peer Recovery Support Specialist, you can probably get a job with one of these organizations, or with the governmental mental health centers, and you could run groups for WRAP, and get paid for it. Also, both of these organizations have incredible online presences which will guarantee lots of individuals that you can help develop their own WRAPs. My facilitator of the Correspondence Course occasionally holds Zoom support meetings that are wonderful. Also find out who your state government’s director of mental health services is, and email that person your status as a facilitator and that you want to lead Level I WRAP groups. They will be thrilled.

[Mickey]

Also to get folks interested start with the basics–the Key Recovery Concepts: hope, personal responsibility, education, self-advocacy and support. I would start with the hope piece and not move on until you got major buy in. Here are some ideas to use in a WRAP I group.
Put 10 quotes about hope on a piece of paper and have all the group members rank them with #1 being the quote that gives them the most hope. and so on. Then pair them in twos, and have them share. Then each group of 2 could argue persuasively to their partner until they reach consensus about which quote is most encouraging. Then have each group of 2 join another group of 2, and the 4 people go through the process again. While it seems like the goal is to get a consensus on which quote is most hopeful, what you really want to happen is that you spend the whole group talking about the effect of hope on their lives and sharing their stories. If you do not get to a consensus by the end, still list the contending quotes on the board, and give them this at-home journaling assignment. They are to find a recovery story online that illustrates one or more of these contending quotes and bring it back to class to discuss further. This will keep them thinking about hope all week. If you do this, will you get back to me and tell me how it went? Thanks

[Mickey]

Also to get folks interested start with the basics–the Key Recovery Concepts: hope, personal responsibility, education, self-advocacy and support. I would start with the hope piece and not move on until you got major buy in. Here are some ideas to use in a WRAP I group.
Put 10 quotes about hope on a piece of paper and have all the group members rank them with #1 being the quote that gives them the most hope. and so on. Then pair them in twos, and have them share. Then each group of 2 could argue persuasively to their partner until they reach consensus about which quote is most encouraging. Then have each group of 2 join another group of 2, and the 4 people go through the process again. While it seems like the goal is to get a consensus on which quote is most hopeful, what you really want to happen is that you spend the whole group talking about the effect of hope on their lives and sharing their stories. If you do not get to a consensus by the end, still list the contending quotes on the board, and give them this at-home journaling assignment. They are to find a recovery story online that illustrates one or more of these contending quotes and bring it back to class to discuss further. This will keep them thinking about hope all week. If you do this, will you get back to me and tell me how it went? Thanks

[Mickey]

I just forget to have the website email me if someone answers this!

[Sarah Farmer]

Mickey, That’s a great tip! Anyone else have some tips?

[Mickey]

Also, when preparing material for the group check a couple of WRAP books. The original little book is good, but, for example, the WRAP Plus has lots of expanded ideas. Interestingly, the concept of education is quite different in these two books. In the original WRAP, education is presented as knowing about yourself. In the WRAP Plus, the Education section is not about that at all. This might be because WRAP Plus has whole chapters on examining your life for trauma, and whole chapter on self-esteem boosting. In the above scenario when your group members are sharing their reasons for what quote they like, take brief notes of what they say. Later, you may be able to bring up things that you think they will respond to because of what you heard on the sly that first discussion of hope. If the group I was running was for those with depression or anxiety, I would get the WRAP books on those subjects and adjust the content to the particular group to who is in the audience. Also, always accept artistic responses to the prompt. One group I was in, one person had more severe bipolar, and less natural support than others in the group. She often responded to a prompt by writing a poem, or making a piece of art she would explain. Accept that offering. It may be too difficult for her to respond in words. Holistic therapy responses are always welcomed. I do not tell them this in advance, the ones who really know they need this will just do it, but when that happens, accept it for the special gift it is.

[Ursula A]

I’m active in WRAP as a participant AND hosting a Women’s Support Group for Vets and Women who care for them. All the Tips are excellent! Thank you so much.

[Author]

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