“What protocols do you recommend regarding establishing strong boundaries in Peer Support relationships that maintain proper self-care for yourself?”
“What’s the difference between the WRAP and Peers Support Handbook and the old peer book?”
These are only some of the questions addressed by Mary Ellen Copeland during last week’s engaging and informative webinar on The Concepts and Process of WRAP and Peer Support. In addition to the energetic Q&A session, Mary Ellen discussed the development of WRAP and Peer Support, shared some of her own personal experiences and provided many examples to help others move forward in their wellness journey.
WRAP has truly been a Peer Support initiative from its beginning, when developed in 1997 by a group of Peers who knew that Moving Forward and enjoyment of life was possible. There are many reasons why combining WRAP and Peer Support create such a magical result – following are some examples:
- They share the same Values & Ethics
- It can happen easily where people gather together for discussion and support
- Your personal journey can be enhanced by others who genuinely support you
- Together, they have become what many consider to be the Gold Standard for dealing with mental health issues
- It provides validation
- Low cost or FREE! Use a WRAP Workbook, a My WRAP Pocket Plan, the WRAP App or a piece of paper to create your WRAP and arrange times to meet with your supporters
How is using Peer Support going to affect how you develop your own WRAP? When enhancing your WRAP through Peer Support, you will find yourself thinking more deeply about the process and that although developing your WRAP might take longer to allow for more discussion time with your peers, the end result is magical!
During the webinar, Mary Ellen drew upon her own experience of how her WRAP plan has evolved since including Peer Support. She shares: “When I first created my WRAP plan it had a lot of value and was responsible for a big step forward in my own wellness. As I have learned more about Peer Support through the years and as a result, revised my WRAP, I have moved lightyears forward – which is the reason I felt that writing the WRAP and Peer Support Handbook was so important.”
Written in an easily understood format, the WRAP and Peer Support Handbook takes you through the process of using WRAP and Peer Support together and includes many examples, role playing options, WRAP forms, discussion topics and more!
If we could come together and get everyone moving forward in their lives – those in institutions, in group homes, homeless, in Veterans facilities, in prisons and jails, in their own homes, and in the community – If WRAP and Peer Support could become the way we do things, what a great place the world would be.
If you missed the Concepts and Process of WRAP and Peer Support Webinar
or are wanting to see it again,
Hosted by the Copeland Center and WRAP and Recovery Books
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.
