Printer
TextWellness Recovery Action Plans
WRAP stands for Wellness Recovery Action Plan. It’s a program that was developed in Vermont in 1997 by Mary Ellen Copeland and a group of friends who had experience with the mental health system. WRAP is now recognized as an exemplary practice and has been widely implemented across the country and around the world.
The WRAP program involves an educational and planning process that is grounded in mental health recovery concepts such as hope, education, empowerment, self-advocacy, and interpersonal support and connection.
Within a group setting, individuals explore self-help tools (e.g. peer counseling, focusing exercises, relaxation, and stress reduction techniques) and resources for keeping themselves well and for helping themselves feel better in difficult times.
Mary Ellen sums up WRAP with these words: “For a person who has been in the system a long time, WRAP is often a person’s first introduction to the idea that their own ideas and views have value, and that they can make their own decisions and move on with their recovery. It can be the initial step in the recovery process.”
The Fairfax County WRAP Program includes 25 WRAP facilitators certified by the Copeland Center who will provide many workshops around the community throughout the year.
Each WRAP workshop consists of eight 2-hour wellness education classes. The only prerequisite is for an individual to express interest in attending.
A Wellness Recovery Action Plan is a plan you create for yourself to take control over your own wellness. The five key principles of a WRAP are:
- Hope
- Personal responsibility
- Education
- Self-advocacy and
- Support
Please call the primary contact at the site closest to you for further information or to register for a workshop.
- Annandale (Woodburn) – Andrea Kyriazi, 703-207-7765
- Chantilly – Eileen Bryceland, 703-968-44033
- Mount Vernon (Gartlan Center) – Eileen Yates, 703-799-2766
- Reston – Eleni Halstead, 703-481-4139
- Springfield – Denise Donatelli, 703-866-2134
Find out more about WRAP
- WRAP courses are now available in Alexandria City, Loudoun and Prince William counties, and are coming soon to Arlington County. Visit the Fairfax-Falls Church WRAP website to learn more about these and other WRAP courses.
- Get details about what's in a WRAP.
- Watch a presentation by Mary Ellen Copeland, developer of WRAP, explaining the development of a WRAP.
-
Check out the "Voices of Hope and Recovery," a film about the struggles and victories of five Virginians who have overcome the grip of mental illness to live life on their own terms. Created by award-winning Virginia filmmaker Robert Griffith, along with an original score by acclaimed Virginia singer/songwriter Steve Bassett, this 50-minute documentary illustrates the power of hope and the possibility of recovery from serious mental illness. This film was made possible by funds from the federal Mental Health Block Grant through the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS). Two film trailers were sponsored by a partnership between the VCU Department of Psychiatry and federal Mental Health Block Grant funds through DBHDS. You can watch:
-
See the WRAP information
card.
If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, click on the image below to go to the Adobe Systems, Inc. download site. Download and install the program according to the instructions. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and is distributed by Adobe Systems, Inc.
Website Survey 