May 9, 2012 University of Vermont-‐Davis Center Burlington, VT Vermont APSE and the University of Vermont-‐Center on Disability & Community Inclusion present: WRAP for Work WRAP stands for Wellness Recovery Ac3on Plan. It is a personalized plan that anyone can use to become more proac3ve in dealing with issues and stressors in life. WRAP can be a great tool for people who are working. It promotes the development of a support team and allows for the team to be@er understand the struggles a person is going through. Presenters will share a basic overview of WRAP but will focus mostly on actual examples of plans developed with clients, while also sharing sec3ons of their own plans. George V. Nostrand, Voca1onal Opportunity Works (VOW) and Teresa Miele, Plasan Carbon Composites/ Vermont APSE Co-‐President 1 hour 15 minutes
Brief Introduc3ons • Teresa Miele • George Nostrand What I do and why I am interested in WRAP
Quick Disclaimer • This is not a presenta3on or training on WRAP (Wellness Recovery Ac3on Plan©) • It is a presenta3on on how aspects of WRAP can be used to assist individuals in their voca3onal pursuits • To become a WRAP Facilitator requires training, including doing your own plan • More informa3on about WRAP can be found at: www.copelandcenter.com • Will provide copies of PPT by email request only
What is WRAP? • WRAP is a system designed to help people manage difficult aspects and 3mes of their lives • Equally as important, it is a structure that allows people to iden3fy and put into prac3ce things that help them to be well and stay well
Why WRAP for Work? • People rarely look at their whole lives or overall wellness when discussing challenges at work • WRAP is proac3ve and helps people to use knowledge and experience they have about themselves to develop plans to deal with challenges effec3vely • WRAP is prac3cal, simple and can be understood by everyone
While not officially part of the plan, the key concepts are the lens the rest of the plan can be seen through…
5 Key Supporters
Defining Roles Name
Title
Role
Phone
E-‐mail
Iden3fying people’s roles and sharing contact informa3on allows for supporters to work together more effec3vely. Regular updates to the supporters as a team is also very effec3ve. The number of people is not set in stone and can be added to. Supporters can, and o[en should change as things develop.
Example • WRAP Supporters for a small business plan Name
Title/ OrganizaQon
Anne@e
Role
Phone
E-‐mail
MBD staff/ BROC Help with business plan
888-‐8888
anne@e@broc
Sally
Sister
Payee
777-‐7777
sally@sister
Seth
Small business owner
Mentor
666-‐6666
john@smlbiz
George
Employment Team Counselor/ VOW facilitator
555-‐5555
george@vow
Mary
VocRehab Counselor
Approval of 444-‐4444 plan/ ongoing support
mary@vocrehab
Sample e-‐mail Dear “Team Joe” – Upda3ng you on Joe’s progress this week. Seth (small business owner) talked to Joe this week about ‘value added services’ and suggested maybe not charging mileage, but instead including it in his overall rates. Joe met with Anne@e to review his cash flow plan for year one, and I talked with his sister about opening a separate checking account for the business. Next week…
• Always shared these with the client and discussed • Tried to always email the whole team, instead of individuals separately
Development of Supporters
We are o[en not the best long-‐term support people. We need to help people to develop natural supports, both in the workplace and in the greater community if they are going to succeed.
Overview of Parts of the Plan 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Wellness Tool Box Daily Maintenance Plan Triggers Early Warning Signs When Things Are Breaking Down Crisis Plan Post Crisis Plan
Wellness Tool Box
From bipolarlifstyles.com
Start with a list, but for many it becomes an actual thing… Can never have too many tools We o[en need different tools for different situa3ons Wellness Tool Belt?
Daily Maintenance Plan Things I must do every day to
be well and stay well Addi3onal things I might do, or things I do less regularly Things I want to avoid
Start simple and be specific! The idea is when you are not doing well, you do not have to think about what to do or not do – if you can just go to your plan
Triggers List of Triggers • External events that cause uncomfortable emo3ons, thoughts, and reac3ons • Can be dispropor3onate to the actual event • May be related to trauma • O[en things someone needs to work on
Trigger AcQon Plan • Things someone can do when feeling triggered • Goal is reduc3on (not always elimina3on) of stress, as well as learning how to respond versus react • Takes prac3ce, and some3mes altering plans * Good 3me to check your Wellness Toolbox!
Early Warning Signs Internal, o[en subtle signs or signals that things are not well These could be physical, changes in behavior, or reac3ons you are gesng from others Having a proac3ve plan to address early warning signs can help turn things around before they start gesng worse. Sharing that plan, or parts of that plan with others can help you to keep yourself honest and stay on track
* Good 3me to check your Daily Maintenance Plan!
When Things Are Breaking Down (Previously known as When the Shit Hits the Fan)
All is not lost yet. But if serious measures aren’t taken, the next step will be dealing with a Crisis… In the employment realm this may be that the person is not showing up for work regularly, they are having issues with co-‐ workers or supervisors that threaten their job, or quite possibly there are issues outside the workplace that are affec3ng their ability to focus at work. The plans to deal with these should be as clear and direct as possible. It is o[en for mul3ple par3es to get involved and to focus on collabora3on – with the person s3ll involved.
Crisis Plan WRAP Crisis Plan has nine parts, as it is meant to allow there person to express his or her desires when they are well, so that when they are not, others can follow their words -‐ Of note: The defini3on of Crisis in WRAP is when a person has to hand over decision-‐making in major areas of their lives to one of their supporters. A crisis can be many things to many people. (Teresa forgesng her cell phone might be a crisis for her). It may be important to talk about what would be a “voca3onal crisis” to someone -‐ The goal is for a person to weather the crisis as best they can, staying ‘in control’ through choices they have made ahead of 3me
Post Crisis Plan The post crisis plan was designed to help people transi3on from a period of crisis, back to their normal life and rou3ne It is also an opportunity to go back and reevaluate the WRAP and where things might have gone wrong and see if changes need to be made People who took 3me off from work may need to transi3on back slowly, rather than return directly to their regular hours or du3es. Maybe an accommoda3on needs to be made or something changed to make things work be@er This can be a valuable 3me and sec3on of the plan. Skipping it can be a set-‐up for relapse
Review of Parts of the Plan 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Wellness Tool Box Daily Maintenance Plan Triggers Early Warning Signs When Things Are Breaking Down Crisis Plan Post Crisis Plan
Wellness Recovery Ac3on Plan (WRAP)© Resources www.mentalhealthrecovery.com www.copelandcenter.com
