Wow where do I begin with WRAP?
I remember when the first book came out with Karen Cook and Lori Davidson and it was the next best thing to a doctor I had finally found. I went to e-class and then to the training to become a facilitator this was the most incredible experience I had and will ever have and use daily I was blessed with a mentor Cheri Bledsoe for a while then and have had her now for over 15 years now.
The Daily Maintenance Plan was awesome. I could get my life in order daily and the skills from the mental health services I had already received became the first things in my toolbox. The skills were great and the box was awesome. The triggers I was an addict on top of my mental health and I could finally see and the ones that held my hope could see what would trigger my anger, my usage and how to help me stop. When I was feeling great I was in certain moods and people knew. My family and my caseworkers knew I was taking my medicines and wasn’t doing the drugs either. When I was falling away they could tell that too. I became plate full angry. My appearance was that of a drug user, and they had a way to see that I wasn’t doing good and would jump in and we would get me back on track. For me, this was my life saver.
Mary Ellen came out with a book winning against relapse and I created a 3-day workshop for my staff to attend. I was becoming a leader in my community and responsible and that daily maintenance plan was working. I was becoming an advocate for myself and others. I was growing and blooming and it was all because of that red book and those two women. I was so proud of me and my mom and dad were ecstatic, and that meant the world to me. I wrote not long ago about how WRAP changed my life and I use it every day. I lost my mom in 2012 and thought life was over, but I found my first WRAP plan I ever wrote and I still have it today and look at it often. I have been quoted and I have made a world-wide DVD for SAMSHA.
I now live in Oklahoma and I teach WRAP at the behavioral health center every Monday and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I am proud to be a member of the mental health family, and I’m proud of all my friends that use this plan too. For me to pass it on to others is like how I carry the message of staying clean if you use the tools in your toolbox and you open the book and do the work. YOU TO CAN BE ALL YOU WANT TO BE.
APRIL 4 2015 I have been 3 years drug free, but I will always have a WRAP plan GUARANTEED FOR LIFE THANKS MARY ELLEN!
WRAP and Recovery Books is the division of AHP’s Human Potential Press that publishes books and materials about WRAP, wellness, and recovery.
