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Welcome to the second part of our 6-week WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) programme! If you haven't seen the article about WRAP workshop's weeks 1-3, you can find it HERE. Alternatively, you can read this short description of the previous 3 weeks: During the first three sessions of this workshop (Wednesday 14th, 21st & 28th January), participators discovered the foundations and history of the WRAP programme, learned its values and ethics, such as learning new things from your mates and treating each other with respect and understanding, were introduced to real-life stories of our facilitators about how WRAP implementation helped them during hard periods of their lives. Moreover, each of us was also provided with a WRAP workbook designed to assist us with applying this plan into our daily lives. On top of that, the participants found out about a powerful tool called "The Wellness Toolbox" which is designed to organize the things (both literal and figural) helping us to stabilize our condition during the times of hardship. The aforementioned introduction was accompanied by our facilitators showing us their own toolboxes. Shortly after, attendants were split into groups in order to come up with their own ideas, as well as learn from each other, which deepened our introduction into the values of WRAP. Next session allowed us to take a look at our lives from a different perspective in order to find an answer to the following 3 questions:
Being able to answer these questions helps us recognize when we start to fall out of wellness. Divided into groups again, we discussed the things we may be required to do everyday and occasionally to stay on the rail of wellness. Later on, everyone focused their attention on understanding and distinguishing our triggers and stressors, their impact on our lives, and ways to respond to them effectively, thereby minimizing the effect on our balance. 
Taking Preventive Action Once we identify these signs, we activate our Action Plan. This plan pairs our specific signs with Wellness Tools to pull ourselves back to wellness. In case of the Early Warning Signs typical steps would be:
 When the signs of things breaking down or getting much worse appear, we must move beyond daily maintenance and take immediate, intensive, structured, and direct action to avoid a crisis. At this stage, a person may feel they are losing control of their thoughts, behaviours, and choices, so making a pre-planned, robust response is essential. This part of the Action Plan involves high-level interventions such as mobilizing a support system for frequent check-ins, asking supporters to temporarily store medications or dangerous objects for safety, or meeting with a doctor to discuss urgent medication changes. It often requires creating significant space for recovery, which might include taking an extended leave from work, attending mutual support groups, or having a trusted supporter stay with you around the clock until balance is restored. In Week 5, we focused on learning to understand the concept of a crisis and its effect on our mental wellbeing. As a group, we discovered that the word "crisis" might mean different things to different people, but we still have a lot of similar things on our minds. We learned that the signs of a crisis may be deeply individual, and we began by making a list of the specific feelings and situations we associate with the word. Through the help of our facilitators, we uncovered a hard truth: during a crisis, we may need others to step in. This could mean advocating for us, taking over our daily responsibilities, or sometimes even making decisions on our behalf. Unfortunately, a crisis can happen despite our best efforts. No one can perfectly predict life experiences, accidents, or changes in personal health. However, we can be prepared. We were introduced to the next section of our WRAP Workbook: The Crisis Plan. This is a tool designed to be created when you are clear-minded and feeling well, outlining the support you prefer during a said crisis. While it is not a legal document, it can serve as a powerful basis for an advance directive. What a Crisis Plan covers A Crisis Plan acts as a blueprint, enabling your chosen supporters to understand the vital details of your care:
 Part 1: Defining the "Well" Me The first part of the plan describes who we are when we are well. This is a crucial section, because it serves as a reminder of our positive attributes - the things that we, or our supporters, might lose sight of when the "system" is under stress. Part 2: Recognizing the signs that supporters need to step in or take over In the second part, we describe the specific signs that indicate supporters need to step in. This includes what we want our supporters to d if our behaviour begins to negatively affect us or those around us, or if we can no longer care for ourselves. Common signs we identified include:
In this part, we also need to list clear instructions for our supporters to follow if our behaviour becomes a danger to ourselves or others. These are direct "if/then" protocols, such as:
At the end, we address how supporters should handle a disagreement. If your support team doesn't agree on a course of action, the Crisis Plan lets you decide the "logic" for the tie breaker ahead of time. You might decide that a majority must agree, that one or two specific people have the final say, or that an independent advocacy organization should intervene to make the decision on your behalf.  Part 3: Selecting the Support Team Once the signs of a crisis are identified, we have to decide who will actually step in. This section of the Crisis Plan is where we list the names and contact information of our chosen supporters. However, it isn't just about making a list; our group discussed the importance of ensuring these individuals are actually willing and able to follow the plan. A supporter needs to fully understand our preferences and be committed to honouring our wishes, even in high-pressure moments. What Makes a "Good" Supporter? Our facilitators led a great discussion on the qualities we should look for in a supporter. Ideally, a supporter is someone who:
Whom to exclude Just as important as choosing supporters is identifying those who should not be involved in our care or treatment decisions. We talked about how some people we care about might panic during a crisis or might have differing beliefs that would prevent them from following our plan. It's okay to note that these people can still help with daily tasks - like childcare or feeding a pet - while explicitly stating they should not be involved in immediate medical or care decisions. Part 4: Medications and Supplements The fourth part of the plan is purely practical but absolutely vital. If we end up in a hospital or a treatment centre, the staff will need an accurate "log" of what is currently in our bodies. We need to spend time listing out:
Having this written down ahead of time ensures that even if we aren't in a state to communicate clearly, our medical treatment remains safe and consistent with what works for us. Part 5: Treatments and Complementary Therapies In this section, we define what "help" actually looks like for us. Recovery is rarely one-size-fits-all, so we use this space to be specific about which interventions we consent to. These are categorized into:
Part 6: A major goal for many of us is to avoid hospitalization whenever possible. Part 6 is our "diversion" plan. We list the types of home care, community-based support, or respite centres that are acceptable and preferred. Our guides emphasized the importance of researching these options before a crisis occurs, so we know exactly what community resources are available to keep us in a familiar, comfortable environment while we recover. Part 7:Treatment Facilities If a crisis reaches a point where higher-level care is necessary, Part 7 ensures we go to a place where we feel safe. We discussed the importance of being proactive and doing our "user research" on local facilities before they are ever needed. Our criteria for choosing a facility included:
Local Resources: Tools for the Road To wrap up the session, one of our facilitators, Jen, provided us with a fantastic set of physical resources. She put together a collection of booklets detailing the various facilities available right here in Kilkenny city. Jen also gave us a mini-version of the WRAP workbook. It's a compact, "on-the-go" version that fits in a pocket or bag, ensuring that our plan and our tools are always with us, even if we are away from home. In our final 6th Week, we moved from the structural part of the Crisis Plan into the person-depending specifics that make its application more effective. While last week's session was about identifying the "Red Flags" and assembling our support team, this week's session was about providing those supporters with a specific guide to our care. Thanks to the information provided, participants came to a realisation that even the most well-meaning supporters need clear instructions to follow, so they can help us in a way that respects our boundaries and truly supports our wellbeing. Through our final discussions with the facilitators, we defined exactly what helps, what hurts, and how we eventually take the steering wheel back. Part 8: Help from Others, Things That Help, Tasks In this section, we moved beyond medical facilities to focus on the personal details that bring us comfort. Our facilitators made it clear that even our closest supporters can't always know what we need, especially when we are at our most vulnerable. Being clear about our preferences during the plan creation will help our supporters' understanding later. What actually helps? Participants looked at the specific actions that bring a sense of peace. Some of those things might look insignificant, but at the time of Crisis even the smallest things do matter. Here are some of the discussed examples:
What to avoid? Just as vital was defining the things that might cause further distress. Here are some examples of things we may want people supporting us to avoid:
Hard truth is, a crisis doesn't pause the responsibilities of daily life. To prevent the stress of "unfinished business" from making things harder, we discussed the importance of creating a registry of tasks for our supporters to take over. We talked about things like:
These things are very important, so it is necessary to write down the following details:
Part 9: The Exit Strategy - Knowing When the Plan is No Longer Needed The final part of our plan is perhaps the most empowering: the exit strategy. We identified the measurable signs that indicate we have regained enough stability for our supporters to step back. These indicators are personal "check-ins" for our own wellness and highly depend on the type of crisis (physical/mental), for example:
We also addressed how to settle disagreements. If supporters don't agree on whether it is time to step back, the plan allows us to name a "tie-breaker" - a specific person or an independent advocate whose decision we've agreed to trust in advance. Post-Crisis Plan After a crisis, it can take time to heal and get back to our baseline wellness. We may feel ready to begin taking care of our responsibilities again, but we may still be in a vulnerable state. Ease back into responsibilities slowly to prevent heading back into crisis. This plan is for:
As we approached the final session's finish, one of our facilitators Miriam provided us with very useful tools we could always carry with us. Those included:
Completing this workshop feels great thanks to all the help of the course facilitators and all of the information and tools they shared, but at the same time, there is a feeling of regret that the course doesn't have more sessions. Participating in six group workshop sessions over 1.5 months doesn't sound like a lot, but it's surprising how much useful information and how many tools participants were provided with over such a period of time.
If you would like to find out more about the WRAP programme, or any of our workshops, feel free to call us on 0861746330 or send us an email at [email protected]. To keep updated on workshops/events, check our website and/or Facebook/Instagram/X.
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