Being a WRAP facilitator is about finding the mark of self determination. The characteristics one exhibits as a person in recovery will ultimately find there way into your facilitation style and delivery. Most of us who have begun the practice of facilitation have found the best way to learn facilitation skills is by throwing yourself into the mix and facilitating. Lessons learned during your work are practiced perfected and then more often then naught relearned through mentoring of a fellow facilitator. The bottom line I have learned is that you can’t predict who will be successful as a WRAP facilitator. It is good to remember the ah ha moments and leave a few bread crumbs for fellow facilitators. Here are a few crumbs I would like to leave on the way.

      Here’s an easy one. Rule number one when looking for subject matter to stimulate discussion, look no further than you. What helps you might help others. This will help to encourage effective group brainstorming. Group brainstorming is exciting when you get down to action planning and makes a great small group activity for tricky parts like Triggers.

      This can be a sticky point for facilitators who feel under the gun to solve others problems. I learned rule number two over time and is outlined in the following email dialogue. A facilitator I trained asked the question below.

I haven’t been in a crisis in a long time and I don’t foresee myself having to be hospitalized again so how can I keep up with my Crisis Plan.

My response followed:

“Thanks for getting in touch. I just wanted to summarize what we talked about over the phone. I think the main idea folks want to consider when tackling the crisis plan part of WRAP is to begin to look at Crisis as an opportunity for growth. We use WRAP to process our experiences and grow from them. Crisis does not equate to hospitalization. Although it is important that we do have a Crisis Plan in case of a Psychiatric emergency that requires hospitalization, there is a much deeper view of Crisis that we need to consider. Crisis Planning is not about having such a fail safe plan that you never have a setback. I know for me I have reached a place in my recovery where if I did start experiencing drastic prolonged challenges, I would want to go to my sister’s house or a trusted friend. The purpose of a written Crisis plan is merely to document the things you have learned about yourself from past experiences. It is fine to have a crisis plan that helps you if you get physically sick, lose a job, losing a loved one or any other life challenge.  Try approaching the crisis plan differently if you are stuck on it right now. Remember it is Wellness Recovery Action Plan not Crisis Recovery Action Plan. Hope this helps. “ Eric

     My third point is a collection of points from a Continuing Education piece I did for a group of facilitators who came together to support each other.

      Points from “To facilitate, not to teach”

• One good approach that can prevent some painful experiences is for the facilitator to do some listening in advance about the specific needs, hopes, and desires of those who are to learn.
• They want to be in charge of what it is that they are learning and are inclined to stay more involved and interested when they are thinking for themselves.
• People arrive at workshops with an extraordinary bank of life experiences and they learn best when they can relate what they are learning to the life situations they already know.
• Start by asking your group some subject orienting questions. Like the following
• What do they want to learn?
• What experiences that you have had that make WRAP seem important or unimportant?
• How do you currently cope with these challenges?

     I think the most valuable lesson I have learned as a facilitator is to be able to resonate with empathy through active listening to valuable life experience. Being in a room where the value and ethics allow people to be validated for their recovery efforts is priceless. A facilitator who embodies and demonstrates the key concepts and the values and ethics of WRAP is an extremely valuable conduit to encourage people to be proactive and aware about wellness.

Thanks for listening and as always your insight is welcome.

Take care,

Eric

Eric

The Art of Facilitating Wellness Recovery Action Plan

By: Eric C. Larson

       WRAP Coordinator, The Institute for Recovery and Community Integration

     Truly the art of facilitating Wellness Recovery Action Plan is not just in the generation of a useful plan of action, but in the art of exploring what works through group process. It is the art of navigating through life’s challenges with a different set of values and ethics. Through this value system we learn to thrive by creating a process of positive feedback through our supporters. We learn to focus on those things that help us to grow rather than perceived deficits. We begin to look for opportunity in creative solutions and problem solving because moving towards wellness does not mean moving away from challenges.

     My experience has been varied in different settings facilitating WRAP. I have had the opportunity to facilitate WRAP in the State Hospital and with a group of Case Managers. I have been blessed to assist in the creation of WRAP to those beginning their careers as Peer Specialists.  Facilitating in these environments means encouraging the natural process of peer supported brainstorming and redefining hope. In these settings I have learned to hold a space of hope even when attitudes and conditions are not necessarily conducive to recovery. Facilitating to the group of Case Managers, it was encouraging to see them discover that this tool was helpful for challenges in their personal lives and not just in the lives of the people they served. The common experience we seek in these varied settings is the same. Success comes when we arrive at the realization that we all need to take action personally to create wellness.

      Challenging our comfort zone is the role of the facilitator so we can become a Catalyst and role model for attitudinal change. I use the word Catalyst because its definition suggests that it is something that precipitates a process or event, especially without being involved in or changed by the consequences. It has been a hard lesson to learn not to force the process of facilitation. Like recovery you just need to hold Hope that it can happen, the individual does the hard work. Progress is creating a space that encourages resilience to challenge.  Facilitators must be open to experiencing strong emotions to gain insight into how people deal with life changing events. Peer specialists learn that change begins when the obstacles to progress are removed and self determination is born. My greatest realization as a facilitator has been acknowledging that I must be mindful of how my intention to help may create barriers to other’s growth. The art of facilitation could also be called the art of getting out of the way. A WRAP facilitator’s true strength lies in being self aware enough to present just enough personal experience to encourage other’s exploration of their own self determined journey.

            Its been awhile since we last chatted so please forgive . I will be doing my best to check in regularly in the coming months. My update is I have been working hard both in my career and maintaining my own personal wellness. Which to my benefit both require me to analyze how I stay well. One of the things I have been thinking about lately because of my schedule is stress. That part of life that most of us know as a possible trigger that can be destructive to our health. Recently my perspective on stress has stretched to include a healthy outlook on the value of stress. I am usually the first one to try to avoid stress and stress causing situations like conflict. However I was reading a book called Zen Guitar recently and it had a statement which I think applies to my diabetic care. The Zen statement was “ through having one illness it is easier to truly know wellness.” I am not sure this statement will help me with my guitar playing but I do know it applies to my level of self awareness as it applies to my physical health and diabetes. It seems in this case that having a stress-or such as a diabetic concern causes a different level of awareness to our health. This is the case even more than if we were under the mindset that everything in our body is working perfectly. I find this whole idea of instead of moving away from challenges that we can move towards wellness. I like defining wellness as not the absence of illness but the presence of positive self awareness and proactive care. Thanks see you soon, ERIC

I wanted to say that since the beginning of my recovery I have always found the issue of loneliness to be a key and interesting topic. I think the article explores an interesting phenomena of societal structures breaking down and causing disconnection. Man I can really relate to this. My profound sense of loneliness at Penn State main campus my freshmen year in college always was a paradox to me. Here I am surrounded by thousands of people all pursuing education and I still feel disconnected and lonely. The move to Penn State had caused a dramatic change in my support system. It wasn’t untill I found a different way of relating to people through my volunteer experience at an organization called Compeer that I learned how to build a support system. Compeer taught me to relate to the whole individual by matching me up in a friendship with another individual with mental health challenges. I think the last statement in the article sums up my experience best. “Lonely people feel a hunger.” “The key is to realize that the solution lies not in being fed, but in cooking for and enjoying a meal with others.” I have always said in my work as a facilitator that the greatest lesson I have learned about loneliness is that if you want support be a support to another. Let me know what you think.

Eric

Spirituality can be a huge factor in the recovery process. I have found that spirituality is embedded in some of my mental health challenges. Lack of daily maintenance toward my spiritual pursuits can really cause me to have some challenges to my emotional wellbeing. I have met many inspiring people that have a deep practice of gratitude. In my daily life I am attempting to be more mindful of those things that are good in my life. This includes such basic endeavors as eating slower and eating less. Practicing daily meditations and trying to quiet the storm of thoughts and motivations in my mind. I have also been incorporating prayers from a book called Earth Prayers by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon. It is enriching to try approaching spirituality from diverse perspectives. I also have to say that a book that has helped me look at all spiritual perspectives as a unified force rather than as divergent paths is the works by the Persian Mystic Jelaluddin Rumi one book the Illuminated Rumi and its sequel One Song offers a rich spiritual devotion to love and creation and unifies the faiths.

More on this next time,

Take good care,

Eric

Eric

To see change we must mobilize our intentions in an organized direction. WRAP helps mobilize our intentions hopes and dreams for wellness. My intention is to effect positve change on myself and the world in a sustained organized manner rather then get bogged down in my own transendental paralysis created by inaction and my own mind.

In other news I wanted to invite the Philadelphia WRAP community to join me in creating a connected community of WRAPers. I wanted to begin to meet and grow partnerships between those people who have had their lives changed by WRAP. If you are one of these people and happen to live in the Philadelphia area please drop me a line at elarson@mhasp.org if you would be intersted in forming a collaborative effort to each other. See you online again soon.

 Don’t just live, thrive.

 Eric

Seize the day

Eric