Mental Health Recovery Newsletter

Introduction

Welcome to Mental Health Recovery. This newlsetter will be published quarterly from the office of Mary Ellen Copeland. It can be sent to you through the mail or through e-mail. It will be letting you know about books and seminars, news, and will feature a recovery topic in each issue. It will address topics of interest to people who experience psychiatric symptoms, to family members, health care professionals, and to anyone who wants to learn more about recovery and healing from these uncomfortable and often disabling symptoms . Your feedback would be appreciated.

Mary Ellen is delighted that there is an ever-expanding network of people who are working hard on their own recovery; and of people who are trained to teach others recovery skills and strategies. It has been her dream that this work would take on a life of its own. If you would like to become a Recovery Educator; or to have a workshop in your area, contact Mary Ellen's office for more information.

Seminar Schedule

Mental Health Recovery Skills Seminar Part I: Learning How to Self-Manage Psychiatric Symptoms
May 1 - 5, 2000 in Putney, VT. This seminar is designed to teach basic Recovery skills and concepts - including the Wellness Recovery Action Planning system for monitoring and responding to symptoms - to people who experience psychiatric symptoms, to their supporters and health care professionals. By the end of the week, participants will:

• understand the basic underlying concepts and skills that must be practiced in recovering from psychiatric symptoms;
  
• develop a list of simple, safe, non-invasive and effective tools that can be used to relieve symptoms;
  
• complete the first four sections of a personal WRAP;
  
• know how to develop a personal crisis plan.

The skills and strategies taught at this seminar are complementary to medical and other treatment protocols.

A participant in a recent seminar said:

"This was my third time at one of Mary Ellen's workshops. The first one, almost four years ago, probably saved my life and definitely put me on a path toward getting better. This workshop, and the new WRAP planning, have focused me even more and brought me a deeper understanding of myself. I'm going home armed with more practical tools to try, and very positive feelings that I can improve my life."

Mental Health Recovery Skills Seminar Part II:
Teaching Self-Management of Psychiatric Symptoms
July 24-28, 2000, in Brattleboro, VT. This seminar is designed to train people with leadership qualities to teach and network mental health recovery self-help information and strategies, including the Wellness Recovery Action PlanT. Participants must have previous Recovery training, experience based on the work of Mary Ellen Copeland, or have completed her four-week Mental Health Recovery correspondence course.

The cost for either of these seminars is $950, including instruction, copies of three books, and breakfast, lunch and snack for five days. Fee does not include transportation, room or dinner costs. For more information on these seminars or the correspondence course, call (802) 254-2092, e-mail copeland@mentalhealthrecovery.com.

Future workshops in this ongoing series will be announced on the website and in this newsletter.

New Publications

Mary Ellen Copeland co-authored the book Healing the Trauma of Abuse: A Gentle Woman's Guide with Maxine Harris of Community Connections in Washington, DC. This important self-help book describes a weekly lesson process that women can use to relieve the effects of trauma in their lives, either when working closely with a counselor, or when - as many women must do - working on their own. It rebuilds self-esteem and gives back the personal power, trust and sense of connection that are taken away by a traumatic experience. This book is based on the findings of an intensive study of strategies that help women who have been traumatized to heal from the effects of this trauma and make their lives the way they want them to be. It will be published this spring.

Loneliness and lack of effective support often hampers recovery and wellness. To find out how people cope with and relieve loneliness and develop a strong system of supports, Mary Ellen Copeland interviewed hundred of people, through personal interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. The results of this study are documented in an easy-to-use format in The Loneliness Workbook which will be published this spring.

Information on Other Resources by
Mary Ellen Copeland

The following resources can be ordered using the enclosed order form, through the website at www.mentalhealthrecovery.com and are available in many bookstores.

Winning Against Relapse: A Workbook of Action Plans for Reoccurring Health and Emotional Problems is a detailed description of the Wellness Recovery Action PlanT process for staying well, for identifying and responding to symptoms and for developing an intensive crisis plan. It includes information on working with groups and on developing these plans for people with special needs.

WRAP: Wellness Recovery Action PlanT is a simplified users guide for developing a Wellness Recovery Action PlanT. This book is being used by individuals and in support groups, mental health programs and hospitals around the country.

The Depression Workbook: A Guide to Living with Depression and Manic Depression is based on Mary Ellen Copeland's early work on finding out how people who experience psychiatric symptoms help themselves to get well and stay well. This classic best-seller will be availablle in a revised version in a few months.

After her first study, Mary Ellen became curious about why some people were able to get well and stay well for long periods of time while others had a much more difficult time dealing with their symptoms. Living Without Depression and Manic Depression: A Guide to Maintaining Mood Stability is based on her study of people who had gotten well and stayed well for several years--meaning that they didn't have any hospitalizations and that symptoms did not significatntly interfere with their day to day activities. This book is an excellent follow-up for people who have worked their way through The Depression Workbook and for people who have been working on their recovery for a long time.

Several years ago a prominent child and adolescent psychiatrist, Dr. Stuart Copans, asked Mary Ellen to work with him developing a workbook for adolescents, based on the work she had developed for adults. He had been using The Depression Workbook in working with adolescents and felt that a specially developed book might better meet their special needs. The Adolescent Depression Workbook is a result of this collaboration. In the last year an adolescent curriculum has been developed and is being piloted in several locations. Information on this curriculum will be included in future newsletters and on the website.

Worry is a constant companion for many of us. Mary Ellen became convinced that she should study and write a book on this important topic when she realized how worry impacts depression and other psychiatric symptoms. The Worry Control Workbook is full of ideas on how to relieve the worry in your life.

Working with Dr. Devin Starlanyl, Mary Ellen Copeland co-authored the Fibromyalgia and Chronic Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Survival Manual. Sales of this self-help guide have far exceeded expectations. People who suffer from these debilitating conditions consider this book to be their wellness bible.

The video Coping with Depression , co-produced by Mary Ellen Copeland with William Hood, the Strategies for Living with Depression and Manic Depression audio tape and Winning Against Relapse Program (a WRAP audio tape) support the work in the written resources. The audio tapes are especially useful for people experiencing severe symptoms, or who learn more effectively by hearing.

WRAP: Wellness Recovery Action PlanT

WRAP is a self-management recovery system designed to decrease symptoms, increase personal responsibility and improve the quality of life for people who experience psychiatric symptoms. This self-designed plan teaches you how to keep yourself well, to identify and monitor your symptoms and to use simple, safe, personal skills, supports, and strategies to reduce or eliminate symptoms. WRAP is not meant to replace, but to complement, professional health support and medications, though in more and more cases people are able to shift the balance of care to this self-management approach over time.

The enthusiasm for this program has been overwhelming. People who experience psychiatric symptoms are desperate to find effective, safe things that they can do for themselves that will improve their level of wellness and quality of life.

This monitoring system was devised in 1997 by a group of people who experience psychiatric symptoms. Consequently, a resource book was developed by Mary Ellen Copeland and her staff that describes the system and facilitates its use. Each person writes their own WRAP. The materials required are a 1" thick three-ring binder, five tabbed separators, and plenty of three-holed paper.

In developing your own Wellness Recovery Action PlanT, you will first want to spend some time developing your Wellness Toolbox - studying reponses that others have used to help themselves feel better, like developing a strong support system, peer counseling, focusing, relaxation and stress reduction exercises, journaling, creative, fun and affirming activity, exercise, diet, light, and getting a good night's sleep. In the Wellness Toolbox you will also identify those things you may already know and do to take good care of yourself. You will use these "tools" to develop your own plan.

Section 1 is a listing of daily maintenance activities - those activities you know you must do every day to maintain your wellness. There is also a listing of how you define your own wellness.

Section 2 lists personal triggers - those events that might cause an increase in symptoms. Then, using the stratiegies learned previously, you develop and write a plan to get through this difficult time .

Section 3 addresses early warning signs - those subtle signs that warn of a possible worsening of symptoms. These signs are identified and listed, and plans developed for responding to them when they come up to help prevent a difficult time.

Section 4 addresses when things are breaking down - listing those symptoms that indicate that the situation is worsening significantly. Symptoms are listed, and again, response plans are developed.

Section 5 is an intensive crisis plan that identifies those symptoms that indicate you would want others to take over responsibility for care and decision making, lists who will take responsibility for care, and describes acceptable and unacceptable actions to take on your behalf.

The WRAP approach empowers you to take control of your own health and wellness, while reducing symptoms and improving the quality of life. Since its development, the system has been shared with thousands of people through the books Wellness Recovery Action PlanT, Winning Against Relapse, the Winning Against Relapse Audio Tape, through numerous support groups, workshops and seminars, and through the www.mentalhealthrecovery.com web site.

Web Resources

Please visit the website at www.mentalhealthrecovery.com and explore the many helpful and supportive articles and resources listed there.

Also, please join the new egroup "mentalhealthrecovery." Its purpose is to create a network of communication for people who are working on their recovery.

The e-mail list allows you to send and receive e-mail on the topic of mental health recovery - questions, commentary, and news of interest. Only other members of our egroup will get or send mail to each other. We have complete instructions available on request, or follow these abbreviated steps to join the egroup:

1. Registering with http://www.egroups.com
   
   First you must register your email address with www.egroups.com. On the left, under "New User" you will see a "sign up" link. Click on it, and then follow their directions.
   
   
2. Joining mentalhealthrecovery
   
   After you finish your registration you can become a member of any egroup. Go to www.egroups.com, look on the right side of the screen and "search" for our group, "mentalhealthrecovery." When you get to our main page, hit the button "join this group" and follow instructions.
   
   If you already belong to another group at www.egroups.com you can take a shortcut from www.mentalhealthrecovery.com to join the egroup. Look for the subscription box.
   
   
3. Participating on the email list
   
   Now that you are a member, you can set your personal preferences any way you want to by following the instructions provided by Egroup. When you've made it this far, send
   everyone a test message and let us know who you are!
   
   Whenever a member of the egroup sends e-mail to the list, it is dispersed to all members of the egroup. Replies will go to all members of the group or only the ones you specify. You "log in" to www.egroups.com to send or browse the egroup mail from the web. You can also use your usual e-mail application to send email to the group at mentalhealthrecovery@egroups.com.

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