It’s a WRAP – but not as you know it

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Thursday, 10 June 2010

Wellness recovery action planning (WRAP) has long been recognised as a useful recovery tool for people experiencing mental health problems. New work suggests that carers can benefit from WRAP too.

Linda MacLeod, Development Worker at the Edinburgh Carers Council, is a big fan of WRAP. She was first inspired to run sessions for carers after attending a presentation on WRAP four years ago: “I thought – everybody needs that, everybody could use that!”, she said.

The first Edinburgh Carers Council WRAP for carers training courses that Linda organised, were delivered as part of a wider programme to address the stigma and isolation experienced by carers supporting people who live with a diagnosis of personality disorder. Two courses, each comprising nine weekly sessions, started in February 2009, with one group attending afternoon sessions, and a second meeting at night. Testament to the success of the training, 16 months later, nearly all of the original participants still meet regularly to discuss their WRAPs and to give each other support.

Linda, who is training to be a psychotherapist, thinks that carers can use WRAP to help them build healthy interdependent relationships with the people they are supporting: “Many carers simply care too much – they find it hard to let go, and WRAP is an ideal tool to help people focus on their own wellness and reclaim their identity.”

Linda has also been influenced by the work of Janet Treasure who has written extensively on the challenges faced by carers of people with eating disorders, and who uses animal metaphors to illustrate her points. Carers can be like rhinoceroses - charging in; or ostriches - burying their head in the sand. Linda likes the dolphin analogy best: “In a school of dolphins, if one of them is in trouble, the rest will just be there – gently nudging them along in the right direction”, she explains. “The participants loved this idea too. One man - a hobbyist jeweller - liked it so much, he made silver dolphin pins for everyone in his group.”

One participant from the evening course described how he has benefitted from the project: “I found the emphasis on looking after yourself very helpful – you have to look after yourself if you’re going to be able to look after others. It also helped to hear what other people were feeling - it made me realise that I wasn’t alone, and that it was OK to express these feelings”, he said.

“You can only talk so much to friends before it becomes counterproductive - they tend to offer advice and some get irritated when you don’t take it, but they don’t know what it’s like”, he said. “It was good to be in a non-threatening environment where I could say how I felt without fear of criticism.”

He added: “I think that the current system is designed for service users, but that carers are every bit as deserving of care and support. Both our concerns and our contribution need to be acknowledged - and the more that carers are exposed to WRAP, the better.”

Linda ran a third WRAP for carers course at the end of last year, has plans for another in August, and is waiting to hear the outcome of a funding application before putting finishing touches to a new programme of activity. She said: “The next step will be to evaluate the work more formally.” And then? “Well, I hope other carer organisations will be inspired to use WRAP too - I’d like to see WRAP available to carers all over Scotland!”

Current research being commissioned by the Scottish Recovery Network includes the delivery of WRAP within a carers’ group in Tayside.

If you are interested in taking part in the Edinburgh Carers Council WRAP for carers training course in August, please contact Linda on 0131 270 6087 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Carers Week runs from 14-20 June. To visit the Carers Week website, click here

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It’s a WRAP – but not as you know it

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