Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP)

WRAP™ is an acronym for Wellness Recovery Action Plan™. The plan is a self-help tool and is self-designed; it focuses on prevention and wellness for individuals who have a mental illness or are at-risk for developing a mental illness. The goal of the WRAP plan is to use it to stay well and regularly engage in activities that support wellness and living one’s life the way he or she wants to live it. The WRAP™ is rooted strongly in the principles of the Recovery Model and supports individuals in practicing self-management strategies to support engagement in valued roles and activities. It can be applied to many different life issues, contexts, and ages. It can be done in a group. WRAP has been addressed in many research studies and is included among the few tools in the National Registry of evidence-based programs and practices.

Learn more about WRAP™ planning from the developer, Dr. Mary Ellen Copeland. Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qtBiPvSdkY

At present, there are no formal studies on the efficacy of WRAP™ plans in schools. This idea appears to be emerging. I was able to locate information about a recent grant awarded to a West Virginia school district to implement WRAP™ planning as a Tier 2 intervention; a WRAP™ school-based peer facilitation project in Canada; and an abstract for the inaugural European Conference on Supported Education focused on a teacher’s implementation of the WRAP™ in a school in the Netherlands.

A School WRAP does not yet exist. Recovery always happens in the settings in which we work, play, and engage in our occupations. That makes schools a natural place to provide mental health and recovery support. A school-based WRAP may be helpful in better understanding how to support students in maintaining their personal recovery and wellness at school and how to make links between doing things outside of school that support wellness at school.

Retrieved from : TOT 2: Recovery Model and Schools (2019)

How would you describe this tool in a developmentally appropriate way?

-Yes, I agree that we should call it a Wellness Action Plan to make it more approachable and decrease any stigma that students may attach to a recovery program. I feel that this could be introduced as a Tier 1 intervention where all students could build a tool box and write a daily maintenance list. School is stressful for everyone and wellness strategies and their benefits need to be taught Students who are at risk could move on to complete a Tier 2 level full program.

- Consider calling it a Wellness Action Plan instead of a "Wellness Recovery Action Plan" - kids can understand learning strategies to stay well and healthy, but the concept of recovery to young children might be confused with having an illness.

- Concepts from a program such as Zones of Regulation might be helpful here - kids develop tools for their toolkit to help them stay well/healthy (similar to developing tools to help children regulate back to the Green Zone).

-What about "Wellness Revision Action Plan" to remove the connotation of illness from the word recovery as well as address it's a constant ebb and flow up for editing or revision? I like the acronym of WRAP and am thinking of like a logo with a circle indicating a whole or cycle.

- Consider having each student who participates in (even in Tier 1, but definitely Tier 2) interventions create a "Wellness Portfolio." The exercise can be to delve into the components of what makes them feel mentally healthy and well, and what is triggering for stress, depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns. I really like the idea of the "Wellness Toolbox" as presented in the Copeland reading. And it makes sense to me the way that the wellness toolbox can be utilized at the "trigger" stage to de escalate strong negative feelings. The language used with elementary school kids could just be simpler but should be similar as for teens. I think that simplifying is good but even with younger students, we should use applicable words that they are able to take with them instead of babying the language down too much. We talk at the elementary level about stress, sadness, feeling anxious, feeling overwhelmed, etc. Then in the high school there can be yet more direct language regarding depression, clinical anxiety, bipolar, etc.

- Consider defining what wellness means for kids- give examples, talk about the different types of wellness (mental, physical, emotional, social, etc.), and break down the term so that kids can be more focused and intentional when creating their plan. Wellness is a HUGE term for even us as professionals to break down, so I think that it would be important to break down the huge concept into smaller concepts for kids to tackle.

-I think that this is so important to build off of a more obtainable definition of WRAP or the "wellness action plan". Providing examples of how a person supports social, emotional, and psychical wellness is a way to help make students more cognizant of how some of they things they may already be doing could be part of their tool box.

-WRAP is a personalized plan that helps you learn how to effectively respond to triggers in order to maintain a happy and healthy life.

-WRAP is an individualized program that helps facilitate a happy healthy life. It gives an individual a self made tool box to reference and be able to effectively respond to situations.

-WRAP is an individualized plan to help decreased negative feelings and behaviors to help promote empowerment and better quality of life!

-WRAP is a tool kit for students to develop and personalize, deepen and broaden as they gain personal awareness, that helps them initially manage their stressors and then, ideally, move into a place of balanced mental wellness, understanding how to meet their own needs. How we present this in a developmentally appropriate manner is determined by the age and capacity of the audience, but it would seem a combination of visuals and actual experiences of methods so students could make informed personal choices and "see" their tool box fill up, would be a reasonable place to start.

- Consider naming it something more kid-friendly, to make kids feel it is a normal program for all students, not just those who have been identified as benefiting from a WRAP-type program. Consider an acronym that relates to kids feeling "just right" to lead into how to use tools to continue feeling just right.

- Describing how anyone could use it could be beneficial and incorporating it in a way that all students could use it and implement it in schools rather than just a few. Another option is for a class to work on a WRAP toolbox as a group, and including collaboration from all students and the teacher, promoting unity and teamwork in the classroom as well as potential similarities amongst students. In addition, education on school examples or pictures that children could relate to for triggers or wellness tools could further a child’s understanding of the plan.

- With young kids (kindergarten) it could start with a "menu" and individualize it to the student. I would even present it whole class wide and say "we are going to make feel-good menus!". When I feel (sad), these make me feel better. I would present this as an activity where we try different easy strategies, probably with pictures.

- I like that the WRAP program uses the word "toolbox", so I would advise using that term that kids understand to promote the tools that are required to help the kids understand when their bodies feel normal, compared to when they feel off, and utilizing the toolbox metaphor to get that idea through to them.

-I think that emphasizing the WRAP "toolbox" is important for a tier one and tier two program. It also may be beneficial to consider teaching and introducing personal "toolboxes" in a similar way to using the Zones of Regulation or How Does Your Engine Run? Using similar language may facilitate kids understanding of how their bodies are feeling and what they can help their bodies in a way that age/developmentally appropriate.

I agree with points that there may be a better name for the program rather than WRAP, that may sound less clinical or illness focused, not only to decrease stigma for students and their parents but also to increase how well students are able to grasp the concept and purpose of WRAP. Zones and Alert programs both feel so relevant because they make that effort to combine a lot of the those seemingly new and difficult to understand concepts around emotional regulation and arousal, with tools similar in a similar way to WRAP, but done in a way that is able to be grasped by students and at their level. Something even as simple as 'Toolkit', which can give the visual of tools and how we are meant to use them.

A pitch to parents and staff might be "Our school's Toolbox program is to help student's begin to understand their own mental health needs and abilities for engaging in their student role and with their peers. The program helps break down complex concepts to our students who are still learning the nuances of how they and their classmates feel. This continues with students identifying stressors and triggers, and identifying ways that they can support themselves. Students will do this by creating their own "tools" to use in school to assist with their own emotional regulation needs as students"

A pitch to students might sound more along the lines of "Just like how a construction worker, mechanic, or tailor/seamstress may use different tools to create something, we will learn to use tools to understand how our body is feeling. There are many different ways we can feel like happy, excited, angry, sad, confused, and sometimes we can feel more than one thing at a time! It's important that we understand why we might feel what we are feeling, and how those feelings can help us in school."

I think a real opportunity around this would be for carryover at home. If there was a school WRAP program, what about having workshops that tie in parent involvement? They could incorporate those things to work on at home to support wellness like strong sleep routines, nutrition/diet, appropriate play and leisure, etc. along with basic information on behavioral interventions used in school that can be carried over at home.

Emphasizing the WRAP "toolbox" would help faciliate similar language, as in programs like "how does your engine run" or the "feeling zones" and understanding of what the program is to students. The students can use their own "tools" to help throughout their day relating to regulating different emotions or feelings.

Making sure the program could be understood for each age level would be a must. Maybe having an all encompassing name, and then a break down of the name for each grade level. That way, in each grade level the WRAP components coudl focus on different elements and the students would develop and grow along with the program.

We all have certain things that help us feel happy or excited -- things that we like to do every day that are fun and help us feel like ourselves. And sometimes, when things are going on around us at school or at home, we might feel sad or angry or scared. Or sometimes we may feel these things and not know why. It is okay to feel these things just like it is okay to feel happy or excited. Sometimes, though, when we feel different things we need things from other people or from ourselves to feel better. Maybe we need a hug or we need to take a break or do something that is fun like playing outside or drawing. Sometimes when we feel sad or angry or scared it can be hard to know what we need or what we want to say. Sometimes feelings can feel big and that is okay. Something that can be helpful for those times is having a list of things that we know help us feel safe and taken care of. The list is kind of like tools in a toolbox…when you need something, you can look at your list and pull different tools out of the box that you can use to help you. Or, you could think about a tree. To be able to grow and stand tall and survive in strong winds and thunderstorms and snow, a tree needs things like sunlight, water, dirt, bark, flexibility, roots, and sometimes other trees around it can help block the wind which helps it to rest. Think of yourself as that tree. You also need other people (other trees) and other things so you can grow and feel safe and strong. We are going to be coming up with things that you could do every day to help you feel happy and brave and most like yourself. These are your roots, your water, your sunlight. We are also going to come up with things you can do for yourself or ask for from others when you are feeling sad or angry or scared or when feelings feel really big. Then, we will learn how and when to use these things so that you can feel safe and continue to grow. We might also think of things that are not helpful to you or anything that worries you that you would like to talk about or change.

A school WRAP would obviously have much of the same structure as the original WRAP and the WRAP at Work. Certain questions and phrases would be changed, such as asking about how a student interacts with their classmates and their parents instead of their coworkers. For younger kids, wording would be made simpler and shorter for easier understanding. It could also be made into a fun computer program, after which you get your unique printed-off plan when done. Smiley or frown faces, pictures and diagrams, and more colorful aesthetics may be useful to liven up the WRAP planning sheets so the kids enjoy and engage with it more. For kids who are quite young or struggle with reading, someone could go through the planning sheets with them, reading aloud instead of having the student fill it out independently.

-For a school WRAP to be successful there needs to be appropriate descriptions of what the program entails in order for the students to understand their expectations. That means using age-appropriate words and language for different levels and different students. However, making sure that is not taking away from the important talks and issues that WRAP addresses. With that, using the "toolbox" and allowing children to think about what will help them deal with their current or future stress will help them continue to use positive self-management when problems arise. Either the students could write down the tools or use picture representations of them that they make or staff could help them make.

Crisis Planning or When things are breaking down/Julie Hollamby

Provide at least one question or prompt

-What is your first clue that youre feeling really stressed; how does your body feel? I don't think students always connect the body sensations to the the related emotions. For example, when I start to get upset I grind my teeth, someone else may clench their fists. The first physical response to breakdown is a good prompt to grab the tool box.

- Name one tool in your toolkit to help you when you feel stressed.

- Who is a person that you can go to in crisis? Name a trusted adult in the school building that is your "go to" or point person when things are falling apart.

-Where is somewhere you can go where you feel safe and calm? Tell me what makes it so safe and peaceful for you.

-Who can you talk to when you feel stressed?

-What is a daily activity you do or can start to do to check in with yourself and make sure you are doing well?

-How do you feel when you are at your breaking point or you are in a dangerous/uncomfortable situation that isn't getting better?

- Q Part 1: Show me what it feels like when you're stressed out (or substitute their personal term for how they feel); offer options about how to "show" such as coloring / drawing / acting it out / 5 Point Scale/ collage/Emotion Faces. Q Part 2: How do you WANT to feel (this may require coaching, feelings and describing feeling is highly subjective), Show me something in your tool box that helps you feel "X" (calm, capable, ok, ready, happy - (side note, "happy" isn't always my end goal - or even usually. I want them to understand what CALM feels like, because it's the gateway to other positive things).

- What makes you feel stressed or upset?

- When you are feeling upset or stressed let's create a signal you can give staff.

- How do you know you are upset or stressed? How does your body act when you feel upset or stressed? How does your brain think when you feel upset or stressed?

-Show me how you feel when you feel happy/sad/angry/etc.?

-What are some things that make you feel happy/sad/angry/etc.?

-For younger kids, you could maybe also ask them to point to different parts of their body where they may be physically feeling change. (For example, if someone is feeling anxious, and they point to their stomach to help them describe where and what they are feeling.

I like the idea of explaining how kids can feel different ways physically in their bodies and see an opportunity for art/craft with this.

Q: When are times at school when you've felt angry, sad, bad, or scared? Where were you? With who? What did you do next?

Again, I think with these exercises to identify what stressors are, there's some opportunity for art and using visuals.

Q: What does your body feel like right now?

• Sentence starters to help students understand how they are feeling and what they want/need to do:

  • _____________ makes me feel safe/loved/hopeful

  • My body feels like ___________________when I'm upset/overwhelmed

  • My mind feels like ___________________when I'm upset/overwhelmed

  • I like to think about ___________________when I want to feel calm or to make myself happy

  • My body feels like ____________________when I'm calm/happy

  • My mind feels like ______________________when I'm calm/happy

Here’s what my mom, dad, or teacher needs to do to help me if I’m doing really bad:

-Do you know or understand when you are stressed? Do you do anything to handle your stress and help manage it?

-How do you feel when you are upset, happy, frustrated, sad, etc. and what kind of activities can make you feel better?

Early Warning Signs

Provide at least one question or prompt Would we use a different term for this?

-Interoceptive awareness is a good indicator here too. I like the Zones but students don't always understand the emotions. So, they learn quickly that happy and ready to work is green and that's what my teachers want me to say. But do they truly know what their body feels like when it's happy? Or tired (blue zone)? Or frustrated (red zone)? And do they know it's ok to feel angry or tired sometimes? But if we teach individually that for you, tight muscles means angry (or butterflies in the stomach means hungry etc), thats a much more concrete concept and internal prompt for a student to recognize.

- Term ideas: an "uh-oh moment" or "brain cue" that there is a problem.

- I liked the idea of utilizing the Zones. Yellow Zone feeling (anxious, stressed, a little frustrated, jittery, etc.)

-What is something you notice about yourself when you are feeling a little down, stressed out, or different than normal?

-How can you tell something is wrong? What happens when you start to feel worse?

-What is an external factor that you know is triggering?

-How do you feel when you notice you're starting to feel uncomfortable, frustrated, or down?

- Zones; I often initially have 2 indicators (we use 2 strings with a bead on each) - the child and the adult, so the child can indicate where they feel they are using their bead and the adult can recognize and honor that child's insight but also indicate where the child seems to be (goal is that the beads end up being on the same zone, indicating improved self awareness of the student). Ideally, this is implemented with a personalized way of communicating stress or other emotions, so there is a common language and understanding.

- What does it feel like when you feel like you are breaking down?

- Similar to the Work WRAP, one could say "Some of the things that do not help me focus at school are ____ " or "Some of the things that do not help me engage with peers are ____"

- What is the hardest part of school? What do you like the least?

- What things do your sibling do that makes you mad or upset? Do you have similar experience at school with your friends or classmates?

-Some surprises can be fun, but sometimes they can leave us feeling uncomfortable. Are there times in school when you feel uncomfortable or you're not sure how to handle something unexpected?

-What are activities/classes/tasks that you look forward to during the day? How do those make you feel?

-What are activities/classes/things throughout the school day that you do not like or do not look forward to? How do these activities make you feel?

I too like the idea of using the Zones, and putting an emphasis on body awareness.

Q: When you feel scared what does your body do with your hands, arms, feet? How do your eyes and mouth look?

Q: What was it that made you feel scared? What happened next? What did you say?

Q: What do you feel when you are about to take a test? Meet someone new? When you get angry or mad at someone or something? When you feel good or happy? (these kinds of questions-and not all asked at one time-can help bing awareness to their emotions and what they are feeling)

I know I’m not doing okay if I feel this inside:

What about your classes do you like? What makes you the most upset or mad when you are in school?

What makes you excited to come to school? What do you look forward to during your school day? What makes you nervous to come to school? What is the least enjoyable part of your day? Do you ever feel like you can't learn because of how you feel at school?

Post Crisis Planning/Julie Hollamby

Provide at least one question or prompt

- Let's think about the last time you had a (crisis, tough moment, problem). Tell/draw how you used one of your tools.

- What tool from your toolkit can you use when you have cooled down, to help you stay calm?

- Maybe make what happened into a drawing - draw what happened, draw what might have happened if (if you had gone to the point person, if you had used a Wellness Toolkit tool, if you had asked a friend for help, if you had gone to talk to the social worker, if you had told a parent, etc.)

-What strategies do you use to get yourself out of the red zone and back to the yellow or green zone? (I saw other people talking about the zones of regulation and LOVED that idea when working through this)

-After the crisis (problem) has passed, what can you do to stay calm?

-Lets talk about what you were feeling right before this happened. Reassure student that the FEELINGS weren't bad. All feelings are relevant and can teach us something. Provided a calming transition activity like a puzzle or some yoga/guided meditation.

-Let's recall the crisis (problem) and walk through how you were able to get over it. Is this something you believe can be applied to other situations?

-Looking back at what happened, what do you think you might do differently?

- Let's rewrite what happened - like making a movie or a video, let's give it a different ending and maybe rehearse it so you feel more ready for next time (again offer a variety of means to do this: role playing, writing a play, drawing a cartoon or making art. It can be a reference tool, much like a social story, to use when not in crisis.

-What tools did you find have been the most helpful during (cite specific last event where breakdown occurred)?

- What can we do to help you feel calm and happy next time?

- How would you like to feel when you're stressed? Let's talk about ways to get there.

- What makes you feel the best after not feeling so good?

-What do you do when you're feeling uncomfortable, to help yourself feel comfortable again? Can we try one of these and see if this helps: deep breaths, counting backwards from 10, letter game (name a new animal/food/item for each alphabet letter), take a walk, quiet time in a safe space?

-How can your tools that you decided to out into your tool box help you feel comfortable in this setting and how can we use it to get your body feeling normal again?

-Let's talk about how you felt in the moment (during the crisis)? Now let's talk about how you feel now? What could you do to help you feel better for next time (when you experience a similar situation)?

Q: I can tell that you are feeling better. You are not crying anymore and your body looks calm. You're sitting and it looks like you're ready to talk, are you?

Q: Can you tell me how you felt and what made you feel that way? What Zones do you think you were in? How do you know your body was in that Zone? Is it okay to be in the _ zone during _ ?

Q: What were some of the things that you did or said when you felt that way? How do you think they made others feel? Were they 'expected' or 'unexpected'?

-Depending on the age and what happened, maybe try acting out/role playing what happened, what might have happened if "tools" were used. After role playing, you would discuss thoughts and feelings and understanding of either what happened, the tools, maybe needing different tools....

Here’s what my mom, dad, or teacher can do to help me get better once I’m not doing really bad but not really good yet, either:

-If we were using the zones I would ask, "How would you get yourself back to the green zone in this situation?"

Now that you've had some time to calm down, let's talk about what happened and how it made you feel? What did your body do when you were upset? What did you think about? What tool from your toolbox could you use next time to help your body and mind calm down in a better way?

Triggers/Julie Hollamby

Provide at least one question or prompt

- Name one thing that makes you feel mad/sad/stressed. What are two tools that could help you feel better when this happens?

- I think most students even by 1st grade can understand triggers. Definitely by second grade. They understand what makes them upset, angry, sad, etc. We can explain that that is called a trigger, and then they can build on this knowledge as they go up in grade levels. Or if another word is utilized in the Tier 1 intervention to promote social emotional awareness, utilize those same terms to promote generalization and continuity across contexts.

-What type of places do you try to avoid because they may make you feel mad/sad/stressed?

-Think back to times when you were upset. What caused you to feel that way? What tools can you use to calm down when this happens?

-What events typically make you upset when you are at school?

-Social stories would be a great way to talk about triggers without having students actually experience the sensation. An attentive OT can identify what consistently bothers a student and write the story. The same story could be read by various members of the during calm times for consistency and generalization. I think the more familiar a feeling is to a student, the less scary and overwhelming it can become.

-When something makes you feel mad/sad/stressed, what are some tools we can use to feel better?

-What do you want to use to show us what (use their personal term if they have one or refer to the ZONE language); offer variety of methods again - drawing; collage; colors/paint; writing, dictating/ talking it out with the adult scribing. Have some kind of visual representation to keep it as a record of current function/awareness.

-What causes you to feel uncomfortable, frustrated, and down?

-Copeland talks about a Daily Maintenance Plan to help in self awareness and what tools are used daily. Throughout I kept coming back to how Zones of Reg this sounds as well as How does my Engine Run. I agree on using kid friendly language across the age levels. For example, using pictures for younger kiddos that they can assemble in like a quilt or puzzle template as far as what are triggers and what tools can they use. To address Triggers: What makes you react? What happens, what do you hear or what do you see that causes you to need to XYZ (depending what crisis might look like for that student). Is it different in the morning than in the afternoon? Are there other triggers that might make you react the same way or differently? Younger kids might need again some sort of a visual for what a trigger is as it's somewhat of an abstract concept. Something like a bat hitting a ball determines how far it goes. If it's bunted, was that a good trigger or not? Not making all triggers a negative notion.

-Understanding common places an individual may feel triggered or how the trigger is interpreted will help in recovery. For example, someone who is recovering from alcoholism may choose to stay off of social media due to the numerous amount of pictures of friends and celebrities partying, drinking, etc. It may also occur through audible or visual stimulants. For example, I worked with a patient recovering from a drug addiction to percocets. He suffered an anoxic brain injury because of it. At the time, the song "Mask Off' by Future was popular and the chorus referenced the drug several times. The patient had to avoid listening to the radio because it triggered them and brought up intense emotions.

-what were you feeling when you had your breakdown last time? What made you feel that way? (Continue this discussion to see if there are things that can be done internally/externally to change the event/person that made them feel this way).

- What happened that might have made you upset? Let's talk about some ways that can make you feel better when you're upset.

- What don't you like about school? What is the hardest?

-We can't always avoid the things or situations that might make us feel uncomfortable, but we can try to prepare ourselves to deal with them so we can keep doing what we need to do in a day. When you come to something uncomfortable again, how can we plan for you to use a tool or strategy so you can feel comfortable again?

- Do you have any sensory issues that make you feel upset, like loud noise levels in class, foods that you don't like the taste of, clothes that touch your body and make you feel uncomfortable, or any other things you can think of?

-What are some things that make you feel______ throughout the day? What are some things you have tried that might make you feel better? What are some things that you might want to try to help you feel better when ______ happens? What are some strategies that we could try together?

Q: What were some of the things that make you feel scared or sad? (e.g. mom dropping you off at school instead of dad; being late to school; have to a substitute; not knowing what the teacher wants; having to try again; going to work with the speech teacher; )

Q: Which of these problems are BIG problems like someone dying or getting hurt and which are small problems like being late to school?

Q: Have you heard the word "trigger" before? Do you understand what that word means? What are some things that make you feel that way? Could you use anything from your "toolbox" to help with your feelings?

-What part of your day is most fulfilling? What part of your day is most challenging? Do you ever feel distracted by problems at home when you come to school?

What happens in my day that makes me not feel good and so I can’t do well in school?

-Is there anything, in particular, that makes you really mad or upset and you can not control it?

Is there anything that happens at school that makes you upset frequently? Does anyone say words to you that makes you upset or sad?

Using your School Wrap/Julie Hollamby

Provide at least one question or prompt

- Name one adult at the school that you can talk to when you are feeling mad/sad/stressed, and draw a picture of something you like to do with that adult.

- I think that students who receive IEP services that have mental health concerns could create a WRAP ahead of their IEP meetings as part of self discovery / self advocacy. They (if they are comfortable) could present it or share it with providers ahead of the meeting. This could increase self determination of the student by increasing involvement in their educational process.

- For MTSS students, Tier 1/2, I think they could evaluate how they are utilizing their Wellness Toolkit maybe on a quarterly basis - even set goals for themselves.

-Name at least one thing you do in class that is a part of your wellness toolkit to use when you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Do you have everything you need with you at your desk to use this tool?

-What are some of the things you can do at your desk to calm down and feel better?

-How can we help the student transition his school WRAP for use at home? Does it need to be modified? Can we demo the plan for parents or provide visuals to assist them?

-If you ever need help identifying what tool to use in your box, who can you go to for help/support/guidance?

-What is something from your toolbox that you can use when you're feeling uncomfortable or frustrated at school? Who can you go to if you need help?

- While the student is developing their capacity to implement their tool box, TIER 2 would offer a customized plan of check ins that could potentially be tied to CICO, and weekly / biweekly review of data would help guide the RTI team in the frequency and intensity of this monitoring. Collecting the data from the student's personal perspective as well as the adults perspectives also promotes understanding of the student's self awareness (and possibly the adult's sensitivity of the child's needs). Tool Boxes / Wellness plans should be reviewed often initially, and monthly once the student is more independently accessing their tools.

-Using a fill in the blank statement: When _______ happens, I can __________.

-Identifying when to use certain tools and how, track when used to see over time if some are used or more effective than others.

-How will you remember to use your tools when you need them? (consider visuals, supports, cues from adults to assist)

- Who can you go to that can talk about your tools with you when you're upset? This could be something a classroom comes up with, as children brainstorm faculty members they feel comfortable with talking to.

- Who would you like to share your plan with?

-Where do you think is a safe place where we can keep your WRAP so when ever you need to use it, it's easy to reach? Are there any adults you think can help you when you're in need of using it (offer someone who knows the child, but likely wouldn't be part of the trigger or challenging situation).

- Make a plan with the school faculty and the parents to ensure that the child has the right supports and the ability to utilize his/her toolbox whenever triggers might arise.

-Where can we keep your "tool" for your tool kit so that you have access to them/feel comfortable using them when you need to? Is there someone in your classroom/in the school that can help you when you need a tool or who you can talk to if you need a new strategy?

Q: What can you do when you have a BIG problem (e.g. talk to an adult; Call 911;)

Q: What can you do when you have a small problem? (e.g. ask to take a break; do a deep breath; ask to do a yoga pose; tell an adult that you feel scared or sad;)

I like the idea of using the prompts for "When I feel" or "When __ happens" then "I can __". I also like incorporating visuals into the process to be used at ready for these students.

Q: When outside of the classroom (i.e. at recess or during lunch), how can you use your tools? Who is someone you can look for at recess/lunch when you need them?

Remember to use your tools every time! And put your awesome new plan somewhere you and your parents can always see it, like on your fridge or your bedroom wall at home!

-Have you been able to use your "toolbox" in order to deal with a difficult situation in school?

I know we talked about the times at school that typically make you upset. One of those times is coming up soon in your day. Let's pick 3 things from your toolbox/menu that you can try today to make that time of your day better.

Wellness Toolkit or Daily Maintenance/Julie Hollamby

Provide at least one question or prompt

- Name three things that help you to feel calm and happy. Draw a picture of you doing one of these things, and put it in a place where you can see it every day.

- I like the idea of having an idea bank. Whenever I am doing brainstorming activities with my students I always provide lists with visuals to help them find what resonates with them. So I would have an idea bank with various suggestions (e.g. Talk to an Adult, Talk to a Friend, Read a favorite book, Go to the calm down corner, Write in my journal, Make art, Take deep breaths, Get a drink of water, Move my body...etc.) and they could pick from those or use those to spur their own ideas.

-Name three people in the school or at home who make you feel happy. Write or draw about them and what makes them such a great person for you to turn to.

- list three things you might need on any given day to remain calm and feel good throughout the day

-I think we need to guide a student so that there are both active and passive strategies included. Sometimes bodies just need to move in order to organize themselves and that needs to be allowed. Also I feel like solitary and peer/staff assisted activities need to be represented. We should help each student recognize which items on their daily maintenance list are absolutely necessary and which items can be delayed or skipped on a tough day. Students, in my experience, are better able to focus when there is a structure to their activties...how much more do I HAVE to do before I can have a brain break.

-Help a student identify "what kind" of strategies they need by putting them on a continuum (taking a deep breath at their seat, walking to get a drink of water, sitting alone for a few minutes), or having various suggestions (drawing, writting, talking to an adult).

-What tools or strategies can you use to help you feel better from a negative situation?

- I FEEL ______________ I WANT TO FEEL _____________________ SO I SHOULD ________________________ (use visuals and have the student's preferred self regulation options as well as those easily available, such as get a drink / take a breathing break / chair push ups.

- Start each day with a daily routine of something that makes them feel good to get their endorphins running and their day started on a good note and reminders of the tools they have available if needed later throughout the day

- Use visual cues when discussing what makes children happy and seeing what that child individually responds with. In addition, offer blank visual cues in which a child could draw his or her own if there wasn't a picture for what he or she was looking for.

- Who would you like to check in with, or have them check in with you daily?

- When I am having a good day, I usually feel (fill in the blank)...When I am having a bad day my mood is (fill in the blank)... when I am happy, I usually (fill in blank)... when I feel sad, I usually (fill in blank). To help the child understand when and where his/her toolbox can be the most beneficial.

-When learning different strategies and tools you could have the child play UNO or another game that you can associate with colors or categories to relate to different feelings (similar to the categories within the Zones of regulation). For example, if the child picks a yellow card, you could have them tell you how they feel, when they might feel this way, and what they can do to help them feel better.

Q: I know that when I feel ___, I can___.

Q: Writing/drawing prompt- Today I felt ___, so I ___. Now I feel ___. My body looked like this ___.

Q: Writing/drawing prompt- I know that when____ (dad drops me off at school; a teacher asks me to try again: etc), I can ____ (try deep breaths; ask the teacher why or what they mean; etc).

Q: Writing/drawing prompt- I feel good at school when I____. I like that at school I get to do that!.

-Again, I like a lot of the statements of "I feel_" so "I can_". I think this attempt at providing linear, and more black and white thinking to regulation helps kids with understanding and also trusting the strategies. I think this kind of program would be really interesting to use for our students with ADHD who are so at risk for developing ODD and other defiant behaviors, in fostering self-awareness and then self-advocacy skills.

-Incorporate a "feelings jar": write down one thing that made them happy, sad, mad, and/or frustrated that day. Each feeling would be written on a different colored post-it (happy=green...) and then put in the jar. A visual to see the different feelings throughout the week and can check in with those feelings/situations.

- One thing I did to help myself feel good today was ______

- I really like the ideas about providing visual cues and blank cards for a child to identify/draw the things that help them feel good. Maybe we could also work with them to identify what part(s) of the day they could work these things into their schedule and think about others who may be involved in these occupations with them. We could also help them make a book where they draw/write/collage the things they like to do so that they could flip through it every day. It would be helpful to make a copy of the book so that one could be at school and one could be sent home to help the child communicate with his/her caregivers.

- I take care of myself at school by_______. I take care of myself at home by__________.

What are all the things I like to do that make me feel good?

-Could you list all of the tools that you used this week to manage stressful times in school?

Yesterday you tried 3 things from your toolkit to make that hard part of your day better. How did it go? Which one worked the best? Did any of them work, if not, let's think of some new tools to try out tomorrow!