Reaching out to others and expressing our needs helps us get what we need, want, and deserve to support our wellness and recovery. We can determine for ourselves how we want to self-advocate in different areas of our lives, including how we want to communicate our needs and preferences to others.

Exercise below.

Gentle reminder: this is your WRAP and a living document. Feel free to revisit these pages and delete, edit and add your own content at any time.

How do you become a strong defender of your own interests?

For this you need:

• Courage
• Perseverance
• Determination

Bill of rights

• I have the right to ask for what I want
• I have the right to say no to requests or demands I cannot meet
• I have the right to change my mindI have the right to make mistakes and don’t have to be perfect
• I have the right to follow my own values and standardsI have the right to express all of my feelings, both positive and negative, in a manner that will not harm others
• I have the right to say no to anything when I feel I am not ready, it is unsafe, or it violates my values
• I have the right to feel angry and to express my anger in a responsible mannerI have the right to be uniquely myself
• I have the right to feel scared and say, “I’m afraid”
• I have the right to say, “I don’t know”
• I have the right to make decisions based on my feelings, beliefs and values