Grandparents Get WISe (Washington)

My husband and I were struggling

with raising our granddaughter because of her behavior problems. Helen, the parent peer from our WISe team helped me understand how important it is to take care of myself. We tried many times to obtain help and were turned away, rescheduled or not called back.

We met with Helen once a week for 10 weeks to develop my Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). Every week I worked on something different, wrote down everything I enjoy doing and spent time doing those things.

I also learned what caused me stress. I have my past triggers that caused me to overreact to my granddaughter’s stress, and I learned that to provide the best care for my granddaughter, I need help from friends, family and neighbors. I can't do it alone.

I learned that my reactions to her behavior were not helping the situations, and wrote a plan for times of stress, which prepares me for those times of tension and reduces my anxiety. It helps me to focus on what I need to do to successfully raise my granddaughter. In turn, it helps my granddaughter learn how she can stay motivated to be successful and improve her behavior.

Helen taught me coping skills and changed my life and my family’s life forever. Having someone who really cared, listened to our problems and had solutions was the help I needed.

Written by Jennifer H.

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