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Martin Webber, presents the research of Jonny Lovell, PhD student - International Centre for Mental Health Social Research at the University of York.  

... From anecdote to evidence

In 2013, anecdotal evidence indicated that sharing personal mental health lived experience by mental health practitioners with service users was controversial, though some practitioners and service users thought it might have many potential benefits.  In response, the University of York undertook research in Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) and NorthWestern Mental Health (Melbourne, Australia) to investigate whether practitioners and service users perceived sharing personal experience of mental illness as helpful or unhelpful.

See the post here:  http://martinwebber.net/archives/2014

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Interesting research!!  From my experience of speaking across many venues and sharing my lived experience it is unfortunate that professionals don't disclose their lived experience of mental health challenges.  It seems to be more prevalent in the addictions field but doctors, nurses, social workers don't regularly share their mental health lived experience with the people they serve. 

After speaking to over 300 audiences I've had professionals share their lived experience with me after my presentation, however when I ask them if they've shared their lived experience with the people they serve the answer was "No"!

Stigma, prejudice and discrimination is still very real in our field!

Perhaps, some day, professionals will see the value of sharing their lived experience in a mindful, professional, and empathic manner!!

 

I'd love the chance to be a participant of this session if every delivered by  webinar. I think this topic is very important right now given the opioid overdose crisis and enhanced efforts to decrease stigma and increase compassion amongst the population at large. Also, I'd be very interested in information on how to make decisions around how one might best share lived experiences as well as supporting staff in learning to self-disclosing.

As a provincial systems level, lived experience/family advocate and speaker for mental health, addiction, trauma and bereavement for over a decade- and a mother who lost her child to overdose- I find that disclosure is still a very personal risk. (particularly with substance use/addiction)

I totally agree with Tom that stigma, prejudice and discrimination are still very real.  I totally get why a professional would not want to disclose.  

 

I'm going to try to get Jonny Lovell, to join the conversation, but will see as hard to pull people into conversations via a digital one, ie: I made a comment on his blog.   

For sure a rich topic, what comes to mind for me is that as Tom says professional's especially in mental health rather than addiction, don't tend to talk "lived experience" whereas maybe we need to frame:

  • what CBT for psychosis clinical leaders often frame the experience as more on a continuum for all of us, though different on the severity/impact/context etc,;
  • or think of  DBT founder Marsha Linehan -Expert on Mental Illness Reveals Her Own Fight https://www.nytimes.com/2011/0.../health/23lives.html
  • and consider at least some generalized process' of therapeutic relationship, I guess this depends on your view/understanding where rapport and connection evolves for client to a more relatable one with the therapist.  

BTW, I trotted out an old not often used term anymore "counter transference" as a tag, a very useful term though, that nods at the relevance of the togetherness involved in care. 

I think this all leads to clinical supervision - in various forms where the focus is more on process than the deployment of techniques of an particular evidence based practice. 

Hey... we are heading to a new topic, better not!

 

 

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Indeed a very interesting topic , however self disclosure to your patients/ service user is not as simple as sharing a story . As a Physician when you are making this choice, one does weigh up the harm and the clinical benefit  of a hypothesis  based on the formulation that he has a clear rational to test out.

Self disclosure in a clinical context is a highly skilled Psychotherapeutic intervention where  the provider has good grips on the psychological make up of the service user,their vulnerabilities as well as his own, this also warrants a  good handle on experiences like transference, counter transference, projection and other mechanisms involved in Pyschodynamic model of Psychotherapy . Dependency within a therapeutic setting both ways , role reversal ( who is the therapist??), sense of causing a burden to the therapist are some of the few common risks that I am very familiar with however close supervision to the provider may help to minimize the harm if it is considered a risk worth taking.  

I think Self disclosure is a clinical judgement ,based on the best interest of the service user taking into consideration the stage of their recovery. This may not  be generalized .

 

TomK posted:

Interesting research!!  From my experience of speaking across many venues and sharing my lived experience it is unfortunate that professionals don't disclose their lived experience of mental health challenges.  It seems to be more prevalent in the addictions field but doctors, nurses, social workers don't regularly share their mental health lived experience with the people they serve. 

After speaking to over 300 audiences I've had professionals share their lived experience with me after my presentation, however when I ask them if they've shared their lived experience with the people they serve the answer was "No"!

Stigma, prejudice and discrimination is still very real in our field!

Perhaps, some day, professionals will see the value of sharing their lived experience in a mindful, professional, and empathic manner!!

 

When I first learned of the CBC report on the five Nova Scotia 'Mounties' (RCMP) on leave of absence due to PTSD, the On-Site Academy [then only for 'First Responders' in the USA, but now reportedly open to both first responders and 'Human Services Personnel' from anywhere in the world] began their affiliation with "[trauma-informed] Intentional Police Peer Support" programs. Boston and Cambridge Massachusetts Police Departments' IPPS programs 'affiliated' with On-Site Academy. On-Site Academy subsequently moved their 'Crisis/Respite Program' from their administrative office in Gardner, Mass., to a serene/rural farm, with farm animals, etc., a short distance outside Gardner. I think that IPS specialized [limited to specific professions] may be a workable strategy for 'Professions', though I don't yet have "Evidence" of its Efficacy.

Jonny posted:

A bit late in the day but I eventually signed up to this forum.  No longer a PhD student (completed).  Full thesis available online here:  

http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk...%20Thesis%202017.pdf

Thanks for the invite, Bill.

Jonny

Wow man, thank you for actually having a back burner you use.  Looking forward to reading and perhaps ... find ways to link to yea old practice. 

A good lesson in trusting time.  Good for you on the sign up front as, I find people experience this step as "a leap."

 

Jonny, you probably saw this call for papers, but others may be interested.  Ontario Peer Development enewsletter  https://www.opdi.org/news-events/news shared it. 

BTW the layout of your thesis helps make it readable on a computer, all 96,000ish words.  Looking forward, to a little beach novel reading.

 

Call for Papers: Mental Health Professionals With Lived Experience of Mental Illness

Submission Deadline: May 1, 2019

Psychological Services invites manuscripts for a special section on licensed mental health professionals who have a lived experience of mental illness (including addiction) that will be edited by Guest Editor Dr. Jennifer Boyd, with Associate Editor Dr. Femina Varghese.

Sometimes referred to as "prosumers", this group of providers is uniquely positioned to fight stigma and promote the mental health recovery model by serving as examples and by providing a consumer perspective throughout our field. Similarly, professionals who have immediate family members with mental illness can also provide an important personal perspective. .....

More here: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journ...pers-mental-illness#

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