Exposing and Exploring Our Positions on Stigma, Self-Care, and Care of Each Other: A Psychodynamic Perspective

There is a global movement focusing on reducing the stigma of mental illness. One of the fundamental strategies is increasing contact with people with emotional problems by incorporating their lived experience into our research, teaching, and practice. These efforts have generally targeted consumers of mental health services, but some work strives to address stigma in mental health practitioners and faculty. More attention should be directed toward the importance of providers and faculty sharing their lived experience with each other. Self-disclosure in this arena can facilitate a sense of community, unity, collective work and responsibility, and authenticity. In addition, it can enhance the likelihood that practitioners with lived experience will seek treatment and accommodations, and care from colleagues if they need it. The intersections of self-disclosure, stigma, and lived and living experience are explored, with commentary by the author about her lived experience of mental illness.