The perceived impact of sharing lived experiences on recovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sharing is caring? – how mental health staff and service users perceive the impact of sharing lived experience on recovery
IRAS ID
239269
Contact name
Inke Schreiber
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Salomons Centre for Applied Psychology
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 9 days
Research summary
In recent years, there has been a shift within mental health services from viewing recovery as ‘being cured’ towards recognising recovery as an individual’s journey. Recovery-oriented practice promotes mental health service users to become more active and empowered and to enable them to self-determine and manage their own difficulties with the emphasis on strengths and positive attributes.
As a result of the movement towards individually meaningful recovery, the importance of sharing lived experience has emerged as an idea that individuals who have ‘lived through’ and ‘survived’ difficulties are uniquely equipped to support those who are currently experiencing mental health difficulties. Research indicates that a significant number of mental health staff have personal experience of mental health and service use, though there appear to be barriers in openly using those experiences as part of their work. Nonetheless, mental health professionals report that they use their own experiences of mental health indirectly, for example some have reported that they have found it helpful in their work by increasing their ability to relate to a client and enabling them to instil hope.
Currently, the idea of client empowerment through therapist self-disclosure lacks research to develop it. The aim of this project is to explore perceptions of service users and staff of mental health professionals' use of their lived experiences in their work.REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1484
Date of REC Opinion
30 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion