If you’re wondering whether working as an expert by experience is right for you, the following checklist, based on questions posed to future experiential workers in mental health care, might help:
- Do you have personal experience as a patient/client?
- Are you sufficiently advanced in your own recovery process?
- Are you intrigued by what drives and motivates people and do you wish to coach them on that personal quest?
- Do you want to grow as an individual and better connect with what you feel and need?
- Are you eager to learn how your own experiences can be functionally employed to assist peers on their path to recovery?
- Do you also believe that Experience Work is an emerging professional field?
- Do you relish a challenge and pioneering work?
- Do you also believe in the power of vulnerability?
- Can you reflect on your own narrative and on what others contribute?
- Are you willing to engage with your experiences?
- Are you capable of working collaboratively in a group?
If you can answer “yes” at least three times, pursuing a role as an expert by experience might be something for you.
Footnotes
[1] Verween, V.G. Traject Ervaringswerker GGZ [Powerpoint-slides]. Sociale School Heverlee, UCLL. (Personal communication, 16 October 2023).
[2] Debyser, D.B. Info-avond: opleiding tot ervaringswerker in de GGZ [Powerpoint-slides]. VIVES, HOGent, Psyche. (Personal communication, 8 November 2023).
Read more about the seven work packages
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