Adapting "Honest, Open, and Proud": A Concept Mapping Demonstration

Recent research suggests that 40.2% of social work students self-report a diagnosis of a behavioral health condition, and that roughly 51.8% of professional social workers do. There is such great stigma against behavioral health concerns - even among social workers - that most do not disclose this information in professional or practice contexts.

But what if we suggested that disclosure can both empower and enlighten students, colleagues, and clients? What if we told you that being out about recovery from mental illness and other adverse life experiences is not only personally liberating, but part of an important social movement to dismantle systemic oppression against vulnerable populations? In this workshop, we briefly describe our respective journeys in the field, the motivation for conducting this workshop, and articulate some of the benefits and consequences of disclosure of lived experience of recovery from an array of adverse life experiences relevant to social work practice.

This workshop will offer exposure to a brief adaptation of the evidence-based program, Honest, Open, Proud (HOP), and introduce participants to the applications of concept mapping for needs assessment for the purposes of understanding how best to implement this programming with MSW students. The event will also add to current knowledge about social work practice and education by engaging in conversation about historic and contemporary ideas about the ethics of disclosure of lived experience in mental health and addictions fields.

By offering an opportunity to participate in an adapted version of HOP and a brief concept mapping exercise, participants will identify the most important and actionable ways to tailor HOP to meet the needs of social workers in training. The ultimate purpose is to help emerging practitioners be more intentional and strategic as they navigate the fine line between the personal and the professional as "wounded healers".