To decrease the stigma around mental health in society, we must confront stigmatizing and biased thinking in the clinical world.
Tag: stigma
Counselors must help clients recognize and reject weight stigma before they can begin to heal and reconnect to themselves.
Weight stigma can show in counseling, so clinicians need to work to dismantle it both in themselves and in their clients.
The stigma attached to borderline personality disorder can make both clients and counselors resistant to treatment, but by working together, they can sort through these misconceptions and help clients rediscover themselves.
Stigma surrounding mental illness may linger as the elephant in the room and negatively affect client outcomes if counselors don’t recognize and address it in session.
Rather than labeling hesitant clients as “resistant,” counselors should check their assumptions, work to better understand the underlying reasons and barriers these clients face, and double down on unconditional positive regard.
“It is not that I need to wear a sign around my neck reading ‘Bipolar II right here,’ announcing it to every stranger I meet, but do I want to live in a world where, if that was my choosing, I could do so without being judged or shamed into the darkness.”
The acclaimed writer and spoken word poet tells an ACA Virtual Conference Experience audience why reducing the stigma surrounding mental health diagnosis and treatment has become part of her life’s mission.
Imagine if people reacted to a friend or neighbor’s diagnosis of bipolar disorder or depression no differently than if they just learned that person has breast cancer or heart disease. “Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it’s still an illness. It shouldn’t be treated differently,”
Despite the seemingly widespread understanding that mental illness is a disease that can be effectively treated, prejudice toward individuals with mental health issues still pervades our society. People with such conditions are often depicted as undesirable and incapable of maintaining meaningful personal relationships or holding positions of authority. Organizations such