Hold On A Second by Susan L.

My friend from PREFER and I got together to do some reading/discussing about a couple of handouts we'd been given during our peer support training. One of them was about empowerment. First of all it defined it. Secondly, it spoke on what is necessary to build that sense of autonomy and self determination in psychiatric survivors. Most of the time those rights are stripped away by the medical/clinical system.(Something we are fighting to change.) There was one statement both of us felt was way off base. Judi Chamberlain states, "And the client who recognizes that he or she is earning the respect of others increases in self confidence." Don't get me started about the dehumanizing use of the word, "client"! Both of us questioned this idea that self worth is based on how others treat us. I've personally spent a good chunk of the last eight years trying to get out from under that puppy. This is a concept that disempowers us by making us responsible for others behaviours towards us. It denies us the right to be uniquely unique. It forces us to embrace the spirit choking necessity of appearing "normal". Whatever that means! "What then? Are we better than they?" ROM 3:9