About the course:

Knowledge derived from personal experience, based on coping and recovery processes, is both personal and unique. It is a valuable resource that begins, first and foremost, with the choice and desire to transform one's personal, specific, and private story into a broader body of knowledge that can serve others. The transition from a personal narrative to working from lived experience occurs through a professionalization process that involves learning how to utilize this knowledge as a professional tool to support others. The practice of leveraging lived experience can serve as a key tool in the toolkit of a rehabilitation/therapy professional with lived experience, helping to amplify a meaningful voice and strengthen the unique contribution of lived experience within a multidisciplinary team.

The course was developed within the framework of the "Consumers as Service Providers" program, based on collaborative work combining experiential knowledge and professional knowledge.

Key Topics in the Course: Fundamental principles of peer support; Professional identity of rehabilitation/treatment professionals with lived experience; Processing one’s personal story; Managing disclosure; A model for using lived experience as a professional tool; Integrating lived experience into multidisciplinary teamwork; Working in partnership; Boundaries and professional ethics;

Course Objectives:

• The student will learn and process the knowledge from their lived experience, which they bring from their personal story of coping and recovery.
• The student will learn different approaches to peer support and the use of experiential knowledge in their work.
• The student will receive practical tools for intentional and conscious use of their experiential knowledge when interacting with various audiences (service recipients, team members, family members).
• The student will strengthen their professional identity and their role as a rehabilitation/therapy professional with lived experience within a multidisciplinary team.

Course Structure:

16 sessions, with each session consisting of 4 academic hours of instruction, followed by 2 academic hours of a training workshop divided into two groups.

Participants:

The course is designed for approximately 20 rehabilitation/therapy professionals with experiential knowledge, peer experts, and/or family members, who are willing and interested in specializing in using personal experience within their work. 

Course Requirements:

• Mandatory attendance in 90% of classes.
• Active participation in classroom discussions and exercises
• Dilemma presentation in the training workshop and its processing in a written assignment
• Submission of required exercises and submission of a final assignment in the course

Admission Requirements:

• Rehabilitation/treatment worker with experiential knowledge who is actively working in any of the mental health fields within the community system
• Must have at least one year of work experience in the mental health field.
• Ready to gain exposure and apply experiential knowledge within the course training.
• Must be willing to engage in processes of personal and group self-reflection.
• Ready to apply course content through practical exercises in a work setting (requires at least partial exposure).
• Completed a previous course relevant to the role at the School of Rehabilitation and/or holds a relevant degree or diploma.
• Admission to the course is contingent upon a personal interview conducted by the course staff.
• The number of participants in the course is limited, so register soon.

Course Cost:

Cost per participant: 845 NIS. Contribution from the Ministry of Health: 4,645 NIS.

To register for a course in Kiryat Ono, click here