A growing body of research data and articles, as well as personal accounts, recognizes that individual staff disclosure of personal experiences with mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, extreme psychological states and other unique experiences can have a powerful impact upon treatment experience and outcomes.  It is recognized, and many now believe, that such disclosure can be a powerful tool towards inspiring hope, modeling recovery and influencing imbalanced power dynamics that can be counterproductive to developing therapeutic relationships.

To ensure the effective use of disclosure of any lived experience, ServiceNet has established the following set of guidelines and a framework within which agency staff may choose to disclose such experiences in a way that is both supportive and respectful to themselves and to those with whom they work.  These guidelines are designed to ensure that the disclosing individual, supervisors, and staff are engaged in a thoughtful, deliberate, strategic process of ensuring the effective use of disclosure to enhance the recovery of clients and support the program in its work.

1. Agency staff are not required to disclose any information that he/she is not comfortable sharing, and any information shared with agency supervisors will continue to be treated as confidential unless the individual chooses to share said information him/herself.

2. As part of the mandatory Agency Orientation all new staff will attend a self-disclosure training with a Certified Peer Specialist (CPS).

3. All agency management will attend a self-disclosure training with a CPS in order to be supportive to agency staff prepared to disclose.  Agency staff will be trained by their supervisor and/or a CPS in disclosure guidelines, as well as the TRANSCOM Promoting a Culture of Respect Position Statement adopted by ServiceNet.

4. Agency staff who decide to disclose will work with their supervisor and/or a CPS to determine the appropriateness and process of sharing the disclosure information with their staff team, while then beginning to assess the process of disclosing to clients in the program.  The CPS will provide on-going guidance and direction with the individual and program staff during this sometimes challenging decision making process.

5. The guiding principle of disclosure is that the client consumer’s personal recovery and needs are primary, if and when disclosure occurs.  To that end the disclosure of personal information and lived experience must be done in a manner that promotes respect and recovery, and to avoid disclosing in a way that feels secretive or otherwise uncomfortable for the individual.  While the benefits of personal disclosure are recognized, disclosure should never be for the sole purpose of benefiting the disclosing staff member.  Identifying the expected positive outcomes of disclosing can be a helpful process in identifying concerns and contra-indications in advance of disclosure.

6. While ServiceNet strives for a work culture which values the experience of people in recovery, any unintended and undesired consequences of disclosure should be immediately reported to supervisors and/or a CPS, addressed and resolved.

7. Agency management will strive to be supportive of staff who wish to disclose, providing them guidance and assistance in doing so as effectively as possible.  Disciplinary action will not be taken against a disclosing staff member who follows these guidelines when working with client consumers.

8. ServiceNet will develop and maintain a Recovery Action Team, chaired by a CPS and made up of a cross section of staff, Peers and client consumers from across the agency.  The team will meet to arrange trainings, activities and events that foster a safe, supportive environment which recognizes the value of disclosure, and promotes a culture of respect.

Contributors to these Disclosure Guidelines:  Lee Shuer, Recovery Services Coordinator, ServiceNet; Mark Keller, Director of MH Residential and Recovery Services, ServiceNet; Anne Marie Martineau, Clinical Director, Inpatient Behavioral Health, Cooley Dickenson Hospital; Sera Davidow, Co-Director Western Mass RLC; and Marcia Webster, Transcom.