Illness Management and Recovery / IMR-A02-3
Understanding My Experience — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about understanding my experience while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Casey wants clearer information about recurring concentration difficulties.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Learning about mental health concerns can support agency without reducing a person to a diagnosis.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore understanding my experience using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Learning about mental health concerns can support agency without reducing a person to a diagnosis. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Separate experiences you notice, explanations offered by providers, and questions you still want answered. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Casey wants clearer information about recurring concentration difficulties.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What would you like explained in your own language? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- What would you like explained in your own language?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
Conceptual background
Illness Management and Recovery Evidence-Based Practices KIT — SAMHSA
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.