Transformative Mental Health Social Work Practice: What,When and With Whom Do We Learn?

Abstract

Purpose: Transformative mental health social work fosters participatory processes towards emancipatory changes in services and systems, addressing societal barriers to inclusion, equity, and full citizenship. This study examined how transformative practices aligned with United Nations’ calls for change/reform toward person-centered, rights-based mental health recovery across both Canada and Australia, are learned. Method: Using co-operative inquiry, the study captured diverse experiences and knowledge from social work practitioners, managers, students, academics, and family members in a practice research partnership. We sought to examine how learning prepares and sustains mental health social workers for transformative practice. Results: The study revealed an iterative approach to learning in mental health and highlighted the diverse foci of learning (what) at various career stages (when) and the reciprocal nature of learning for and from others in the practice environment (from whom). Discussion: In this unique context, the importance of professional identity resilience was underscored.