Dr. J. (Johan) Brugmans

Closeness to patients in healthcare is essential but has certain restrictions. It is clear that health professionals keep professional distance from patients; personal experiences do not belong at work, and an objective attitude fits patients best. This assumption alligns with the biomedical model that remains dominant in psychiatry. For several years, since approximately 2009, experiential expertise has been on the agenda of many mental health organisations. The expert by education meets the expert by experience. What happens during the interaction between the expert by education and the expert by experience is conducted in two mental health organizations in the Netherlands. The result is a new theory revitalising disclosure which explains and predicts the behaviour of professionals in this area. Revitalising disclosure concerns the changing beliefs about disclosure.