Psychologists with Lived Experience of Disability: Navigating Clinical Practice

A wealth of guidance is available on supporting clients with lived experience of disability - yet there is little available that focuses on understanding the first-hand experience of psychologists who themselves identify as having a disability. This book responds to this gap in literature by providing narratives of psychologists with disabilities and exploring how their disability interacts with their experience of working in clinical practice.

The accounts represented within this book are varied, reflecting the wide range of experiences and challenges that psychologists with disabilities may encounter during their practice. Reflecting on the contributing authors’ lived experience, chapters provide guidance on a range of topics related to navigating disability in clinical practice. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Normalizing mental health and disability

• Self-disclosure of disability, inside and out of the therapy room

• Late diagnosis of disability and adapting to shifts in identity

• Managing disability and unpredictability, including fluctuations in conditions

• Disability and intersectionality

• The role of autonomy

Providing a much-needed exploration of the experiences of psychologists who identify as having a disability, this will be an essential read for any mental health practitioner who resonates with this experience, or for any practitioner who wishes to better understand and support colleagues with disabilities.