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Storytelling for Mental Health Stigma
Harnessing narrative medicine to challenge stigma and support healthcare professional wellbeing
A 1-credit ISCN lecture exploring how storytelling and lived experience can challenge mental health stigma, support clinician wellbeing, and contribute to meaningful suicide prevention.
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Course Description
Mental health stigma remains one of the greatest barriers preventing healthcare professionals from seeking help when they need it most. In this ISCN lecture, psychiatrist Dr. Ahmed Hankir explores how storytelling can become a powerful force for cultural change in medicine and mental health. Drawing from personal experience, clinical insight, and emerging research, the session examines how stigma develops, how it impacts healthcare professionals and trainees, and why reducing stigma requires more than awareness—it requires rejection of harmful narratives. Dr. Hankir introduces the concept of “Experts by Personal and Professional Experience” (EPPE), demonstrating how individuals who combine lived experience with professional expertise can reshape conversations around mental health. Through storytelling, clinicians can foster empathy, reduce shame, and create safer environments for open dialogue. This lecture highlights how narrative approaches can play a meaningful role in supporting clinician wellbeing and strengthening suicide prevention efforts across healthcare communities.
What you’ll learn:
- Understand how stigma affects mental health help-seeking among healthcare professionals.
- Recognize the origins and consequences of mental health stigma in medical culture.
- Explore storytelling as a powerful strategy to challenge stigma and build empathy.
- Learn the EPPE framework integrating personal and professional mental health experience.
- Apply narrative approaches to support clinician wellbeing and suicide prevention.
More About This Course
Mental health stigma continues to prevent healthcare professionals from seeking the support they need, contributing to alarming rates of burnout, depression, and suicide within medical communities. Traditional awareness campaigns have proven insufficient to address the deeply rooted cultural barriers that shame clinicians into silence when facing mental health challenges.
This comprehensive ISCN lecture introduces storytelling as a transformative approach to mental health stigma reduction and suicide prevention. Dr. Ahmed Hankir, a practicing psychiatrist with both personal and professional expertise in mental health advocacy, demonstrates how authentic narratives can reshape medical culture and create safer spaces for vulnerable conversations.
The course explores the Experts by Personal and Professional Experience (EPPE) framework, showing how individuals who combine lived experience with clinical expertise bring unique perspectives to mental health education and advocacy. Participants will examine how stigma develops within healthcare systems, analyze its impact on help-seeking behaviors, and discover practical applications of narrative medicine in clinical practice.
This training is designed for healthcare professionals seeking evidence-based strategies to support colleague wellbeing, reduce institutional stigma, and contribute to meaningful suicide prevention efforts. The Carrick Institute's commitment to advancing clinical neuroscience education ensures participants receive cutting-edge insights into the neurobiological and psychological foundations of stigma while developing practical skills for professional application.
Components
Educational Syllabus
- Mental Health Challenges Among Healthcare Professionals
- Examine the prevalence of mental health struggles among clinicians and students and why these challenges often remain hidden.
- Understanding Mental Health-Related Stigma
- Define stigma, explore its historical origins, and understand how stigma continues to shape attitudes toward mental illness.
- he Consequences of Stigma in Healthcare
- Analyze how stigma influences help-seeking behavior, professional identity, and mental health outcomes among healthcare providers.
- Storytelling as a Tool for Cultural Change
- Discover how personal narratives and lived experiences can shift perspectives, foster empathy, and challenge harmful stereotypes.
- Experts by Personal and Professional Experience (EPPE)
- Explore the concept of EPPE and how integrating lived experience with professional expertise can transform mental health education.
- Storytelling for Suicide Prevention and Advocacy
- Understand how authentic storytelling can reduce stigma, encourage open dialogue, and support suicide prevention efforts.
Venue, Hotels & Schedule
Also includes
Storytelling for Mental Health Stigma
A 1-credit ISCN lecture exploring how storytelling and lived experience can challenge mental health stigma, support clinician wellbeing, and contribute to meaningful suicide prevention.
$
$
(
$
The Carrick Institute team is ready to assist with enrollment, CE approval, or program planning. Email visit our CE Portal or Contact Us directly.