The Veteran Supported Education Service Treatment Manual: VetSEd

Key Elements of Sharing Recovery and Educational Stories
Choose when, why, and what you want to share about your mental health
experiences, recovery and educational history in advance when possible. Be
careful not to use your own story as an example every time a Veteran is
attempting to make a decision about their life. Doing so can lead the Veteran to
think that s/he has to do everything like you did in order to be successful.
Be mindful of who your audience is and focus on sharing aspects of your
recovery and/or educational story that will have the most impact on your
audience members.
Practice telling your stories so that you relate them well and are confident in
what you have to share.
Use clear, simple, everyday direct language.
Be brief and specific about the points you want to make.
Feel free to add humor to your story, but do not use inappropriate or politically
incorrect language or jokes that could offend people.
When you think it will be useful to a person or group, describe the supports,
skills, knowledge, and resources that helped you in your own recovery and/or
pursuit of education.
Your self-disclosure to Veterans has a purpose which is to share hope, share an
example of what helped you, share a point that may help the Veteran, and
basically to engage the Veteran in his/her own recovery and educational
process.
When sharing your stories with other professionals, your purpose is to dispel
the myths about mental illness (Refer to Appendix H) and reduce stigma by
showing that people with mental illnesses are able to work, play, live, grow,
learn and achieve educational goals like anyone else!
Always keep in mind that your self-disclosure is to benefit others, not yourself.
Do not let your story remain focused on you. As quickly as possible, shift the
focus from your story back to the Veteran with whom you are working. You
are an example, not an exhibit!
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