Opening a dialogue: lived experience meets Open Dialogue in Israeli mental health services

ABSTRACT Objective This article presents the emerging field of peer-supported Open Dialogue and its implementation in Israeli mental health services. We review the literature on peer support and OD, and conceptualise shared core principles between the two practices. Then we report on the results of a preliminary research exploring the benefits and challenges of integrating lived experience in OD. Method Questionnaires exploring lived experience in OD, as perceived by OD team members, were filled by 11 international participants, and 7 Israeli participants that graduated from the first OD training. These were followed by three in-depth interviews with Israeli lived experience practitioners that graduated from OD training. Results Based on a reflexive thematic analysis of the questionnaires and interviews we portray the benefits and challenges of working with a lived experience perspective within the OD approach. We explore the newly emerging field of OD in Israel, which is greatly influenced by the contribution of lived experience practitioners – both peer specialists and mental health professionals. Discussion We conclude with our own reflections – as a social worker and a psychologist, both with lived experience – and suggest that the meeting point between lived experience and OD holds an exciting potential for developing more inclusive and progressive mental health services that value the role of lived experience, and benefit from peer perspectives.