Stigma in clinical practice

Much more is known about attitudes toward mental illness and social stigma, the viscious cycle of its consequences and how to fight the social stigma in public, but much less is known about how to combat the stigma and self stigma in clinical practice. Stigma theories have not been enough to understand the feelings and experience of people with mental illness. Conceptual framework that understands stigma as consisting of difficulties of knowledge (ignorance or misinformation), problems of attitudes (prejudice), and problems of behaviour (discrimination) have not o been enough to understand stigma dynamics in the patient therapist interaction. Understanding the psychodynamic aspects of internalized stereotype of mental illness in the patient- therapist relationship may improve our competency to deal with stigma and self stigma in clinical practice.