Rooted

In the professional world as caregivers; whether you are a clinician, social worker, or human services adjacent expert, we are trained to be the “Weavers”—the ones who mend the safety nets for others. But for many of us, there exists a hidden room we rarely invite our colleagues into: the Mental Health Closet. This is the period of non-disclosure, a strategic (and often exhausting) silence maintained to protect our professional identity from the very stigmas we fight to dismantle for others.

This is me coming out of the closet publicly, for the first time. Hi.

The Weight of Non-Disclosure

For a professional, non-disclosure isn’t just about privacy; it’s often a survival mechanism. In 2023, I found myself navigating a diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder. As a neurodivergent mother, social work student, and an aspiring mental health professional, the “closet” felt like the only safe place to be.

In social work terms, this period of non-disclosure is a complex negotiation of Self-Determination. We weigh the “Dignity and Worth of the Person” against a system that sometimes views a practitioner’s lived experience with “severe” mental health challenges as a liability rather than an asset.

Shattering the Glass Diagnosis

The year 2023 was a crucible. To be neurodivergent is to already experience the world with a different sensory and cognitive architecture; to add a schizoaffective diagnosis felt like the world was shifting beneath my feet. However, the overcoming wasn’t about the disappearance of my neurodivergence—it was about the integration of it.

Coming out of the mental health closet means moving from Internalized Stigma to Radical Authenticity. It is the realization that my experience with psychosis, mood dysregulation, and the frantic balancing act of motherhood isn’t a “deficit.” Instead, it is a profound form of Lived Experience (LEx) that allows me to meet others in the depths of their own shadows with a level of empathy that cannot be taught in a BSW textbook.

From Survival to Advocacy

Why come out now? Because the “Storyteller” and “Weaver” roles within our social change ecosystem demand it.

1. Reframing the Narrative: By sharing my story, I am reclaiming my 2023 experience as a period of intense Somatic and Psychological Reconstruction. It wasn’t a breakdown; it was a breakthrough into a deeper understanding of human resilience.
2. Systems Theory in Action: I recognize that my silence only reinforced the systemic idea that “mental health professionals help” and “clients suffer.” By stepping out of the closet, I am blurring that line and challenging the hierarchy.
3. Neuro-Affirming Advocacy: As a neurodivergent mom, I advocate for a world where “recovery” doesn’t mean changing to “becoming neurotypical.” It means finding the “Rooted Chapters” of our lives where we can grow, function, create, teach and parent with the support we deserve.

For The New Practitioner

Stepping out of the mental health closet is an act of professional courage. It is a declaration that my journey has made me a better advocate, and future mental health clinician, not a compromised one.

YOU are not just a practitioner with lived experience; you are the evidence that healing is possible, that neurodivergence is a spectrum of strength, and that our stories are the most powerful tools we carry in our professional kits.

My 2023 was not the end of my life—it was the beginning of my education and career.

I remind myself often that I walked through fire, but have stayed rooted.