I think what people really want and what they keep moving toward or trying to create is a place where they feel safe to express themselves fully in all their goodness and badness and still be accepted and part of the community.
Psychiatry, especially the peer movement, can provide this. It can provide a space where it is ok to talk about suicidal thoughts, where it's ok to hear voices, where it's ok to do the best you know how to manage your life and emotions and nervous system, and it's assumed that you are probably doing the best you know how.
A place where you are given options but what you do is up to you.
It is in this place of safety that people can feel comfortable trying other options. When they feel safe and that the outcome will be ok even if it's unpredictable, people can feel more safe trying a different coping technique instead of the one they normally use.
When people feel respected as they are, that they are good, then they have the life-giving self-esteem that helps to give people more energy an
Validation and esteem and accepting social support are some of the best "foods" for "good" behavior.
People need VALIDATION as a fuel for doing hard things. Change is hard. Validation for what people are already doing right and esteem help them to have the motivation to try change.
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