At the Niemikoti Foundation, Expert by Experience Sirpa Sinisalo and professional Minna Tikka-Lapveteläinen form a working pair. The aim is to make use of shared expertise in the foundation’s Expert-by-Experience training and activities. In addition, Minna also works as a work activity instructor at the Haaga Activity Center, where she has another colleague as her pair. In this interview, however, we focus specifically on the Expert-by-Experience–professional partnership. The interview itself is also a great example of pair work – Sirpa and Minna interviewed each other on the topic.
Sirpa asks Minna
Do you, Minna, have any previous experience of working in pairs?
Yes, but not quite the same as this work with you in coordinating the Expert-by-Experience training and activities at the foundation. I have had an Expert-by-Experience partner before, but in the context of work activity guidance.
How have you made use of your partner?
She shares with me the tasks related to Expert-by-Experience work on an equal footing and represents the Niemikoti Foundation at various events and in cooperation networks. She is also a link to other Experts by Experience and service users at the foundation.
What do you see as the benefits of pair work?
Quite concretely, a partner shares the workload with me, which makes the job less burdensome. In addition, the discussions we have are truly fruitful and rewarding. They give me energy for my own work. It is wonderful to be able to reflect and weigh things together with someone else.
Do you think this is a model worth replicating?
Absolutely. I believe the Expert-by-Experience–professional partnership is effective and rewarding. Our Experts by Experience have a great deal of knowledge and skills, and making use of them in our field will surely increase the impact of recovery.
What is your message to your partner? And to outsiders who are still considering this?
To my partner: Thank you for your contribution. You work wholeheartedly and have a great deal to offer this society.
To those considering it: Working with a trained Expert by Experience is rewarding. It also requires from the Expert by Experience the same qualities as from all of us in working life: teamwork skills, the ability to present one’s views clearly and constructively, courage, flexibility—in short, general working life skills. Many of our trained Experts by Experience are highly educated and have extensive work experience. That should be utilized. Our trained Experts by Experience cannot be treated as all the same, just as professionals are not. We come from many different educational and work backgrounds.
Any final thoughts?
The Niemikoti Foundation has a lot of wonderful activities organized jointly by peers, Experts by Experience, and professionals. I think we are doing well, and things are constantly developing and evolving.
Minna asks Sirpa
How do your perspectives benefit or complement each other when working as a pair?
Pair work combines the best elements: Minna’s education and long professional experience, and my lived experience. We have a lot of exchange of ideas. My perspective represents the service user’s experience, so we can make visible the knowledge and feedback from the field. The best part is collaboration and co-creation.
Is your lived experience valued, and how does that appreciation show?
Yes, it is valued, and this shows, for example, in the fact that I have been hired as an Expert by Experience at the foundation. My tasks vary according to needs and requests. I am invited to take part in many things, and in these tasks I can use my skills and strengths, which is empowering. The foundation also provides access to professional supervision, and when needed, I can get support through discussions with Minna. In the work community I am treated as an equal colleague, which feels good—after all, I represent not only myself but all the Experts by Experience at the foundation.
In your view, does pair work increase inclusion, and how?
I think pair work is an effective model that should be replicated. An Expert by Experience receives support from the professional and develops professionally by learning from their partner and through supervision sessions. At the same time, they gain a community to connect with. This strengthens their inclusion, as does the fact that the results of their work—or the feedback they receive—are often clearly visible. The work is therefore very concrete and rewarding. On a broader scale, being involved in influencing helps to reduce shame, stigma, and marginalization.
How does the presence of an Expert by Experience affect service users?
I believe—and hope—that through these blogs, for example, service users can draw hope and light for their own path. At best, an Expert by Experience can act as a role model and example for other people in recovery: “I have survived this and that, and here I am today.” It is important to spread the message that recovery is possible.
How does your lived experience support or help your partner in her work?
I think it is valuable for professionals to receive regular feedback and insights from the field. Lived experience complements professional knowledge, and together they create the best outcomes for the person in recovery. As a pair, we act as mirrors for each other and enjoy “bouncing ideas” back and forth and envisioning different situations together. I feel that we learn from one another, and that is truly rewarding.
