Quale sguardo epistemico per l’agire educativo in salute mentale? La figura dell’Esperto in Supporto tra Pari come monito per la creazione di servizi partecipativi

The field of mental health is certainly the area of Western medicine that has been most influenced by different epistemological perspectives: from a moral foundation, to positivist organicism, to the visions of psychoanalysis, phenomenological psychiatry, and the anti-psychiatry movements of the second half of the 20th century, with particular reference to the Italian context and Basaglia’s work. Within these latest developments, the opportunity for educational work in mental health has become possible, following an epistemological gaze that considers mental illness as a complex phenomenon that cannot be reduced to biological components. However, the logic behind today’s social policies is increasingly oriented towards a private/corporate perspective, including mental health services, risking losing the epistemological gaze which has gone beyond a biological reductionism. At this regard, the figure of the Peer Support Expert can serve as a reference point for reinforcing the importance of investing in the need for epistemological multidisciplinarity in mental health, in order to create participatory and emancipatory services.