The Competent Client and the Complexity of Dis-ability

Abstract

Clients and therapists in the interdisciplinary discourse of mental health and mental health care are described as dichotomous. In such a binary the client is defined in terms of weakness, pathology and passivity, while the therapist is described in terms of strengths, expertise and activity.  This article aims to contribute to the destabilization of the client-therapist binary by offering a review of literature on competent clients. Perspectives from social models and cultural models in disability studies provide the theoretical frames for the discussion.  Social constraints and oppression with regard to the dis-ability complex and discursive implications are discussed.