Work is a central arena for recovery, identity, and social inclusion among people with lived experience of mental health conditions. Yet many face intersecting barriers—stigma, episodic symptoms, precarious jobs, and inadequate workplace accommodations—that threaten both employment access and sustainability. This presentation examines how mental health service users construct and pursue vocational goals while navigating recovery. Drawing on qualitative and mixed-methods research, it highlights:
• Challenges such as disclosure dilemmas, discrimination, and job loss risk;
• Positive psychosocial resources—hope, self-efficacy, career adaptability, supportive networks, and meaning-making—that enable goal setting and resilience;
• The role of supported employment (e.g., Individual Placement and Support) not only in rapid job access but in sustaining participation, fostering identity reconstruction, and aligning work with personal values.
Special attention is given to career construction processes: how users formulate short- and long-term career plans, integrate work into evolving self-narratives, and maintain a sense of purpose despite relapse or systemic barriers. Practical implications include tailoring career counselling and vocational psychology interventions to enhance meaning attribution, strengthen adaptive resources, and provide continuing support for job retention and progression. Framed within the UN SDGs' focus on inclusive and sustainable work, this talk advocates for a strengths-based, person-centred approach that integrates mental health recovery with decent and meaningful employment.