A key part of occupational therapy isunderstanding people as whole, including whatgives them purpose, what is important to themand why they make the decisions that theychoose. However, to understand people trulyholistically, we need to look at the influencesocietal perceptions such as stigma can haveon the individuals we work with.

• - How can we have open and honest
• conversations with people experiencing
• stigma.
• - How can we contribute to building a
• society
• without stigma.
• - The contribution stigma plays on the
• decisions people make when recovering
• from drugs and alcohol.