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Research
We value lived experience and believe that it is an important source of knowledge, expertise, and social change. Too often, the voices of people with lived experience of mental health challenges have been ignored, distorted, or spoken for by others. Through research, we hope to support people in reclaiming their own stories, redefining their experiences, and challenging systems and power structures that are often taken for granted.
We particularly focus on:
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The lived experiences of people with mental health challenges
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Rights, dignity, and autonomy
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Mental health advocacy
We believe that the value of research lies in bringing knowledge back to the community. For us, research and community work are closely connected. We translate research findings into training, articles, talks, educational materials, and community resources so that more people can access this knowledge and apply it in daily life, helping work, and systems change.
At the same time, our community work also shapes how we conduct research. Many of our research questions do not simply come from academic literature, but from the stories we hear, the struggles we witness, and the unmet needs we encounter in the community.
We hope our research responds to what people are actually facing, so that the research topics, methods, and
language are more grounded in lived experience.
We also deeply value the experiences and contributions of every research participant. What participants share are not just data points, but their stories, wounds, struggles, and hopes. We are committed to conducting research in a respectful, trauma-informed, and ethical way, so that every participant feels seen, valued, and knows that their experiences can become part of broader social change.
We believe that research can help us move closer to the truth, make visible the people and experiences that have long been overlooked, and support the development of systems that are more equitable, trauma-informed, and person-centered.
Published Research
01
Honest, Open, Proud (HOP): Evaluating a Disclosure Decision-Making Group for People with Lived Experience of Mental Health Challenges in Hong Kong – A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study examined the effectiveness of the Honest, Open, Proud (HOP) disclosure decision-making group for people with lived experience of mental health challenges in Hong Kong. It was also the first randomized controlled trial of HOP in Hong Kong, conducted in collaboration with one of the founders of HOP and internationally recognized stigma researcher Patrick Corrigan. Many people face difficult questions about whether to disclose their mental health experiences to others, and how to do so. HOP is a peer-led group that helps participants think through the benefits, risks, and boundaries of disclosure, while supporting them to make more autonomous and dignified decisions. A total of 162 participants took part in the randomized controlled trial. Results showed significant improvement in optimism, which was sustained one month later, suggesting that HOP can support people with lived experience in building hope and a stronger sense of autonomy.
02
Service Users’ Perspectives on Therapist-Related Negative Experiences: A Systematic Review
This study reviewed research on therapist-related negative experiences reported by service users in psychotherapy, exploring how these experiences have been described, measured, and understood. The study analyzed 47 studies from different countries and found that common negative experiences included therapists lacking knowledge and skills, unsafe therapeutic relationships, feeling ignored, invalidated, judged, or even harmed. The findings highlight that psychotherapy is not always helpful for everyone and can sometimes cause harm. This research can help inform safer, more trauma-informed, and more person-centered therapy training, guidelines, and systems, ensuring that service users’ experiences are genuinely recognized and valued.
03
Service Users’ Narratives of Negative Experiences with Therapists: A Qualitative Study
This study interviewed 20 Hong Kong service users who had received psychotherapy to better understand their negative experiences with therapists and how these experiences affected them. The findings showed that common concerns included therapists lacking basic skills, being unresponsive, lacking empathy, being inauthentic, making judgments and assumptions, and even making people feel abandoned or retraumatized. Some service users did not feel able to raise these concerns with their therapists because they worried about not being understood, being blamed, or damaging the therapeutic relationship. The study hopes to encourage therapists to pay greater attention to power, relationships, and emotional safety, and to respond more proactively to negative experiences in therapy.
International Advisory Work
Ella Tsang, COO of StoryTaler, is a member of the Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) for an international commission on trauma, mental health, and lived experience. The Commission is co-led by Laura E. Fischer from Traumascapes and Angela Sweeney from the Service User Research Enterprise at King’s College London, with support from King’s College London, The Lancet Psychiatry, and Wellcome. The Commission brings together lived experience leaders, researchers, clinicians, and advocates to shape future directions in trauma and mental health research. As part of the LEAB, Ella contributes to the development, structure, and lived experience perspectives of the Commission, helping ensure that research is guided by dignity, rights, and the expertise of people with lived experience.
Ongoing Research
01
Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Supported Decision Making Training Video: A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a Supported Decision Making training video and examine whether mental health service providers show greater understanding of supported decision making, recovery, and service users’ autonomy after the training. The study will compare an intervention group and a control group, with the goal of informing more person-centered mental health services that better respect autonomy and rights.
02
Development of a Chinese Version of the Structural Stigma Scale for Mental Health Services
This study aims to develop and validate a Chinese version of a Structural Stigma Scale for mental health services in Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Mental Health Commission of Canada. People who have used mental health services will be invited to share their experiences in hospitals, clinics, and community services, including whether they felt respected, involved in decision-making, and whether their rights were protected. The study hopes to better understand how structural stigma affects mental health service users and to create a reliable Chinese tool that can support future research, cross-cultural comparisons, and systems reform toward more dignified and person-centered mental health services.
03
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mental Health Advocacy Online Training for People with Lived Experience and Their Supporters in Hong Kong: A Randomized Controlled Trial
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of StoryTaler’s Mental Health Advocacy Online Training. The course is trauma-informed and recovery-oriented, covering topics such as mental health rights, stigma, advocacy, empowerment, and effective communication. It is co-designed and co-facilitated by people with lived experience of mental health challenges and their supporters. The study will use a randomized controlled trial design with 200 participants, comparing changes before the training, immediately after the training, and one month later. Outcomes include empowerment, stigma, advocacy knowledge, self-efficacy, and advocacy actions. The study hopes to provide an evidence base for local mental health advocacy education.
04
Development and Validation of the Desirable and Undesirable Experience with Therapists Scale (DUET): Measuring Therapist-Related Experiences in Psychotherapy from Service Users’ Perspective
This study developed and validated a new scale called DUET to better understand service users’ positive and negative experiences with therapists during psychotherapy. The scale was based on service users’ narratives and previous research, covering areas such as therapists’ technical skills, relationship-building, and ethical practice. A total of 267 people currently receiving psychotherapy participated in the study. Results showed that the scale could effectively distinguish between desirable and undesirable experiences, and was meaningfully associated with psychological distress, recovery, help-seeking behaviour, and therapeutic alliance. The study aims to support service users, therapists, and researchers in identifying potential problems earlier and promoting a safer and more reflective therapy culture.