Early in therapy practitioner's will need to address the issue of stigma and communicate to their clients that they are aware that they may have experienced stigmatisation with respect to their CFS. They will need to reassure clients that this will not be their experience at the Vitality centre.
I will need to educate them about the ways in which CFS sufferers are likely to have experienced stigma and how this is likely to affect their attitude towards further intervention. Practitioners need to be forwarned on this front.
Practitioner's will also need to be aware that the incidence of CFS is higher and in some cases (such as within the lesbian population and to a lesser extent the gay community) at its highest amongst populations who live with stigma or discrimination on a daily basis! This is not to be ignored. It will be important for practitioners to identify the extent to which these kinds of cumulative traumas may have contributed to the client developing CFS and begin to skill the client to cope with these issues.