"My name is Anika. I am a mother of three adult children and together with our sweet dog we live in a nice house in Zaandam.
Fifteen years ago I started my career as an experience expert at VriendGGZ. This position was still in its infancy at the time. My contact person at the employment office pointed out to me that this profession was on the rise. Before that, I had never heard of the position of experience expert. She thought this suited me - given my file. Because it was an unknown profession, I was looked at strangely and suspiciously by psychologists and psychiatrists. It was said: "You have no education, what can you tell us now?" Then I invariably answered: "I have done a practical training of 20 years". One didn't want to know anything about me while the other wanted to work with me: when the 'language' was too difficult for the client, I translated it for that person. The profession of experiential expert was a bull's eye: when I started at my first employer, I thought: "this is what I can do: use my experiential knowledge to help vulnerable citizens". To this day, I enjoy doing this work.
I myself have an anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, caused by violence, and have gained a lot of knowledge about it from practice, but I also support people with other psychological problems. My clients and I learn a lot from each other.
Later I also became a volunteer with the Team Experience Experts Zaanstad of RCO 'De Hoofdzaak'. I followed the Masterclass Experiential Expertise and got my certificate.
My place, which I had to fight for at first, has now become a valued position.
The company where I worked went bankrupt and was taken over by Roads Team Thuis where I could continue to work as an experience expert. Team Thuis was unfortunately cut back by the Municipality of Amsterdam and one by one I said goodbye to the people from my caseload to transfer them to the various Neighborhood Teams.
Since November 2021, I have been working as an experience expert at FACTIII-Oost van Mentrum. A nice team where I feel at home and heard from the start. Professionals who took a suspicious and reluctant attitude at the beginning of my career are now much more open to cooperation and take our working method and vision seriously. My place, which I had to fight for at first, has now become a valued position. A development that I am very happy with and proud of.