Pickett defines empowerment as follows: “For clinicians, empowerment means that you work in partnership with your clients, discussing and jointly developing treatment plans, and recognizing that your clients, not you, have ultimate authority and control over their own care” (2012). Using this definition, Pickett further describes the stigma surrounding mental illness, arguing that it prevents some clients from actively contributing to their treatment because they are reluctant to acknowledge that they have a mental illness. Additionally, due to the misconception that therapists must be benevolent, omniscient, and omnipotent, clients often feel that the therapist knows what is best for them (Brightman, 1985). The therapist also perpetuates stigma when they no longer view the client as an individual, but rather as a diagnosis (Pickett, 2012). Pickett explains that the effect of stigma extends to the system itself by controlling clients' care instead of collaborating with them (2012). When clinicians do not focus on empowering clients, they can easily fall prey to stigma and clinical narcissism (Brightman, 1985) and lose sight of the therapeutic relationship as mutual..