‘The boss is the patient.’ It is a phrase that Pětr Nawka uses in his talks on fighting the stigma and discrimination because of schizophrenia. ‘Real reform,’ he adds, ‘arises from the needs of the patient.’ The Boss is the Patient has also become the title of a film developed in a collaboration between Dr Nawka and Irsinnig Menschlich (Madly Human), the consumer activist group in Leipzig, Germany.

Prior to organizing the Local Action Group in Slovakia with Charlene Reiss, Dr Nawka had already begun to develop innovative ways of engaging individuals living with schizophrenia in confronting the self-stigma that can accompany the experience of schizophrenia. In Slovakia, he introduced the concept of stigma-journaling, having individuals record their experiences of stigma. The video project in Leipzig was conducted in the same spirit of empowering people living with the illness, using the video camera as a kind of electronic journal to record thoughts, ideas and experiences.

A centrepiece of Dr Nawka's presentation and approach is his reliance upon a ‘tetralogue model’ in addressing issues related to treatment of psychiatric illnesses. The four components of this model are individuals living with schizophrenia, professionals, family members and caregivers, and society. Only by addressing the needs of all four constituencies in the ‘conversation,’ Nawka maintains, will effective treatment be possible.