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At the core of Sarah Gordon’s research is the integration of lived experience as a legitimate and vital form of knowledge in mental health systems. She was among the first in Aotearoa New Zealand to hold a formal academic role based on lived experience of mental distress and recovery.
Her work challenges traditional psychiatric paradigms that prioritise clinician-led narratives and biomedical models. Instead, she advocates for epistemic justice: recognising that people who have experienced mental distress must shape the systems that affect them.
She continues to focus her work on human rights, supported decision-making, and service-user leadership as an Associate Professor – lived experience academic with the University of Waikato.