An important change that needs to occur within mental health services is for service users to be involved in all aspects of their care. It is a working partnership where information is shared, choices are made and decisions are made together. The Department of Health (1999) states that service users should be involved in the planning and delivery of the care they receive. Drawing on course materials and external research, this essay will discuss why it is important to develop this working relationship. It will look at past and current service provision, discuss what happens in practice, consider what changes need to take place for a working partnership to occur and how this relationship can benefit both the service user and the practitioner. The essay will also discuss whether there might be resistance to the idea of ​​this working partnership and how these barriers might be addressed so that this change can be implemented in practice. To establish why a working partnership between the service user and the professional is necessary, it is important to note that there have been many changes in mental health services since the 18th century, when service users were labeled 'mad'. , shackled and the treatment included beatings and public exposure (The Open University, 2010g, p.94). This no longer happens, but current legislation still focuses on risk control instead of considering a holistic approach where the whole person is taken into account. This can result in the service user not being included in decisions about their care, not being given treatment options and sometimes being detained without consent (The Open University, 2010h, p.111). May (in the Open University, 2004b) is a professional and ex-service user, he states that I… halfway through the document… am signing up to training programs for professionals which include direct service user input. Current practices within services were discussed and a power imbalance between the service user and the professional highlighted, where the professional often holds all the power and the service user's views are often not taken into account . Possible resistance to a working partnership was discussed, followed by suggestions for addressing these barriers to change. This highlighted that there are already policies in place which encourage a working partnership, but Tait and Lester (2005) suggest that there is no real evidence that these policies are used regularly in practice. This essay has demonstrated that a working partnership where the service user is involved in every aspect of their care is possible, but to achieve it requires implementing policies and strategies and changing attitudes..