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This article presents the lessons learned from experiences in France and Europe, in particular within the framework of the PowerUs network and a European Interreg project carried out by four training institutes in the Pyrenean regions of Occitania and Catalonia. Two essential issues about participation are presented: the recognition of experiential knowledge as knowledge in its own right, and the reduction of the gaps between professionals and service users (referring to PowerUs’s “Mend the Gap” concept). A typology of the different techniques identified in these participation practices will aim to show the diversity and richness of experiences they represent. The analysis of current practices makes it possible to identify certain conditions to encourage the participation of service users in social work training. The most important one is to build on a real partnership with service user groups.