Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health
A growing body of research indicates that the way health care professionals conceptualize mental health might have important clinical implications. We adopted a discursive psychology approach to explore clinical psychologists’ accounts of mental health and its effects. Semistructured interviews were...
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| Format: | Article |
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Sage Publications
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34528/ |
| _version_ | 1848794875012579328 |
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| author | Lofgren, Axel Hewitt, Vanessa das Nair, Roshan |
| author_facet | Lofgren, Axel Hewitt, Vanessa das Nair, Roshan |
| author_sort | Lofgren, Axel |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | A growing body of research indicates that the way health care professionals conceptualize mental health might have important clinical implications. We adopted a discursive psychology approach to explore clinical psychologists’ accounts of mental health and its effects. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 clinical psychologists in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The participants constructed mental health through building up biological factors and psychosocial aspects as opposite ends of the same spectrum, and then positioned themselves as distant from these extremes to manage issues of stake and accountability. A discourse of moral concern for service users was used to negotiate the implications of having different views of mental health from service users, enabling clinicians to manage issues of accountability and demonstrate their ability to be helpful. This suggests that clinicians should be mindful of the effects of their use of language and make the contingent nature of their knowledge explicit. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:23:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-34528 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:23:08Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Sage Publications |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-345282020-05-04T17:03:21Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34528/ Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health Lofgren, Axel Hewitt, Vanessa das Nair, Roshan A growing body of research indicates that the way health care professionals conceptualize mental health might have important clinical implications. We adopted a discursive psychology approach to explore clinical psychologists’ accounts of mental health and its effects. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 clinical psychologists in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The participants constructed mental health through building up biological factors and psychosocial aspects as opposite ends of the same spectrum, and then positioned themselves as distant from these extremes to manage issues of stake and accountability. A discourse of moral concern for service users was used to negotiate the implications of having different views of mental health from service users, enabling clinicians to manage issues of accountability and demonstrate their ability to be helpful. This suggests that clinicians should be mindful of the effects of their use of language and make the contingent nature of their knowledge explicit. Sage Publications 2015-04-01 Article PeerReviewed Lofgren, Axel, Hewitt, Vanessa and das Nair, Roshan (2015) Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health. Qualitative Health Research, 25 (4). pp. 470-485. ISSN 1552-7557 Critical Methods Discourse Analysis Health and Well-Being Health Care Professionals Interviews Semistructured Knowledge Construction Mental Health and Illness Psychology Qualitative Analysis http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/25/4/470 doi:10.1177/1049732314549479 doi:10.1177/1049732314549479 |
| spellingShingle | Critical Methods Discourse Analysis Health and Well-Being Health Care Professionals Interviews Semistructured Knowledge Construction Mental Health and Illness Psychology Qualitative Analysis Lofgren, Axel Hewitt, Vanessa das Nair, Roshan Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| title | Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| title_full | Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| title_fullStr | Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| title_short | Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| title_sort | doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health |
| topic | Critical Methods Discourse Analysis Health and Well-Being Health Care Professionals Interviews Semistructured Knowledge Construction Mental Health and Illness Psychology Qualitative Analysis |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34528/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34528/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34528/ |