Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry

Aims: To identify the potential relationship between participation in theatre and mental health recovery. To give voice to the stories told by participants of Teater Vildenvei, a theatre company that has been part of the rehabilitation programme for mental health service users in Oslo since 1995....

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Main Authors: Torrissen, Wenche, Stickley, Theodore
Format: Article
Published: SAGE 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44477/
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author Torrissen, Wenche
Stickley, Theodore
author_facet Torrissen, Wenche
Stickley, Theodore
author_sort Torrissen, Wenche
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Aims: To identify the potential relationship between participation in theatre and mental health recovery. To give voice to the stories told by participants of Teater Vildenvei, a theatre company that has been part of the rehabilitation programme for mental health service users in Oslo since 1995. Methods: Twelve narrative interviews were conducted amongst participants of Teater Vildenvei and the data were subject to a narrative analysis process following the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur and the specific methods of thematic, event and relational analysis as identified by Riessman. Results: The narratives are considered in the theoretical light of the mental health recovery framework as identified by Leamy et al. Each participant had experienced a transformation in identity; the sense of belonging within the group was perceived as highly important to their mental health; engagement with the theatre company gives people something meaningful to do, a sense of hope and individuals feel empowered. Conclusions: This narrative inquiry gave opportunity for participants to elaborate on their stories of their engagement with Teater Vildenvei. It is through the richness of the data, that the depth of the significance of meaning that people ascribe to their stories demonstrates the potential power of participatory theatre for mental health recovery. Because of its effects, people make life-changing and life-saving claims.
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spelling nottingham-444772020-05-04T18:56:29Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44477/ Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry Torrissen, Wenche Stickley, Theodore Aims: To identify the potential relationship between participation in theatre and mental health recovery. To give voice to the stories told by participants of Teater Vildenvei, a theatre company that has been part of the rehabilitation programme for mental health service users in Oslo since 1995. Methods: Twelve narrative interviews were conducted amongst participants of Teater Vildenvei and the data were subject to a narrative analysis process following the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur and the specific methods of thematic, event and relational analysis as identified by Riessman. Results: The narratives are considered in the theoretical light of the mental health recovery framework as identified by Leamy et al. Each participant had experienced a transformation in identity; the sense of belonging within the group was perceived as highly important to their mental health; engagement with the theatre company gives people something meaningful to do, a sense of hope and individuals feel empowered. Conclusions: This narrative inquiry gave opportunity for participants to elaborate on their stories of their engagement with Teater Vildenvei. It is through the richness of the data, that the depth of the significance of meaning that people ascribe to their stories demonstrates the potential power of participatory theatre for mental health recovery. Because of its effects, people make life-changing and life-saving claims. SAGE 2017-07-20 Article PeerReviewed Torrissen, Wenche and Stickley, Theodore (2017) Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry. Perspectives in Public Health . ISSN 1757-9147 (In Press) Arts mental health narrative Norway recovery theatre
spellingShingle Arts
mental health
narrative
Norway
recovery
theatre
Torrissen, Wenche
Stickley, Theodore
Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
title Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
title_full Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
title_fullStr Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
title_full_unstemmed Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
title_short Participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
title_sort participatory theatre and mental health recovery: a narrative inquiry
topic Arts
mental health
narrative
Norway
recovery
theatre
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44477/