Conference Agenda

This workshop aims to introduce participants to (critical) discursive research methodologies for the study of training processes in psychotherapy research, focusing on the methodology of (critical) discursive psychology (DP). DP is a discourse analysis approach, closely affiliated with conversation analysis. DP considers all phenomena, including the psychological ones, as situated within discursive practices and assigns language-use a constitutive role with regard to such phenomena. DP suggests specific ways for the analysis of discursive practices, like psychotherapeutic training, which allow for an in situ, sequential analysis of naturally occurring dialogues between participants in such dialogues. Critical DP further takes into consideration the contextual, historical and ideological processes constructing phenomena, like wider ideological dilemmas such as the one about knowledge and expertise vs. democratic principles, which inform the institutionally constructed asymmetry between trainers and trainees. In this workshop, I will first introduce participants to the basic premises of discursive psychology and critical discursive psychology as well as to their key steps and tools regarding analysis. I will then invite participants to experiment with analysis of extracts of transcribed, live conversations between trainers and trainees, by drawing from a discursive psychology study focusing on the analysis of the negotiation of authority within systemic psychotherapeutic training. Overall, participants will have the chance both to familiarize themselves with discursive and critical discursive psychology but also with their application to the study of processes, like psychotherapeutic training processes.

During this workshop, the facilitator will share learnings from her collaborative co-produced and participatory visual mental health/suicide research projects using a range of techniques with people from migrant and refugee backgrounds and from Low and middle income countries. Participants will then work in small groups to produce a Synopsys for their own co-produced or participatory video.

Projects with collaborators from different countries are undertaken to address global health problems. The value of qualitative research in this context is slowly recognised, but there are challenges when working across countries, cultures, and spaces. Qualitative research that is culturally sensitive and focuses on the perspectives of people within their local contexts is needed, this includes not, only recruitment of participants and data collection, but also mindful data analysis.

The aim of this workshop it to explore issues when conducting qualitative research in low- and middle-income countries on topics that may be taboo or stigmatised, such as self-harm and mental health. As part of the workshop, we will be sharing experiences and learning from our project, the South Asia Self Harm Initiative (SASHI). This will cover a range of issues such as strategies for collaborative research processes (including data collection and analysis) and sharing of knowledge. We will look at practical and methodological challenges. Some of the topics will be explored in more detail through various activities and discussions. Participants’ questions and experiences will be important elements feeding into the interactive part of the workshop. We will jointly formulate suggestions for good practice. The workshop will be of relevance not only to people working across countries but also people conducting research across different teams.

Reading

Milford, C., Kriel, Y., Njau, I. et al. (2017) Teamwork in qualitative research: descriptions of a multi-country team approach. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1) ttps://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917727189

Mulvihill, T.M. & Swaminathan, R. (2022) Collaborative Qualitative Research. New York: Guilford Press.

Lived experiences are deeply rooted in our bodies and the physical spaces that are significant to us: they are embodied within us and embedded in our environment. Every success, crisis, joyful moment, sad moment, and moment of connection or despair leaves an imprint that lasts for a significant amount of time. Embodied and embedded experiences encapsulate the complexity of a person’s positive and negative emotions, self-regulation, and relationship processes. Recognizing the importance of understanding these complex experiences, we have developed the Emotional Map of the Home interview procedure, which allows us to delve into the self-regulation processes of family members within their own homes (Sallay et al., 2019). Building upon the foundations of systemic thinking and environmental psychology, we have further advanced the concept of experience mapping.

Our workshop introduces the experiMAP procedures, which utilize experience mapping to assess subjective, ecologically embedded experiences. By employing experiMAP, we gain insights into individuals' emotions, emotion-laden behaviors, and relational processes within specific places. Whether it be their home, workplace, or other significant life spaces, through an experiMAP-based assessment, we can evoke emotionally significant experiences through this assessment. During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to:

(1) Acquire knowledge about the scientific background behind the qualitative interview methods based on experiMAP.

(2) Engage in firsthand experience with the experiMAP-based interview protocol, as it is employed in qualitative research.

(3) Explore real-life study examples and gain practical information on applying experiMAP-based procedures.

(4) Develop their research ideas using the experiMAP approach.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a solid understanding of the theoretical underpinnings, practical implementation, and potential research applications of experiMAP.

Suggested reading: Sallay, V., Martos, T., Chatfield, S. L., & Dúll, A. (2019). Strategies of Dyadic coping and self-regulation in the family homes of chronically ill persons: a qualitative research study using the emotional map of the home interview method. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 403. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00403

The workshop will introduce the participants to conversation analytical method of analyzing therapeutic interaction, with particular focus on work with grieving families. The workshop starts with a short lecture on conversation analysis (CA) as a method of investigating human interactions in informal and professional settings. In particular, the lecture will focus on conversation analytical research of psychotherapeutic interaction. The lecture will show how sequential relations between utterances enable a process of transformation of experience. The workshop shows how the utterance-by-utterance transformation contributes to process of change in a more macroscopic time, spanning over the continuum of psychotherapeutic sessions.

After the short lecture, the workshop will engage in the analysis of video recorded couple therapy sessions. The therapy processes that we will analyze have to do with complicated grief including ambiguous loss and prolonged grief disorder. Taking up the concepts introduced in the lecture, the joint data analysis focusses on the ways in which the participants’ choices of words (pronouns, nouns, or proper names) whereby they refer to the deceased child change over the course of the therapy. Likewise, we will examine how the descriptions of clients' emotional experience as well as ways of allocating responsibility get transformed. We will examine these transformations both in the sequential time (spanning across the adjacent utterances of the spouses and the therapist in single sessions) and in the therapy-processual time (spanning across the therapy sessions).

The workshop is meant for researchers and clinicians interested in grieving processes and/or conversation analytical method. After the workshop, the participants have basic understanding of the focus of data-analysis is CA, and of the methods of grieving therapy.

Politics supporting the economic model relying on the increasing exploitation of the Earth's human and (recently, of space's, too) natural resources became part of the everyday reality of many in the forms of permanent crises tendencies. The negative consequences of such politics have been affecting humans living not just in the so-called Global South, Global East, but more recently, in the Global North. The weight of different social tensions is experienced unequally by the people not just along the east-west or the north-south divisions but in a local intersection of gender, class, and race structures as well. The cycles of permanent and multiple crises (economic, ecological, political, humanitarian, health, etc. crises) constantly reshape the fundamental structures of societies and increase the volume of unequal resource exchange between social groups, and by doing that, deepen the problems of social inequality.

This has a remarkable impact on individuals' mental health and the unequal distribution of mental health risk factors across different social groups. Just as the individual's physical health, the person's mental health depends on the social factors affecting the person's life chances and choices.

Classical and modern existentialism faced individual situations of uncenrtainty: anxiety, despair, absurdity, depersonalisation, derealisation, etc. Nevertheless existentialism considered human existential problems as untimely the same: according to Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Sartre we are supposed to experience anxiety in the same way as the ancient greeks did. I would like to show the illusiory character of this presupposition. Human existential problems evolve with historical changes and with social transformations. From the holistic perspective of a bio-psycho-sociological approach I would like to concentrate on the psycho-sociological relations. Not only psychological problems (f. ex. mental illnesses) are unseparable from social background, but existential problems as well. We experience our problems in a different way as our parents and gandparents, because our problems are different. Its obvious that there are apprently eternal human problems (death, love, survival, etc.), but we face death in differentsocial and institutional context, we experience love according to different cultural codes, we struggle for survival in different oceonomical situations. That is the way we can speak about a certain „social unconscious”. The imperatives of the superego and the ideal ego have been changed constantly, and what is more: they have been changing more and more quickly in the last decades. I would like to show that this transformation has a serious impact on our feeling of increasing uncertainty and it influences our concept of authentic life and our concept of happiness.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened existing concerns about mental health and illness. The news media is an important source of health information, but there has been little research into how advice about mental health is communicated to the public via the news media. In this study, we examined how advice about building and maintaining mental health was discursively constructed in the news media in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. A discourse analytic approach informed by Critical Discursive Psychology was employed to analyse 436 articles published in daily newspapers in Australia between 1 January and 31 December 2020, which contained references to mental health and the pandemic. Three main interpretative repertoires were identified – negative emotions are a risk to mental health and must be managed; risky emotions should be managed by being controlled (based around a ‘border control’ metaphor); and risky emotions should be managed by being released (based around a ‘pressure cooker’ metaphor). This study demonstrates that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, advice constructed negative emotions as problematic; and positioned individuals as responsible for the habitual management of negative emotions. The potential implications, productive and unproductive, of such discourses for goals of improving population mental health are discussed.

The abrupt and indefinite suspension of sports events resulting from the outbreak of COVID-19 took a heavy toll on collegiate sports, particularly in the Philippines, which had the most prolonged and strictest lockdowns in the world. This phenomenological study examined the subjective well-being of 20 Filipino collegiate athletes who participated in semi-structured online interviews. Focusing on the participants’ lived experiences and sense-making during the global pandemic, a thematic analysis of the verbatim transcriptions generated four themes: ambivalence with the lockdown, struggling with home-based training and studying, redefining relationships, and pursuing personal growth. Results revealed mixed emotions of uncertainty, anxiety, and boredom while appreciating the respite from rigorous training and time for healing injuries. The convenience of training and studying at home soon became frustrating with limited training supervision and equipment, lack of stable internet, and loss of face-to-face interactions. However, renewed connections with family and friends and improved communications with coaches and teammates provided much-needed social support. Engagement in other forms of leisure, learning new hobbies, and acquiring other skills promoted personal development. Recommendations from the study were presented to the varsity directors of universities, informing policies and programs to address student-athletes well-being during the pandemic.

Hungary was hit hard by the pandemic, recording over 3000 deaths per million people, the highest figure of any EU country. Possible reasons can be found in the ongoing problems with the quality and efficiency of health services exacerbated by the emergency.

The experiences of 31 patients (adults diagnosed with COVID-19 and treated in a hospital) were collected with semi-structured interviews and focus groups. The transcripts formed the text base on which our research group performed reflexive thematic analysis.

During the process, we discovered a recurrent phenomenon: patients taking a – sometimes oddly – active, caring role in their hospital recovery. Therefore, we narrowed the focus on the experience of self-caring and resilient behaviour as an answer to the healthcare system's underlying problems.

Our final thematic map compounds five overarching themes from which we present the following ones: (1) Patient (self)care: a functional element of the hospital system in COVID-19, and (2) Ingenuity and resilience: solutions of the individual in the healthcare system.

The particularity of our results lies in the context: on a personal level, being the patient and becoming the helper simultaneously, and on a societal level, the failure of the much-needed support in the pandemic situation.

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a global health crisis that severely disrupted the lives of elite athletes. Like the rest of humanity, athletes felt the direct psychological consequences of the pandemic with the mandatory suspension of sporting events, loss of income, limited access to adequate training facilities, and constrained interactions with coaches and teammates. In this phenomenological study, twenty Filipino national athletes (F = 10, M = 10) participated in semi-structured online interviews to provide accounts of their lived experiences and well-being during the government-imposed extended community quarantine. Attending to participants’ subjectivity and sense-making, a thematic analysis of the verbatim transcriptions yielded four themes: adapting to uncertainty, recalibrating life goals, reviving connections, and pursuing personal growth. Findings from the study informed the design of sport psychology interventions and mobilization of resources to address the mental health needs of national athletes during the pandemic. These included the provision of webinars to promote mental health literacy among coaches and athletes, sessions offering safe spaces for discussing mental health concerns, and individual and team consultations for resetting goals and redefining athletic identity. Moreover, collaboration with other service units for effective training and conditioning, proper nutrition, and injury prevention was facilitated.

Child welfare system exposure to parents and children is traumatic on multiple levels. Racialized poverty is also traumatic and compounded by CPS supervision. We document the ways in which system inflicted traumatic experiences of 87 Black moms manifests in their daily lives and interactions with others. Participants completed a qualitative, voice recorded, electronic survey to capture the impact of surveillance related to child neglect. Trauma is inflicted by punitive systems oversight and sadly manifests across generations. These ongoing harms result in an unavoidable recall of working memory related to CPS surveillance and thusly, related to parenting choices, behaviors, and expectations of approval or disapproval. The presence of authorities with the power to disrupt one’s family is a pervasive and enduring trauma. Moms report that they and their children are overall traumatized by CPS-exposure, domestic violence abusers are weaponized against them, and also community-level trauma from surveillance in general (e.g., police, schools, medical settings). Further, themes identified as trauma are living in poverty, persistent fear of family disruption, and ongoing anxiety during interactions with authorities. Parental decision-making is negatively impacted by these pervasive traumatic experiences.

Black mothers in poverty and surveilled by the child welfare system face systemic control that impacts their parental behavior in disturbing ways. Mothers are held accountable for structural harms and parenting challenges, and ultimately punished for situations outside of their control. Given their exposure to and oversight by CPS authorities, they are compelled to navigate society in ways we often don’t consider. We present a phenomenological account of the lived experiences of 87 Black CPS-impacted moms related to their mental well being whilst enduring systemic control of the child welfare system in the U.S. Participants completed a qualitative, voice recorded, electronic survey to capture the impact of surveillance related to child neglect. A theme emerged concerning how persistent oversight compels mothers to interact with the world from a place of fear and a need to be hyper-vigilant in documenting acceptable parenting behaviors. They feel punished for having/needing jobs, financial challenges, and blamed for deleterious family functioning related to domestic violence - scapegoated for poor parenting. Moms articulate being fearful of opening up to others, unexpected knocks on the door, and they know the importance of documenting compliance of mandated activities to avoid the removal of their children from their homes.

Introduction: Parents are affected when their offspring engages in non-fatal suicidal behaviour. Although research exists on parents’ mental and emotional state when they realise this behaviour, little attention has been devoted to exploring how their parental identity is affected.

Purpose: To explore how parents re-constructed and negotiated their parental identity after realising that their offspring was suicidal.

Method: Semi-structured interviews with 21 Danish parents were conducted. Interviews were transcribed, analysed thematically and interpreted by drawing on the interactionist concepts of negotiated identity and moral career.

Findings: Parents’ perspectives on their parental identity were conceptualised as a moral career encompassing three stages. Entry into the first stage, disrupted parental identity, occurred when parents realised that they could lose their offspring to suicide. At this stage, parents trusted their own abilities to help their offspring. This trust was gradually undermined by social encounters, which caused career movement. In the second stage, impasse, parents lost faith in their ability to help their offspring. Whereas some parents gradually resigned entirely to impasse, others regained their trust in their own abilities through social interaction in the third stage, restored parental agency.

Conclusion: Social interaction was fundamental if parents were to re-construct their disrupted parental identity.

The child welfare and protection system are facing with severe difficulties, lack of services and professionals (Racz at al 2019, Racz-Sik 2020). In Hungary raising school-age children and facing different learning and behavioural backgrounds, psychiatric problems or children affected by peer abuse parents have different strategies in order to avoid the state care system. The outcome of this research shows the possibilities, leeway for manoeuvre the parents have to avoid the state care system, or to find access to good quality private services. In this qualitative research 22 interview were conducted with family members and 21 with professionals. To get effective help for their children, parents often have to buy special services in the private field since the state funded services are fully booked for month, or out of services because of the lack of proper professionals. The strategies in the narratives are often based on an understanding of good parenting.

Background: The experience of perfectionism involves the setting of excessively high standards for oneself or others and is associated with both positive and negative effects on mental health. Perfectionism is often impacted by intersectional factors of race, culture, and power, which disproportionately affect People of Colour (PoC). This study explores Therapists of Colour’s experience of perfectionism within their own personal therapy. By extension, this research also investigates the impact of personal therapy and perfectionism on therapeutic practice. Overall, this study aims to contribute to the research base surrounding perfectionism and inform culturally-aware psychotherapeutic practice.

Methodology: Interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilised to explore the experience of perfectionism within personal therapy among Therapists of Colour. Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with PoC therapists from across the UK.

Findings: Formative findings highlight the impact of high standards on therapeutic relationships and the therapeutic process. Findings also examine the impact of race, power and social stigma on the lived experience of perfectionism within therapeutic process. Additional findings also point to the significance of personal therapy in understanding perfectionism and the importance of adopting a culturally-aware perspective when working with PoC clientele.

In Aotearoa New Zealand, there are currently high numbers of Pacific people experiencing mental distress, with very low rates currently able to access mental health services. Research to date that focuses on Pacific Island peoples, report that the current mental health services are not addressing specific cultural needs effectively and are seen to be coercive, by operating within a dominant western biomedical worldview and interpretation of health. A culturally entrenched communal way of fishing, ūloa, was used to model a unique approach for mental health care service providers to engage People people in their mental health journeys. Talanoa is a Pacific methodology that captures Pacific worldviews in terms of how they engage, interact, relate to one another, and so forth. This presentation will highlight the need to use Pacific research methodology, talanoa, when researching Pacific health issues. It will also address how a Pacific model of care, ūloa model, is more effective when dealing with Pacific people experiencing mental health issues. Three research projects used talanoa and ūloa and all findings demonstrate the critical importance of drawing on cultural capital and resources like talanoa and ūloa (fishing), to support culturally appropriate improvements in mental health outcomes.

This presentation is based on a larger research project, which investigates the effectiveness of a culturally appropriate model, namely ūloa, when working with Pacific people experiencing mental distress. Ūloa is a communal method of fishing in Tonga, which includes all members of the community. This type of fishing is practiced throughout the Pacific and it is called yavirau in Fiji, lauloa in Samoa and hukilau in Hawaii. This paper reports on findings related to the increased awareness of ūloa model within the mental health services and to raise awareness of how to work with Pacific people and adjust the health service to suit the needs of this population to test its effectiveness. The research project used the Pacific research methodology of talanoa and the study population is the Pacific population in Aotearoa New Zealand and also from the Pacific region including Tonga, Niue and Fiji. These preliminary findings continue to support that the conventional biomedical approach employed in the mental health services overlooks elements of Pacific constructions of mental distress.

Abstract

Research notes that 43% of Protestant pastors in the US considered leaving full-time ministry in the year prior to the 2022 study (Barna, 2022). The Seventh-day Adventist Church administrators noted this trend and commissioned a study of SDA clergy who left full-time pastoral ministry. This presentation focuses on the research question: When pastors withdraw from full-time ministry, what do these former pastors recall as conditions that led to that outcome?

Methodology

Researchers interviewed 14 participants in person, via Zoom, or phone conference, using an interview guide to direct the conversations. The interviews lasted from 40 minutes to 2 ½ hours. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. The analysis followed the conventions of qualitative coding using thematic analysis and the constant comparative method.

Findings

Study participants shared a number of factors that influenced their decisions to leave pastoral ministry. The themes that emerged included: (1) having ongoing challenges with church members, (2) encountering difficulties with Conference leadership or organizational structure, (3) feeling constrained by traditional approaches to ministry, (4) sensing a lack of caring from administration and church members, (5) having spiritual doubts and doctrinal differences, and (6) lacking the training needed to do their jobs well.

References: https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-quitting-ministry/

Intensive industrial agriculture has been shown to contribute significantly to climate change. Agriculture is also one of the most vulnerable sectors when it comes to the consequences of climate change. Existing research shows poor mental health outcomes amongst industrial farmers, highlighting the burdens of isolation, adverse weather conditions, work stress, and economic insecurity. Outside the industrial agricultural paradigm are growing attempts from agroecological farmers to build healing relationships with the environment and farm sustainably. To date, there has been limited qualitative research into agroecological farmers’ experiences. This study explores what it is like to farm agroecologically. The methodology is Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Analysis of five participants’ semi-structured interviews suggests the following experiential themes: 1) Land work as the right thing to do; 2) The psychological impact of land work; 3) An emotional relationship with the land; 4) The land as a site of connection. The study highlights the emotional intensity of farming agroecologically, in a close and caring relationship with the land. It seeks to inform clinical practice with farmers, highlighting the challenges, as well as therapeutic benefits of land work. It offers implications beyond clinical practice, expanding individualist notions of mental health, towards more ecological and collectivist conceptualisations.

The experience of nature supports mental well-being, however, access to nature is not equal for everyone. Blind and partially sighted (BPS) people are seriously hindered from visiting greenspaces. Since BPS people are more prone to stress, access to nature might be a critical factor in improving their mental well-being—the question is: how and to what extent? In collaboration with the Blind and Partially Sighted Association in Csongrád-Csanád County, we launched "InVisible Green," a co-creative participatory research project to explore: 1) how BPS people experience nature, 2) how nature contributes to their subjective well-being, and 3) what can be done to improve access to nature for them? In the 1.5-year-long process, we conducted 17 semi-structured interviews with BPS people on their experiences in or with nature and organized focus groups on experiencing nature and its benefits for mental well-being. Also, we participated in different outdoor activities as participant observers. Analysis of the interviews, focus groups, field notes, and research diaries reveals nature’s essential role in providing a judgement-free, accepting context in a harsh social matrix. The restorative effect of nature experiences is profound, but it is also highly dependent on the quality of the social interactions that accompany such experiences.

Providing care for children with type 1 diabetes requires constant attention. Teachers play a crucial role in the institutional socialization of children living with diabetes. Deficient diabetes management in schools may cause several troublesome consequences, such as absenteeism, stress or depression, poor performance and low quality of life. Therefore, understanding teachers' attitudes towards diabetes care may be essential for proper diabetes management. In this study, we explored the attitudes of teachers towards diabetes care by conducting semi-structured interviews (3 focus groups and 20 individual interviews) with 30 teachers working in kindergartens and schools. We performed qualitative content analysis based on the theory of the three components of attitude - knowledge, emotions, and behavior. The knowledge component included general knowledge about diabetes and its care, and the affective component revealed empathy and both integrating and segregating approaches towards children with diabetes. The behavior component revealed how teachers contribute to the care and integration of children with diabetes in schools, such as supporting them through health awareness education and peer sensitization. Our findings suggest that, in addition to diabetes management tasks, teachers can help children with type 1 diabetes by educating them and their peers about healthy living and acceptance.

Descriptive case studies were instrumental to establishing the origins of mental health treatment, but their visibility has declined with the ascendency of evidence-based practices based on large sample. experiment-based research. The failure of such research to account for mental illness experiences of those affected by racism, cisheterosexism, homophobia and transphobia suggests different methodologies and evidence are needed to be better understand illness as experienced by racial, sexual, and gender minority people. This paper presents examples drawn from case study analysis in a project exploring access to mental health care for lesbian, bisexual, and trans people in Ontario Canada. The case study method shaped focused, purposeful engagement with experiences of racial minority LGBT people and their stories of mental illness. The within and across-case analyses transformed reports of depression into contextualized narratives of suffering in environments that allow gender-based violence, hopelessness, and long-term despair. The evidence of this research points to avenues of inquiry and intervention with racial, sexual and gender minority clients that could promote mental health and well-

We will present a discursive analysis of tattoos related to crisis situations and the respective
interpretations by their wearers. Our investigations focus on the semiotic aspects of discursive
corporeality and iconicity of tattoos and the positioning process as it is enfolding through
interacting with their owners.
Tattoos are pictorial motifs of a culturally defined semiotic system, but at the same time,
tattooed persons as active agents creat personal meanings. This meaning making procedure
is semiotic, narrative and discursive at the same time, but it is also a bodily process through
the making of the tattoo, wearing it on the body, and the discursive acts of talking about and
with the body. We will document that in the process of meaning making, not only new or
reinterpreted meanings are created, but persons also create their own positions, their own
situated identity. These positions determine the discursive position of the persons, of the
embodied speakers both in everyday speech situations and in the social discourse in a broader
sense. At the same time, they also become the kind of identity positions which support of a
more positive Self-image and provide a device for coping with the crisis situations.

School Connectedness (SC) is regarded within both education and health research and policy as a factor through which health and learning outcomes can be influenced. The objective of the current study was to explore student understandings of connectedness to school.

This research was conducted in a secondary school in outer-metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Data collection involved a 109-item questionnaire administered to a sample of 206 students, 12 focus groups with 118 students, 10 focus groups with 71 staff, and 12 student journals.

Findings indicated that students understood their connectedness to school through the experiences of a dynamic and complex crosshatching of opportunities within the relational,learning and extracurricular spheres of school life.

In the wake of the disconnection that the pandemic generated, connecting and holding young people in a relational bond with their school has become both more urgent and more challenging. SC offers a mental health resource and a form of wellbeing capital in a site which most young people attend. It is hoped that the findings from this study can be used to frame effective risk reduction or protection enhancing interventions and energize and guide schools in addressing this key protective factor as a priority within their school improvement agendas.

This research study aimed to explore the relationship between family and school for a number of families whose young children were excluded from mainstream school due to social, emotional, and mental health difficulties and sent to an alternative provision. The mosaic approach, in-depth interviews, and multi-family therapy format sessions formed part of the creative methodology. Narrative inquiry was used to construct the narratives of the children and their families. The findings suggest that mainstream schools are ill-equipped to face the challenging task of working with children and families with complex needs and that the fragmentation of the system adds to the families’ struggles. Both the children and the parents felt disrespected and rejected by the school. All the children and their families longed for a different approach to education where compassion, kindness, and safety are embedded in its ethos. Additionally, the need for schools to adopt a trauma-informed therapeutic stance when working with families with complex needs was highlighted. Proposals for policy and practice included prioritisation of staff well-being, support, and training, the introduction of trauma-informed educational practice, and multi-family therapy for families with complex needs in all mainstream schools.

While research on mental health and wellbeing in education has increased globally, most of the attention has been focused on students, leaving teacher wellbeing comparatively understudied. This presentation will present the key findings of the qualitative interview study held with teachers. This research aimed to explore how primary school teachers define teacher wellbeing within the UK context. The research question was guided by the need to understand the various factors that influence teacher wellbeing in the UK, which can ultimately have an impact on their performance and retention in the profession. The study utilized semi-structured interviews with 8 primary school teachers from diverse backgrounds and teaching experiences. Data were analysed using Hybrid Thematic Analysis (HTA) within a contextualist framework. The preliminary findings revealed that teacher wellbeing is a multifaceted construct that includes elements such as work-life balance, which emerged as a significant factor. The study provides insights into how primary school teachers perceive and understand teacher wellbeing in the UK, which can inform future research and policy interventions aimed at improving teacher wellbeing and retention in the profession.

In this talk I will explore the ways in which experiential qualitative methodology can be used to
engage with the dynamic temporal qualities of mental health. I will do this by drawing on a number
of studies I have conducted which have employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to
conduct detailed examination of these processes. The studies I will consider have explored: the
psychologically debilitating consequences of chronic pain; the long-term impact of multi-systemic
therapy; the effectiveness of a modified CBT intervention for young people with epilepsy and mental
health difficulties. I will consider different conceptualizations of temporal and longitudinal occurring
in this type of qualitative work.

The set of political, social, economic, and environmental factors that result from the occupation has a lasting direct and indirect effect on the well-being of the children exposed to systematic violence. In this study, we explored the impact of systematic violence and military oppression on 22 school-aged youths (M = 12.2; SD =  2.69, 45.5% girls) living in the West Bank. We identified factors associated with children’s maladjustment to potentially traumatic environments and survival skills following a socio-ecological lens. Data were collected through biographical participative interviews. The TCA identified six themes: the pervasiveness of the Israeli violence; the unexpected costs of the pandemic; victims and perpetrators of intra-community violence; everyday acts of happiness (or normalcy); support from families, peers, and community; subverting negative situations and fighting back. Children emerged as continuously engaged in adjustment and readjustment to inhuman living conditions, making normal what is abnormal in their development. The study draws attention to the political antecedent and determinants of the Palestinian children’s actions and reactions to violence, highlighting the impossibility of exploring children’s growth while avoiding political and human rights implications.

The adjustment to civilian life after military retirement can be challenging. According to the literature, a significant number of Veterans find this transition difficult and readjusting to the civilian culture highly stressful. However, in the Indian context, there is still a paucity of research on this transition phenomenon. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the experiences of retired Indian Army officers transitioning from the military to the civilian culture. The study utilized a social constructivism paradigm and an interpretive phenomenological approach to analyze the semi-structured interviews carried out with six participants. Six superordinate themes evolved – ‘the army as a way of life’, ‘decisions to retire’, ‘civilian cultural mismatch’, ‘tribulations of transitioning’, ‘the deeply embedded military identity’, and ‘the transition-facilitating factors’. The results helped gain an indepth understanding of both the individual and collective participants’ transition experiences and revealed the challenges and factors that aided the participants in transitioning from the military and readjusting to civilian life. Findings can help in designing improved retirement modules for aiding veterans to transition holistically better. It also has implications for organizations to understand and employ veterans with multiple skills and contribute to policymaking for military veterans.

Background: Post-traumatic growth (PTG) (Tedeschi et al., 1998) has been defined as the subjective experience of positive psychological changes in the aftermath of a traumatic experience, and some people experience these positive changes besides traumatic stress (Tedeschi and Calhoun, 1999, 2004). However, there needs to be more qualitative study to explore the experiences of PTG with Ukraine war survivors in Hungary. Therefore, we aimed to explore Ukraine participants’ experiences of post-traumatic growth.

Method: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to analyze data from nine individual semi-structured interviews with Ukraine war survivors. Thematic analysis identified patterns and themes regarding survivors' PTG.

Results: We identified the following themes as post-traumatic growth: 1. relating to others (example of item: “ how wonderful, strange people are”), 2. new possibilities (example of item: “I developed new interests”), (3) personal strength (example of item: “I have a greater feeling of self-confidence, resiliency and self-compassionate”), 4. spiritual change (example: “I have a better understanding of spiritual matters through meditation”), and 5. appreciation of life (example: “I have supportive family members and community for the value of my own life.”

Conclusion: Posttraumatic growth, including a sense of security, autonomy, and self-worth, were significant findings in this study.

Trauma after torture, sexual violence, and others, represents a rupture in social relationships. The reparation of these and other human rights violations is necessarily connected to the restoration of trust and relationality. This epistemological positionality implies a revision of the traditional concepts of objectivity and neutrality in academia. Under the premise that research is ethical if it aims to transform the reality that investigates, my work intends to build bridges between academia and activism.

I study the deep subjective impacts that traumatic violence has on victims and the potential ways of recovery. Researching trauma is not only an academic task, is always a subjective encounter. The value of ethical emotional bonding and the effect of subjective recognition might have a restorative impact on both researchers and participants.

I revise critical social research concepts like positionality, reflexivity, and Psychology of Liberation Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods, both approaches emphasize the ethics of power relationships. Through this presentation, my broader aim is to suggest that active involvement with participants on their social and political realities not only provides additional and more reliable data but it may support qualitative research as a tool for profound subjective encounters beyond its academic goals.

Recent evidence has suggested that adolescent girls are experiencing increasing rates of low mood and anxiety. There is little clarity on the cause of this increase, and no understanding of adolescent girls’ own perspectives on these issues, with most explanations put forward by researchers. We present here on analysis from a co-produced qualitative study, where we undertook online focus groups with 32 adolescent girls to explore their perspectives on, and explanations for, growing rates of low mood and anxiety in their population. We have constructed six key themes through reflexive thematic analysis: a) current mental health context and discourses, b) how girls and women “should” look and behave; c) educational pressure; d) peer relationship difficulties, e) social media and insecurity, and f) there is no easy answer. In this presentation we explore these themes and the pressure and complexity that they capture, and reflect on the methods and process of this research and the possibilities and challenges it carries for directing ongoing research in this area.

In the UK, one in four girls aged 17 to 19 have a probable mental disorder. Yet there is a lack of research focusing on the self-management of young people’s mental health, particularly those whose difficulties are below clinical thresholds. In this study, an innovative interdisciplinary approach was piloted to access the real-time stressors and self-management strategies of adolescent girls.

Fifteen girls, aged 16-17 and not receiving professional mental health support, were invited to record video diaries (on their phones) of their daily lives for four weeks. Video diary data was analysed, and interview questions formulated around the key themes. Interviews were conducted and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Finally, participants were invited to make films that drew on their video diaries.

Six themes were formulated: (i) Tick Tock: The Constant Threat of Time; (ii) Me Versus School; (iii) 'Why am I like this?' Struggling for Agency over spiralling emotions; (iv) Being there no matter what; (v) Uplifting power of everyday rituals and routines and (vi) My Superpower.

Video diaries provided access to the day-to-day lives of participants, enabling interviews to be focused on what mattered to them. This approach is well-positioned to capture daily experiences, particularly among hard-to-reach groups.

Aim

To offer a fine-grained analysis of adolescent suicides classified as “unexpected”, in order to arrive at lessons for suicide prevention.

Methods and Materials

Qualitative interviews were held with the parents, peers, and teachers of 35 adolescent suicide cases (17 boys, mean age= 17 years). We performed a thematic analysis regarding the aforementioned factors and identified three categories of youth suicides, “unexpected suicides” being one of the categories.

Results

Seven adolescent male and two female suicides could be categorized as “unexpected” i.e., cases without clear signals, who had not received mental health care. In hindsight, for almost all 9 young people informants could point at “normal” adolescent issues. i.e., loneliness or depressed mood- based on their diaries or school notebook studied after their death. Others had been anxious about growing up and what the future would bring, and for others school stress or insecurity in social relationships had played a role. Referral to death had sometimes been made by these 9 youth, albeit in covert ways.

Discussion and Conclusion

Suicide prevention for adolescence requires a social network approach where schools, peers, teachers and general practitioners, together with parents share responsibility for the care of young people.

Seeking refined understanding of recovery during formation in is relevant, as life-disrupting mental suffering diagnosed with psychosis generally appears at an early age. However, most meta-studies overlook what it means to recover during the period of youth. Examined through a theoretical lens of youth belonging, this qualitative meta-ethnography synthesizes empirical studies' interpretations of young people´s recovery during psychosis. Based on a systematic literature review, eleven empirical studies were included, generating four overarching themes: 1) Feeling unable to live up to expectations of progress in youth 2) Feeling lost and left behind, 3) Recovering through belonging with other young people, 4) Navigating identity positions of growth or disability. While young people suffer from isolation, recovery is conceptualized as "getting on with life like other young persons" which implies belonging to and synchronizing life rhythms with age peers. Primarily socializing with adults may imply feeling stuck in a child´s position, while belonging to age peers enables positioning oneself as a young person. A synthesizing line of argument suggested relational complexities in pathways to recovery in youth. These complexities of navigating social relationships while striving for recognition and avoiding undesired identity positions can challenge young people´s processes of breaking out of social isolation.

The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare social inequities, drove up economic costs, and has had multiple mental health impacts. The result has been the deepening of global crises related to homelessness, poverty and inequities grounded in classism, racism, sexism and sanism. In some jurisdictions, we have seen upticks in violence, especially in public places. This has fueled stigma against people in emotional distress as the trope of the violent, mentally ill person has found new life in public discourse. These developments have been used to justify increased public controls in the lives of vulnerable people through police intervention and calls to increase legislative powers to involuntary detain and treat people.

Against this backdrop we are doing international (Canada, Kenya, Australia) intersectionality informed qualitative research that foregrounds the lived experiences of people who have been held involuntarily and have experienced coercion and discrimination in the context of mental health care. In this presentation we discuss the preliminary results of our field research in Canada and present the results of our international literature review/environmental scan on promising practices. We argue that societal resources need to be put towards enhancing community-based interventions that optimize care and human rights and aims to reduce/eliminate coercive practices.

Background: Transgender and gender diverse (trans) people experience significant oppression, with resulting mental health disparities and greater need for acute mental healthcare, i.e. mental health hospitalizations and emergency department visits. Few qualitative studies have focused on trans people’s experiences of acute and post-discharge mental health care, which was the aim of this study.

Methods: Trans people living in Toronto, Ontario, who have experienced acute mental healthcare (n = 15) were recruited. In-depth individual interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed using constructivist grounded theory.

Results: Participants described the inpatient psychiatric environment as regularly invalidating and misgendering, requiring vigilance, energy, and self-advocacy to address; which were limited resources during a mental health crisis. These experiences impeded recovery and led to future avoidance of care. Participants described how their care needs were not adequately addressed in or out of hospital. They identified multiple layers of needed changes to improve care in the system, including autonomy and anti-oppression in the mental healthcare system, addressing of social determinants of mental health, prioritizing of connection to community, and support in navigating a complex system.

Conclusions: Trans people face multiple unique barriers to accessing the mental healthcare they need. Addressing this requires shifting of the existing mental healthcare system.

Mental health problems are discussed increasingly on different Internet channels and social media. Due to the culture becoming more visualized and memetic, mental health is represented also in Internet memes. Memes are one way of showing individual and shared experiences on the treatment, diagnoses, and living with mental health problems. They also reflect millennial and Gen-Z humour by utilizing semiotic resources from various pop-culture products.

This presentation focuses on mental health memes that use images and references from SpongeBob Squarepants and examines the intertextualities, semiotic processes, and humour of mental health memes. Moreover, I discuss how these intertextualities form representations of mental (ill-)health, and how these representations link to different cultural and societal phenomena surrounding mental health.

The data consists of mental health themed SpongeBob memes collected from Imgur.com and Instagram. The results show these memes depict three different relationships of the mentally suffering; 1. the relationship with treatment 2. the relationship with the “normal people,” and 3. the relationship with the mental illness itself. Interestingly, Spongebob is used to represent symptoms, diagnoses, and feelings, as well as the self; in other words, they are used to illustrate the conflict and dialogue between the mental illness and the person behind it.

Loneliness and disconnectedness are highlighted as important ‘risk factors’ for suicide within much suicide research. However, these conceptions tend to be framed in individualised, psychologised ways. An individualised focus on loneliness and disconnection fails to engage with the social, structural and institutional conditions, which produce exclusion and disconnection (for example through racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, sexism, among others). This presentation draws on long-term ethnographic engagement with community-based organisations supporting people experiencing mental health challenges, as well as in-depth qualitative interviews with people affected by suicide (via an attempt, bereavement, or in a professional capacity). Drawing on narrative, thematic and abductive analysis, we explore the ways in which social exclusion produces and is produced by forms of social disconnection and loneliness. Alongside processes of social exclusion, we also explore how community-based forms of non-clinical support that promote long-term accompaniment and empathy offer essential means of re-connecting people experiencing suicidality. Considering processes of loneliness, exclusion and disconnection as social rather than individual invites consideration of how these are produced within broader social systems. We demonstrate that a focus on social exclusion, rather than individualised loneliness and disconnectedness creates different possibilities for engaging with and responding to suicide. 

This presentation offers a critical exploration of the importance of encountering therapeutic and reparative relationships when working through psychological trauma. As professionals we share many years of experience working with individuals who present with complex trauma. This informs our understanding and application of theory, research, and counselling practice. In this work we share a particular focus on understanding the meaning that individuals give to their experiences, and on working with trauma through relational means. We draw from two key research studies conducted with 15 service users from a United Kingdom (UK) mental health rehabilitation and recovery service and 12 asylum-seekers and refugees based in the UK. Our approach is informed by relational-centred, existential-phenomenological theoretical perspectives which assert that all humans have built-in propensity to grow to their full potential when specific conditions are met. However, personal problems and trauma may arise in and through relationality thereby interrupting connection with self and others. Relationships and experiences which offer the right conditions for transformation enable growth and change in one’s felt sense of self and being in the world. In our presentation we will present our definition of Relational Trauma and consider how issues can arise in and through relationality.

This study employed Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore what discourses about mental health recovery were constructed by community members who were directly and indirectly impacted by the fire at Grenfell tower in 2017. Despite prior repeated concerns raised by residents about building safety, the fire claimed the lives of 72 people. They had lived in the richest borough of London but were mainly from minoritized groups. Transcribed film and speeches streamed on social media on the fourth and fifth anniversaries of the Grenfell tower fire were analysed. It revealed that community members adopted three main discourses around their recovery: a relational discourse, action discourse and community discourse. These findings suggested social connectedness, being active participants in change-making, and community unity enabled people to adopt positions helpful for recovery. The primary researcher will reflect on the context of ongoing social injustice for this community and her own personal learning from working in the area. If professionals working in mental health settings desire to give voice to the people impacted by the consequences of disaster, it is imperative to attend to language and issues connected with power as well as the implications of social and political injustice for individuals and communities.

For rural and remote Australians, COVID-19 followed on the heels of drought, flood, and wildfire. The pandemic exacerbated existent isolation and stress as rural and remote communities reeled from one climate disaster to another. A longitudinal, qualitative group study conducted during the pandemic bridged geographical isolation and social isolation caused by government-mandated lockdowns, closed borders, and stay-home orders for the unvaccinated.

This salutogenic study was positioned at the forefront of online group research during a period of extreme personal, community, social, economic, and political challenge. As well as investigating how writing contributed to and/or achieved health and wellbeing, the study contributed to knowledge regarding online wellbeing interventions in pandemic conditions.

Sixteen participants took part in the study. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to evaluate semi-structured interviews undertaken at four timepoints during the program.

Key findings included the importance of languaging the feeling body to wellbeing outcomes, and that wellbeing outcomes were commensurate with developing trust – for self, others, and the world.

This presentation pivots around the elements and assemblage of this innovative qualitative study design.

“This (study) was the one thing going for myself that was outside of talking about the pandemic and (my partner’s) PTSD.” (Participant)

World War Two (WWII) brought upheaval for children on a global scale, with fathers conscripted, mothers supporting the war effort and millions of children evacuated away from harm. People turning 80 in the 2010’s were the first generation to become octogenarians having experienced WWII as children.

Interviews and the novel use of written accounts were adopted as a method of data collection, to hear stories from this “silent generation” of people whose voices were again stifled by a global pandemic, the challenges of engagement with technology and the requirements for many to shield away from potential harm. A set of wonderful data reveals how children experienced the last period of global conflict for over 80 years.

Their stories tell of gas masks and air raid shelters, of missing fathers and hard-working mothers of course, but initial analysis using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is revealing a much deeper meaning for these wartime experiences. A key theme is “remembering”, and the way in which older people are engaging with their memories of a wartime childhood may shed light on how those early experiences are shaping their relationships, expectations, hopes and fears as they move forward in to older, older age.

This paper focuses on the important issue of the social nature of self and the ways the different aspects of the self are being internalized through external dialogues. It presents a study that systematically explores the development of the clients’ voices during group psychotherapy from a narrative and dialogical perspective. Thematic narrative analysis was used to study 20 two-hour group therapy sessions of a systemic informed approach that was completed over two years. The analysis involved mapping of the voices of each group member, their categorization as compassionate and/or reflexive and a sequential depiction of the group voices through timelines. The analysis reveals the ways in which voices, especially compassionate voices, that appear in the dialogue between clients and therapists and are rehearsed in the context of the group are gradually internalized by the clients, becoming clients’ voices, changing thus the dominance of voices of each client’s voice repertoire. This study empirically depicts the process of internalization of voices, providing support to the dialogical self theory and the social nature of the self.

Background: Evidence suggests that Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) benefits organisations. However, the impact on recipients and the companies that adopt MHFA remains unclear.

Study Aim: To explore the experiences of recipients and employees in UK-based companies where MHFA was introduced to promote help-seeking behaviours. Also its impact on organisational culture and work relationships.

Methods

Design: A reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify themes from experiences shared about MHFA, including its strengths and challenges.

Sample: Twenty-four participants from an ongoing clustered randomised controlled trial purposely selected were interviewed.

Results

Three themes were identified from the experiences of participants; “ambiguity concerning the purpose of MHFA”, “reluctance to engage due to ambivalent feelings about MHFA support”, and “hierarchical influence and risk of disclosure”. Three themes were identified regarding the impact of MHFA on organisational culture and work relationships: “incorporating mental health/well-being chats in organisational structures and processes”, “communication and openness about mental health”, and “fostering empathetic relationships”.

Conclusion

There is uncertainty about the relevance of MHFA in a workplace context, with some factors contributing to this understanding. However, the intervention contributes positively to the organisational culture and empathetic relationships among colleagues.

Clinical experience shows that questionnaires can be burdensome and time-consuming in work with seriously ill patients. Drawings may offer promising alternatives and additional values. We will present clinical and research experiences with tools developed by us. 1. Draw-a-Person and Transplanted Kidney Task A drawing task of the body and the new organ after transplantation. The characteristics of the drawings correlate with anxiety, depression, and medical parameters, by which we can detect and support the psychosomatic integration of the new organ. 2. PRISM-D - The drawing version of the Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure. After validating the tool with 500 chronic patients, we tested it with 150 cancer patients, and found it very well applicable both for exploring illness representations and to develop coping strategies. 3. Emotional Graph of Illness Trajectory, a drawing technique combined with the analysis of illness stories based on Frank’s categories of restitution, chaos, and quest narratives. According to our results with 140 patients in surgery, there were significant differences in the three narrative and graphic groups in disease-related concerns, treatment control and emotional representation. All the three tools can be used throughout the healing process, both for testing and interventions in clinical health psychology.

Many qualitative articles have been investigating the experience of international students, however, they might either “eternally reinventing the wheel”, or be “pieces of jigsaw” as they do not let us see a complex and whole picture of an experience.
Synthesizing qualitative research with various epistemological approaches calls for many interpretations and translations of data to find those themes where they can be compared. To avoid the difficulties of comparing “apples to oranges” we analyzed articles carried out by using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis studies and investigating international student experience.
In our research, we discuss the epistemological possibility of such synthesis of IPA articles and we also present a step-by-step approach of interpretive synthesis of studies using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
We not only compared existing themes and interpretations of authors but also decomposed them and made critical re-interpretations and triangulation of participants' quotations, and researchers' interpretation if it was needed because of the lack of clarity, lack of precision or incongruent interpretations of quotations
IPA articles are sufficient for reinterpretations as quotations of interviewees guarantee the transparency of interpretations and the processthe of knowledge making.

In this presentation I wish to review and discuss the challenges involved in introducing ethnography and conversation analysis in the habitual residential environments of persons with dementia to support valid assessment and quality care. I will refer to my experience promoting the ecological assessment of pragmatic competence and training dementia caregivers in assessment and intervention techniques grounded in everyday life. This work remits to methodological developments including the application of Conversation Analysis to impaired communication, the Ethnography of Communication Disorders and Person-Centered Dementia Care.
The challenges I will discuss include: Shifting attention from brainy and psychopathological concepts to the grounds of human interaction; putting people who are in a process of progressive cognitive deterioration in the centre of life and decision making; demonstrating the relevance of promoting their quality of life however close to death they may be; replacing complaints about the passivity of the powerful with initiative for self-activity; and promoting the scientific value of knowledge which is grounded on intersubjective experience.
These issues are relevant to my work today, after two years training professionals in these approaches and on the brink of moving to their specific application.

Evidence suggests that service users are rarely involved in decision-making concerning psychiatric care, and service providers may demonstrate excessive authoritarianism. The study aimed to develop three appropriate semi-structured interview protocols for mental health service users and providers as a data collection tool for researching decision-making practices in Latvia. The content of the semi-structured interview protocol was designed by taking into consideration scientific literature and research on a similar topic. Three different protocols were developed for specific groups of research participants. The main thematic areas of the protocol of interview questions are the personal experience of making decisions in psychiatric care, including difficulties, understanding, evaluation, implementation of the concept of the patient's decision-making ability in practice; the role of the patient, support person, and psychiatric professional in the decision-making process; expectations about the desired decision-making process. The empirical data will help to plan and develop patient-oriented health services.

Acknowledgements. The research project “Towards a human rights approach for mental health patients with a limited capacity: A legal, ethical and clinical perspective”, No. lzp-2020/1-0397 and “Strengthening of the capacity of doctoral studies at the University of Latvia within the framework of the new doctoral model, No.8.2.2.0/20/I/006”.

There is a rich body of research that apply qualitative methods to investigate how patients/service users experience mental illness and the treatment and support provided. Although crucial for understanding the life circumstances of people with mental illness, such research often lacks theoretical underpinnings to specify what meaning they ascribe to the notion of ‘experience’.

This paper aims to propose theoretical dimensions that can be used to guide and position qualitative studies of patient experiences. This is accomplished by discussing interview data from three projects carried out in different mental health contexts: closed hospital units, supported housing and services for patients under community treatment orders.

The paper will discuss and illustrate problems that arise when analysis is attempted without theoretical awareness of possible theoretical dimensions/aspects of experiences. Researchers then risk ending up with analyses that become naively data-driven and trivial in their results.

The paper will consider possible dimensions relevant for analyzing experiences. One such dimension would be temporality-spatiality-embodiment of experiences. Another dimension regards aspects of evaluation and morality, while a third contains emotional aspects. It is argued that the tentative dimensions discussed are useful both in constructing interview guides, in focusing analyses and also in organizing literature reviews.

Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) (Weinreich, 2004) integrates classical theories with narrative and discursive approaches. ISA defines identity as the totality of our constructs on our own selves, with a continuity between past and present experiences and future anticipations. ISA’s framework software, Ipseus includes a bipolar rating scale and relies on iterative multi-perspective ratings to measure one’s identifications, self-states, and conflicted areas. The discourses in the appraisals are shaped according to participants’ key domains of social interactions (entities) and to the themes (constructs), emerging in the interactions. Since its inception, ISA has been used to explore cultural and professional identities, as well as identity changes in clinical settings. Though ISA/Ipseus uses quantified identity parameters, it is customized to respondents’ discursive traditions. This ethnographic approach with a strong focus on language requires qualitative methods (e.g., observations, interviews, and a Delphi-method to reach expert consensus, etc.) to define the exact contents of the discourses. In this presentation, we focus on the qualitative steps that we used when designing our Lecturer Identity Instrument. These steps comprised discourse analysis on key strategic documents, autoethnography and a Delphi-method involving cross-cultural comparisons.

The present study aims to explore liberatory feminist practices adopted by women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip within a context of colonial oppression such as that of Palestine. The Israeli occupation is a continuum of coercion and violence that causes physical, mental and social injury and harm. As with all colonial projects, it is rooted in nationalism, white supremacy, religion, and hetero-patriarchy, thereby forging a deep-seated connection between colonial violence and racial and gender oppression. Despite the importance of understanding the interrelated oppressions that shape their lives, contributions in psychology have largely neglected their diverse feminist practices and resistance strategies. Their experiences are often reduced to passive categories and interpretations of internal patriarchy. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to deconstruct these dominant, Anglo-Eurocentric versions that still prevail and explored the meanings, signifiers, and nuances of feminist practices in Palestine. We conducted research conversations (n=30) with feminist activists and women engaged in social justice and women's rights to explore their experiences of resistance and survival amidst ongoing colozination. We sought to explore whether and to what extent being part of the feminist movement provided strength and resources in collectively building paths towards critical consciousness, liberation, and transformation.

In my paper I seek to merge and conclude two parallel qualitative studies about birthgiving women’s experiences. I propose phenomenological and psychoanalitical interpretations of bodily and symbolic experiences of the childbirth process, from the woman’s point of view. Childbirth is one of the most intensive experiences for both mother and child. Deep and raw experience of the feminine, the body, the self or intimacy and taboos. It can be interpreted as a possible initiation, a healing and self-healing process also. Our investigations revealed that material and spiritual issues are both present themselves in the scene of birthgiving.

Findings suggest that the focus of childbirth should not be on alleviating pain, but on strengthening mothers so that they can successfully cope with pain and use it for their own process (Barcsák, Berán, Székely, 2023).

Other results highlight that the childbirth experience is inseparable from spiritual experiences (e.g. faith, search for meaning, connection, and self-transcendence). (Tamási, Urbán, Székely, 2023)

“For women, to give birth and be born, to be mothers and daughters, they need first and foremost their own bodies. … Creation and creativity are not representations of conception, but of the archaic events of childbirth and being born.” (Zsélyi, 2007)

The topic of women living in housing poverty is rarely involved in psychological research. We explore the way relationship and sexual expectations may be connected to daily struggles of precarious housing and motherhood.

In Temporary Homes of Families, parents, their children, and possibly other family members receive temporary (a few months long) placement together. Many of these women are leaving abusive relationships while other residents are couples facing sudden homelessness together. Between Fall 2021 and Spring 2022, we organized a weekly women’s group at a Temporary Home of Families in Budapest, Hungary. 3-4 women attended most sessions, with a total of 10 adult woman participants involved. Topics included gender roles, romantic relationships, and sexual relationships; participants had the opportunity to influence the choice of topics. Our data set includes 5 transcripts of 40-65 minutes long group discussion recordings, complemented by field notes and visual materials created during group discussions. We use Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA; Braun and Clarke, 2006) to gain insight on relationship and sexual expectations discussed by participants. Based on preliminary findings, we expect that feelings of stress and vulnerability induced by housing poverty and institutional circumstances will play a formative role in how participants think about relationships.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by a complex aetiology and a group of core symptoms: hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention. Literature has shown that ADHD affects 3–7% of children worldwide and that its symptoms can persist into adolescence and adulthood. However, an overview of the literature shows that a significant portion of research on ADHD has been restricted to males and that females with ADHD have very little representation. The limited literature on ADHD in females suggests that they experience difficulties in many areas of life, including the academic domain. This study explores how Maltese women with ADHD construct the self as students within the school system. The qualitative research method Memory-Work was used to explore the student recollections of five Maltese women with ADHD aged between twenty-three and thirty-five. The data collection and analyses occurred within a group setting. This research illustrates the significant role of student-teacher relationships in constructing women's selves as students. It broadens the understanding of how interactions, practices, and discourses of Maltese schooling shape the self of female students with ADHD. This study also strengthens the evidence regarding training needs for educational psychologists on gender-specific manifestations of ADHD.

The complexity of both the structure and dynamics of the lives of multichallenged families, particularly those living in conditions of social injustice and poverty, demands integrated assessments and interventions grounded in sufficiently complex modes of thinking to guide family support practitioners, in the coupling with the family systems, towards positive outcomes, in conditions of high-risks and uncertainty.

Guided by a theoretical framework for the operationalisation of complex thinking, and a model of the family as a complex system, we developed a qualitative visual method- Complexigraphy- to map the complexity of case conceptualisations produced by practitioners conducting assessments and interventions with multichallenged families with at-risk children. We present preliminary results of a qualitative analysis of the maps of 22 conceptualisations produced by 8 interdisciplinary teams (27 practitioners). We discuss the results highlighting the differences between practitioners with and without previous training in an Integrated Family Assessment and Intervention Model. We elaborate preliminary hypotheses about the relationship between different properties of complex thinking in relation to the complexity of the outcomes (e.g. new, creative, abductive hypotheses guiding effective action). Finally, we point to the potential of the method and these results for the training and supervision of practitioners.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a mental disorder with the highest death rate and constantly decreasing the average age of patients, which in the most severe cases needs to be treated in a stationary model. During the inpatient treatment of a child with AN, parents are emotionally burdened and, at the same time, responsible for making key medical decisions. Parental experiences, reactions and struggles have not been described in a qualitative approach in this specific context, nor were staff interventions. This research aimed to identify the role of cooperation between medical personnel and the parents of young adolescent patients with AN in stationary treatment. The medical documentation (mostly therapists’ records) of 36 patients under 14 years old was analysed using Consensual Qualitative Research methodology. Both the reactions of parents and the interventions of medical personnel were described. Qualitative analysis allowed two parent groups to be distinguished: those cooperating with medical personnel and those perceived as struggling with collaboration. The analysis of parents’ and personnel’s actions was provided for a whole group, but also the comparison between groups was conducted. The quality of cooperation resulted to be an important factor influencing the patients’ symptomatology.

Becoming a parent is a deep identity transformation. Preterm birth, affecting about ten percent of the families, may provoke a deep crisis within the family. Worries about potential further complications are also present. Mothers’ experiences have been studied extensively, but exploring fathers’ birth-related experiences is a recent theme, although father-infant bonding has a key role in the child’s emotional development. This study is a secondary analysis (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis) of 10 interviews with preterm babies’ fathers about their experiences. Themes included the recognition of unexpected and immense, often life-threatening risks (between life and death in a liminal space), helplessness/loss of control, attempts to distance positive emotions (“did not even dare to love this child or feel anything”), seeing the baby as most fragile and vulnerable, supported by the equipment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and unexpected changes in daily life. Meaning making attempts also involved searching for the causes of preterm birth and seeking the ways to help babies in their struggle for life. Most NICUs have introduced alternative practices to alleviate the effects of isolation, stress, and anxiety, but crisis intervention or counselling opportunities are missing.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Canadian youth. Most youth who die by suicide have at least one mental health concern and half of them visited emergency in the year preceding their death with increased risks partly because of the lack of continuity in mental health care. This study aims to examine how parents whose youth died by suicide describe systems of care that engaged with their youth prior to the suicide to improve service access, quality of mental health care, and reduce the rates of suicide in youth. Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis, we interviewed 13 parents whose youth under 26 died by suicide in the last 5 years. The following themes emerged from parent statements: youths’ voices often unheard in mental health and school systems due to stigma and biases of mental health concerns not as a health matter, but bad youth behaviour or a parenting problem; and/or racism and rigid gender norms. Across the participants, suicidal youth are often described as too low risk for hospital and too high risk for community agencies, and the participants raised concerns about consent and privacy laws excluding caregivers who are usually the most important source of support.

For the culture-sensitive further development of a tertiary education in systemic family therapy in Cambodia, a qualitative sequential triangulation study with expert interviews and group discussions was carried out in the Southeast Asian country with local and international mental health professionals.

The research project was committed to the approach of decolonial research, which assumes that Western research ideology goes hand in hand with certain values, biases and practices that influence knowledge production and have been influenced by it. Therefore, a bottom-up approach was preferred, which has its reference in the present cultural context and aims to support local knowledge production. Therefore, following a multidimensional comparative approach, the relevant fields of reference for family therapy in Cambodia were explored and evaluated using a qualitative content analysis method. For the socio-scientific interpretation of intercultural data, the participation of culture-familiar co-interpreters is required, as was done by a Cambodian colleague to check the intercoder agreement. Following the sequential design of the study, relevant aspects from the interview results were used as impulse questions for the group discussions. The results refer to explicit cultural aspects for a Cambodian family therapy and implications for the conception of corresponding trainings.

In Participatory Action Research (PAR), research is used as a medium to engender community action that addresses injustices and promote openness and inclusivity. Despite these advantages, PAR can be time consuming and energy sapping as it requires participants’ involvement from the conceptualization to data analyses and reporting. The fast-moving pace of life in current society makes it difficult for researchers to recruit and maintain participants over a long period. Recognizing the advantages of PAR in community-based research but faced with the potential challenges of recruiting and maintaining research participants in cities of Southern Ontario in Canada, we employed the Structured Interview Matrix (SIM) in our study to explore the psychosocial wellbeing of newcomers to the study areas in the midst of COVID-19. SIM combines features of PAR and FGD to collect and analyze data. Participants are involved in the framing of research questions, interviewing and preliminary analyses of data. SIM is essentially a rapid form of PAR that takes between four to five hours to conduct. In this presentation, we discuss our process and how it was employed as a tool to build social connections among new immigrants from diverse geographical areas of the world in the face of COVID-19.

This presentation will provide an overview of the Suicide First Aid Guidelines I have developed in collaboration with various teams in six Asian countries and for people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, reflecting on the evolution of the mixed-method approach used from the first study carried out 15 years ago to the current methodology. It will then focus on the guidelines developed for community-based sucide prevention for refugee populations and provide the outcomes of an evaluation of an online gatekeepers training offered to humanitarian workers dealing with Internally Displaced children in Syria and conclude with preliminary findings from the currently under development Suicide First Aid Guidelines for Pakistan.

The need to develop suicide prevention strategies and tools through culturally-sensitive and contextually-responsive methodologies will be emphasized and exemplified during the presentation.

Not just since the recent peak of global flight movements in the mid-2010s, professionals in psychosocial work in Europe are required to work with psychologically distressed refugees who have experienced torture and severe violence in their countries of origin and on the flight routes. While there is an everyday professional practice most notably in specialized treatment centers, there has been only few empirical research on the difficulties related to torture experiences of clients in professional work. Most of the literature consists of testimonies and case vignettes. In one of the few empirical studies on emotional reactions and challenges in therapy with Holocaust survivors Danieli (1988) describes therapists’ defensiveness, guilt, anger, shame, threat and an inability to bear the intense feelings.

How do todays professionals experience their professional interactions with torture survivors? How do they deal with torture related professional challenges?

Narrative interviews focusing on the professional interaction according to Riemann (2000) with psychotherapists and social workers who work with clients who have experienced torture offer suitable material for examining the concrete professional action.

A reflexive grounded theory analysis (Breuer et al. 2019) is conducted with the interview material. At the conference first insights into the material will be presented.

The sheer diversity and complexity of sexuality are often inadequately considered in existing scientific definitions and concepts. We aimed to develop a more encompassing understanding of the characteristics and multifaceted nature of sexuality. In a qualitative interview study, we interviewed ten experts in the field of (women's) sexuality from various backgrounds. Data were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. The experts gave rich accounts of their understanding beyond the current notion of sexual functioning. Women's sexuality was generally described as a multidimensional phenomenon. The intensity of its experience seems to be linked to the ability to create mindful contact with oneself, with one’s partner, and the rest of the world. Based on these expert insights, we developed the Connection- versus Outcome-orientation Model of Sexual Experiences (COMOS). This model contrasts with the apparent societal and medical focus on goal orientation with regard to sexuality, which favors mindfulness in the perception of sensuality, emotions and in the interaction with a partner. The COMOS is not restricted to a single gender identity but may be used for women's and men's sexual experiences alike. Recently, we developed and validated a questionnaire (COMOS-Q), based on the COMOS, to further the integration of connection-oriented sexuality into research and clinical practice.

The study explores how the therapeutic system (clients and co-therapists) of a systemic couple therapy uses the impulses of the Reflecting Team, formed by the co-therapists and performed at the end of each session. This therapy process investigation is part of the naturalistic research project Relational Mind in Events of Change in Multiactor Theapeutic Dialogues, studying interaction and meaning construction in couple therapy sessions. Data from video-recorded systemic couple therapy with seven sessions is analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

The results of the study show that impulses of the Reflecting Team are continuously used in the further course of the therapy. Perceptions, reflections and suggestions as well as keywords and metaphors of the Reflecting Team are related to more abstract topics of "building trust", "clarifying concerns and assignments", "summarizing information and structures of the system", and "welcoming and accompanying change". Overall, impulses of the Reflecting Team influence the arrangement of therapy sessions, can support the therapeutic conversation and thus emphasize the potential of the Reflecting Team in systemic couple therapy.

Contextual Behavioral Science (CBS) is a system of philosophical assumptions and scientific values encompassing psychotherapies which develop from behaviorism, with a common sensitivity to historical and cultural context (e.g., Acceptance Commitment Therapy or Relational Frame Theory). CBS is gradually disseminating in Low-and-Middle Income Countries (LMIC).

Our research aims to identify the main strategies and obstacles in the dissemination of CBS. We conducted 16 interviews with professionals from eleven LMIC countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe where the dissemination of CBS is taking place. The data include approximately 16 hours of interviews, which were transcribed into about 100,000 words. Our thematic analysis of the transcripts relied on the Qualitative Software tool MaxQDA.

The findings reveal that the main strategies for the dissemination of CBS are: public events, training university students, dissemination in social media, and program evaluation research. The main obstacles to CBS dissemination are lack of financial support, language barriers and regulations and certification related to psychologists and psychiatrists.

The results suggest that context sensitivity and appropriateness are vital factors in the successful dissemination of CBS. Further research is needed to explore these findings in other countries and among a larger sample of participants.

Successful initiatives to move away from coercion in mental health care require transformational organisational changes informed by research. However, research within this area is limited and fragmented, and there is lack of knowledge about the processes underlying the use of coercive measures. Being subjected to coercive measures, such as seclusion and restraint, is intrusive and can lead to negative psychological consequences for all involved. This study was conducted by a multi-national transdisciplinary team of mental health professionals and researchers, as part of the FOSTREN (Fostering and Strengthening Approaches to Reducing Coercion in European Mental Health Services) COST Initiative. A systematic review and meta-ethnography was used to synthesize findings from qualitative studies that examined service users’, staff’ and relatives’ experiences of recovery from being exposed to coercive measures in mental health care settings. In this presentation we will describe the process of designing and conducting the meta-ethnographic research. We will discuss the challenges of doing meta-ethnography in this emerging field in a collaborative way across professions and countries. Finally, we will point to the contribution of this mode of research for progressive mental health care and we will formulate recommendations for good research practices.

The paper addresses the relationship between person-centredness and meaning-making, referring to anthropological medicine and salutogenesis. Based on a video-documented conversation between a GP and his patient suffering from chronic pain, it is illustrated how negotiating health goals goes beyond the patient's mere non-illness and positive health but implicitly touches the practitioner's concerns and (life) goals: Balint talked of a struggle between doctors and patients about values and (life) goals. Both are involved in "mutual missionary work". "Shared decision-making" must be preceded by mutual understanding.

However, many people are unaware of their (implicit) life goals, which may be "represented" by physical expression. Here "the body as a mediator" (von Weizsäcker) might come into play, and it could, in turn, be linked back to the concept of salutogenesis. This raises as follow-up questions how the "sense FOR coherence" (Lindström) can be strengthened and how person-centred medicine can consider the physician as a subject and his biographically based subjective theories of health and illness.

The presentation is based on exemplary sequence analyses according to the method of structural hermeneutics. In addition, an overall shape of professional interactional patterns is presented, which results from the evaluation with the semi-interpretative rating procedure for solution-oriented interventions.

Professionals working in first-line’s psychological help services are highly exposed to stress and various psychopathological disorders such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress, or burnout.

The physical and mental investment mobilized in their interventions can impact their capacity to welcome and empathize with their patients. However, listening, and empathic posture represent essential facets for welcoming requests on the first-line’s psychological help, creating a positive therapeutic alliance and ensuring continuity of care.

This research analyzes in depth the way in which empathic capacities, are or are not, put in place during contact with the patient. Using an in-depth qualitative analysis technique called “Explicitation Interview” developed by Pierre Vermersch, we explored how practitioners (8) working in an emergency hotline mobilized their empathy in a context of they are not directly in front of a patient. We decomposed, moment-to-moment, the lived experience of these workers to better understand how their empathic capacities operate in a context of first-line’s psychological help like a hotline service. In our communication, we will propose a model illustrating the emerged theorization with the facilitating and constraining ingredients of the emergence of empathy in this kind of professional context. We also suggest some recommendations regarding the training for the first-line professionals.

The presented doctoral research utilizes qualitative methods to explore complex socio-cultural structures in Hungarian psychology education by relying on international critical psychology literature. The study examines the curriculum's impact on students' education, training, and employment prospects. Emphasis is placed on graduates' subjective opinions and experiences.

The methodology includes discourse analysis and 4 focus group interviews with 21 participants to assess graduates' experiences, employing Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), an exploratory qualitative method in psychology.

Findings reveal historical and cultural aspects of Hungarian psychology, affected by institutional politics and funding schemes. By aligning these findings with international critical psychology literature, this transdisciplinary study addresses discipline-wide issues and underscores the relationship between official paradigms and practical applications in psychology. The study contributes to the evidence base for qualitative methods in exploring intricate socio-cultural factors affecting psychological education and practice, ultimately enhancing the understanding of the field's development and future trajectory.

International research has long pointed to the high suicide rate and poor mental health of farm workers. According to the literature, the work of farmers is associated with a number of operational difficulties. The majority of conventional farming problems can be addressed by the new modes of consumer-producer relatedness.

Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with community-supported agriculture (CSA) farmers from Hungary were conducted, and interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore the community determinants of farmers' work and the mental health challenges associated with local sustainable agriculture.

Our results show alternative market channels create novel situations and problems. Three main themes emerged from the interview data: Conflicted autonomy, The pressure of boxes, and Social overload.

The difficulties for CSA farmers seem to arise precisely in the alternative market channel: the operating conditions require several different farmer roles, which may even be contradictory with each other.

This paper explores the health and wellbeing cost of sustainable farming. Newer types of producer-consumer relationships require time and experience, extra effort or new skills, but farmers often do not possess these skills which can lead to mental health issues.

Inspired by the conference theme, in this talk I will argue that research employing qualitative, discursive methodologies adopting a social epistemology approach can contribute to living with uncertainty in mental health clinical practice from a perspective of knowing in context. With regard to scientific knowledge, post-modern epistemological approaches and related methodologies have celebrated uncertainty, suggesting that we can reach no single, certain or absolute knowledge/truth about phenomena, including mental health clinical practice. Similarly, systemic, dialogic and collaborative approaches to psychotherapy have celebrated the tolerance of uncertainty, regarding the understanding and treatment of mental distress. On the other hand, societal challenges, like contemporary multi-faceted crises and related inequalities or global health threats like the COVID-19 pandemic remind us of the broader societal, ideological and political context of clinical practice, and flag the need for knowledge certainties to cope with fluidity and change. In my talk, I will start with an illustration of key features of discursive research methodologies, that is of methodologies espousing a contextualized view of language use, highlighting its performative and intersubjective aspects. I will discuss the employment of such methodologies in mental health clinical practice research, focusing on their strengths and limitations. I will then share examples from research projects, where I have engaged with methodologies like critical discursive psychology, conversation analysis or qualitative meta-synthesis, focusing on the study of discursive processes in systemic and constructionist psychotherapeutic approaches and on the study of how power intersects with clinical practice and psychotherapeutic dialogue. While doing so, I will share reflections on how putting to the fore (discursive) research as a means to construct knowledge in context could facilitate a “both/and” approach to uncertainty in clinical practice, that is an approach which celebrates an alternation between reaching and questioning certainties. I will argue that discursive methodologies adopting a social epistemology perspective, that is, a perspective situating knowledge construction within social context, could play a role to undertaking such a “living with uncertainty” approach in mental health clinical practice.

The challenges of recent years (pandemic, refugee situation) have put a heavy strain on social workers. Maintaining and improving mental health of social workers is not only important for clients, but also a public health priority. The members of the research team performed a qualitative analysis of 37 project papers (2018-2022) on mental health written in the Management Training Programme of Semmelweis University.

The secondary analysis was carried out along the following criteria: a.) how the leader identified the causes and consequences of burnout and b.) what interventions were planned or implemented.

In the projects head of social organisations concluded that the causes of mental health deterioration and burnout among workers’ were the consequences of systemic challenges, such as changes in the characteristics of the target group, the increasing lack of qualified staff, the physical and mental overload, the lack of acknowledgement of professional work and the lack of competence and procedures.

The presentation describes the interventions designed at individual and organisational level to help organisations improve the mental health of employees. Study shows that levels of burnout need to be reduced not only through targeted interventions, but also through organisational and sectoral support.

Suicide and self-harm are major issues in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 77% of global suicides occur (WHO). Only recently has suicide been decriminalised in India and Pakistan. There is a lack of understanding how hospital staff interpret and make sense of self-harm and suicide. This is important as their attitudes and opinions are likely to have an impact on treatment and follow-up.

Hospital staff were recruited in three hospitals, where we conducted 29 interviews in English, ranging from 20 to 180 minutes. Interviews focused on experiences with self-harm patients, reasons for self-harm and suicide, reactions of others (family, society, etc.) and support needs. Participants included a wide range of staff including nurses, emergency staff, psychiatrists, psychologists, and medico-legal officers. Interviews were conducted by local researchers. Transcripts and notes were analysed using a codebook approach to thematic analysis (Bazeley, 2013).

We are currently analysing the data and will present findings at the conference. Initial analysis suggest that socio-cultural, legal and economic factors need to be considered when aiming to develop prevention and treatment programmes. A focus on attitudes of health professionals, who have a key role when working with self-harm patients and their families is essential.

Being exposed to coercive measures in mental health services can have a negative impact on all involved. Until use of coercion is eliminated, it is important to understand how the experience can be processed so that its consequences are managed. Meta-ethnography was used to synthesize findings from qualitative studies that examined service users’, staff’ and relatives’ experiences of recovery from being exposed to coercive measures in mental health care settings. We identified, extracted and synthesized, across 23 studies, the processes and factors that seemed significant to process the experience of coercion. Recovery from coercion is dependent on a complex set of conditions that supports a personal feeling of dignity and respect, a feeling of safety and empowerment. Being in a facilitating environment, receiving appropriate information and having consistent reciprocal communication with staff are important. Patients employ strategies for managing coercion, both during and after the coercive event. The findings point to the importance of mental health care settings offering recovery-oriented environments and professionals employing recovery-oriented practices, that would empower service users to develop strategies for managing their mental distress as well as their experiences in mental health care in a way that minimizes traumatization and fosters their recovery.

Sick leave caused by depression has become significantly more common during and post the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by Polish newspapers. This study examines the narratives of individuals who have taken at least 30-day long sick leave due to depression and contextualises these narratives within the media discourse. It takes a social constructionist perspective and uses textually-oriented Critical Discourse Studies.

The Polish press predominantly frames depression sick leave as an economic issue, often placing it in financial and business sections of newspapers. Moreover, the credibility of mental health sick leave is undermined by describing it as an easy way to avoid difficult work-related situations. In contrast, preliminary results from semi-structured interviews suggest that patients' depict sick leave as a necessary period of rest and recovery, allowing them to regroup and reflect. However, these individuals note the negative social perception of long-term sick leave.

This study highlights the importance of exploring the social context of illness and the relation between media discourse and individuals' experiences. By examining patient narratives and contextualizing them within the broader media discourse, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding mental health and sick leave.

Novel psychoactive substance (NPS) use has been challenging the treatment systems globally, and few studies are available on recovery processes. This study utilized an initial sample of 77 NPS users. Foley Life Interview was conducted at the beginning of the treatment and a year later. In this study, we focus on the changes in ten respondents’ high, nadir and turning point episodes. The respondents were NPS and polydrug users, received treatment in a therapeutic community (TC) and are abstinent. The information power of this sample is strong (narrow research aim, highly specific sample, a combination of deductive and inductive directions and strong dialogue). We used Narrative Oriented Inquiry, focussing on the themes/events and the narrative mode. The first episodes were mostly characterized by substance-related losses, concurrently seeing use as the best in life, chaos, distancing, denial, and an impoverished social milieu. A year later, respondents learned to use TCs’ cultural stock of stories. Many interviewees identified entering the TC and commitments to sobriety as high points/turning points. They openly expressed their emotions related to previous traumas. Changes involved a more reflective and responsible attitude (self-care/caring about others), and the broadening of a healing social network.

Canada has one of the highest rates of cannabis use worldwide and it is highest among youth. In 2018, Canada legalized recreational cannabis use with aims of protecting youth, restricting access, and reducing criminalization of BIPOC youth. As a 5-year mark, we wondered if the legalization has achieved these aims by exploring how youth, parents, and service providers perceive youth cannabis use in Canada since legalization. This qualitative study used community-based participatory research in partnership with Families for Addiction Recovery founded by parents of youth with addiction concerns. An individual interview with 88 participants (n=31 youth, n=26 parents, n=31 service providers) led to the following themes: (1) concerns about risks and harms of youth cannabis use, of minimized, (2) stigma has reduced, but not for youth of equity deserving groups, (3) youth are using cannabis to cope with mental health concerns, (4) public education on youth cannabis use is minimal, (5) service providers lack training and education, (6) inequitable access to mental health and addiction services, (7) cannabis use is not screened or addressed by most service providers, (8) parents are often excluded from treatment, and (9) there is a need for youth-centred harm reduction strategies for cannabis use.

‘Chicks Day’ refers to the name of the only women-exclusive needle and syringe exchange programme in Budapest, Hungary, which ran once-weekly services from 2010 to 2014 on top of other harm reduction services open to people of all genders. The research discussed in this presentation took place during the final ten months of the harm reduction centre being open. The main objective of the research was to understand both clients and workers understandings of 'harm' and 'harm reduction' through the use of participatory action research and creative methods. The methodological approach of photovoice was used by way of researcher-led photovoice training workshops, participant-generated images, individual photo elicitation interviews, and group photo elicitation focus groups, as well as ethnographic observation. As photovoice is situated within participatory action research, the action-based output from this research came in the form of a public photo exhibition and fundraiser for Chicks Day. This presentation considers researcher reflexivity and the ethical challenges of employing participatory methods with the vulnerable populations. As well, this presentation critically discusses the power dynamics of research, and whether the claim to redress power imbalances or ‘give voice’ to such imbalances through the use of photovoice is justified.

The presentation will examine the social aspects of security for families living in extreme poverty during the Covid-19. Using a qualitative method, we will analyse the relationship between the macro and micro social dimensions of security, and the relationships between the micro dimensions. The latter dimensions are described with a focus on the labour market situation of families, their mental health situation and their educational situation.

In the first phase of the study, social problems were collected on the basis of interviews with experts. In the second phase, 50 disadvantaged people were interviewed individually.

In general, it can be concluded that the daily life of people living in disadvantaged areas has been further affected by the pandemic. The labour market situation has changed and, in this context, the financial situation of the interviewees has further deteriorated. Single-parent families were particularly affected by these problems. The reduction in social life has led to an increase in domestic violence. In some areas, the number of births in disadvantaged families has increased, especially among minors. In fact, the epidemic has brought to the surface the problems that disadvantaged people face on a daily basis: unemployment and deprivation, compounded by educational underachievement.

Stress Management in Performing Arts

Ildikó Gaál (DLA)

The presence of stage-related fears and anxieties can adversely affect artistic performance. This struggle is supported via the interiorization of stress management methods and techniques specifically related to the stage.

I developed a dedicated training programme for managing stress for student musicians. Later I developed a professional course for artist teachers, through which the treatment of stage-related anxiety can be included in talent management. Thank to these courses it became possible to prepare students for an appropriate artistic performance on stage.

It is worthwhile to teach stress management techniques at an early age. I apply this training, which strengthens performing artist performance both at the Hungarian University of Dance and at the University of Theatre and Film Arts. This mental health attitude could be made part of everyday life on the long run, including regular practice of stress management techniques. This way the student would be able to arrive at the often-stressful situation on stage in a more balanced mental state and to perform a high artistic quality in the long term. Performing artists have an exceptional role in conveying culture, their mental welfare contributes to shaping the well-being of society.

Background and aims: Conflicts among healthcare professionals can lead to stress, burnout and affect the quality of patient care, so understanding conflict characteristics is a priority in this area. Self-justification is often present in conflicts. Our aim was to explore the characteristics of self-justification in conflict stories of healthcare professionals.

Methods: The semi-structured interviews had been recorded in a previous research. For the present study 25 conflict stories of doctors and 25 of nurses were processed, analyzing the expressions indicating self-justification by using the qualitative methodology of content analysis.

Results: 371 expressions indicating self-justification and 42 expressions indicating avoidance were identified in the conflict stories. These expressions were categorized into 10 self-justification-related and 1 avoidance-related categories based on similar content. Most of the expressions come from the judgement category. 71.7% of the expressions related to self-justification come from conflict stories of doctors and 28.3% from conflict stories of nurses. The unresolved conflict stories contain on average more expressions referring to self-justification and fewer expressions referring to avoiding self-justification.

Discussion: Self-justification appearing at several points in the conflict stories may discourage the parties to seek constructive conflict resolution, therefore supporting healthcare professionals in recognizing and transforming self-justification is of particular importance.

Photovoice aims to empower marginalised communities through critical dialogue and exhibition of photographic images taken by participants. Consequently, this generates complex ethical considerations. These may include lack of promised social change, misinterpretation of images by the public, ambiguity over ownership over photographs, dangers inherent in online circulation of images and compromised integrity of the method via excessive researcher control.

This presentation details the strategies implemented to circumvent ethical difficulties in an ongoing photovoice project designed to empower Maltese adult women with ADHD. Some of these strategies, such as the incorporation of an ethics session in the first focus group for participants, were borrowed from the literature. Other strategies, like the inclusion of an additional third focus group intended to explore participants’ perceptions of the outcomes of the study, were conceived by the authors.

This discussion will lay out how the ethical responsibilities of researchers extend far beyond safeguarding individual participants in participatory action research. Researchers must adhere to rigorous standards imposed by research ethical committees, whilst honouring the right to self-determination of the community they are set to empower. Moreover, the presentation will seek to inspire potential photovoice researchers who may be discouraged by the ethical complexities interwoven in photovoice.

Worldwide, approximately 8 million people receive palliative care and 34% are cancer patients.

This study aims to highlight the spouse’s experience in the context of sedative practices. The spouse is the patient's attachment figure and the person most at risk for developing potential psychopathological complications following the loss.

3 bereaved women (mean age = 60 years old) were interviewed three months after their partner’s death.

Their husbands (mean age = 64 years old) died of solid cancer.

A thematic analysis of the interviews was performed using the ALCESTE software, a tool for statistical analysis of textual data based on word co-occurrences.

Preliminary results highlight the following five themes: history of the disease; care and relationship with healthcare teams; new responsibilities related to the disease; bereavement and family support; and the need for life continuing.

The results highlight the more practical elements related to the disease, including the burden of assisting the patients in all their needs (a specific aspect of women caregivers) and the feeling of emptiness following the loss.

There appears to be a need for longitudinal research to follow the grieving process and better understand what may complicate it.

Teenage pregnancy is a global challenge that can have serious consequences for both youth girls, their children, and the community in which they live. Adolescent childbearing is stigmatized by society as negative and undesirable, even though marginalized youth may see motherhood as the only way out of deprivation.

To better understand this phenomenon, the presenters involved ten Hungarian Roma women living in socio-economically and ethnically marginalized situations who became mothers as teenagers in an art-based participatory action research process. Digital Storytelling was used as a research method to identify the common characteristics of motherhood stories. Data came from the dialogs of the process and the short autobiographical videos created by the participants.

The method provided a powerful platform for the participants to give voice to their lived experiences, process their painful stories, and connect with each other. The act of creating a digital story had a transformative, empowering effect on the participants who identified structural barriers behind the problem and advocated for social change.

In this presentation, we would like to give an overview of this process, discuss the validity and reliability of the research results, present digital storytelling as a transformative social intervention, and introduce the experiences of the art-based research methodology.

Becoming a mother requires a process of reconstructing identity and integrate one’s changed position to oneself and others. This process might falter at different points and lead to experiences of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. In the context of the covid-19 pandemic social relationships changed substantially and forced isolation posed additional challenges for new mothers.

In this study we conducted a qualitative interview study with women who gave birth during periods of lockdown in Belgium on their experiences of becoming a mother during the perinatal period.

The absence of others in real life and changed care, life, and work circumstances posed substantial challenges for most participants. The lack of others being a witness of their new position as a mother made it difficult to reframe their identity. Feelings of being unnoticed, not being seen and not considered as a mother by others were described and related to feelings of loneliness.

The findings of this study indicate the importance of the physical presence, the gaze of others seeing and recognizing women as a mother of their baby in protecting the well-being of both. Qualitative research allows for rich and in-depth insights both at the level of experience and its discursive context.

Background and objective: Currently, 21.9% of the Hungarian population is over 65 years old. Advancing age also means several elderly people need help, so the demand for nursing homes is increasing. This exploratory research examines the factors that significantly influence mental health in old age, with special attention to the factors relevant for those living in nursing homes. The main hypothesis of the research is that nursing homes can elicit mental health. Method: I base my results on life interviews with 24 elderly people and on the scores of their WHO-WBI-5 questionnaires, as well as on the processing of the features and services of 20 nursing homes. Results: Communality and prosocial values stand out within the construct of social relations. Physical activity seems very important for mental health. Several interviewees highlighted work-like activities as the main source of meaning and competence. Some mentioned spirituality to fight the fear of death. Based on the findings, nursing homes can serve as perceived social support to preserve the vitality of those cared for and reduce loneliness. Self-esteem and intra-relations can be strengthened by forming group-identity, there are several tricks to raise self-efficacy and spirituality even within the walls of a nursing home.

This presentation describes a qualitative study that aimed to explore the experiences of older adults with digitalization and its impact on their mental health. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed thematically, revealing that digital devices provided a valuable source of connection and entertainment for older adults. However, they also faced challenges related to digital inequality and lack of technical support, which hindered their ability to fully engage with technology. Retirement and loss of social connections can lead to loneliness in old age, but digital contact can alleviate this feeling, although not all online relationships are satisfying. Additionally, the interviewees discussed the psychological burden of digital device use, such as anger and overuse, due to inadequate digital skills and a lack of technical or emotional support. This study highlights the importance of qualitative research methods in understanding the mental health challenges faced by older adults in the context of digitalization.

Starting with an overview of potential benefits (and limitations) of using arts-based and visual methods, the presenter will share reflections and examples from carrying out several applied and activist interdisciplinary research projects using a range of arts-based and visual methodologies interdisciplinary projects about mental health/illness and suicidal behaviour in LMIC such as Indonesia, India, Ghana, Australia and the Philippines, and among people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. In particular, she will present about her recent UK ESRC/GCRF-funded project “Together for Mental Health: Using collaborative visual research methods to understand experiences of mental illness, coercion and restraint in Ghana and Indonesia”, which used ethnographic film and visual participatory methods to explore collaboration between mental health workers and faith-based and traditional healers to prevent the use of coercion and provide care for persons affected by mental illness. The speaker will also provide examples from a variety of projects where the participants/storytellers were directly involved in creating and making (i.e. filming, editing, distributing) their stories using a range of techniques (from collaborative filming to digital storytelling to participatory video). She will conclude by sharing her reflections on using creative forms of engagement to ignite social and system changes.