International journal of evidence based coaching and mentoring, 2017
This paper presents the findings from the study of a unique coaching situation. Coachees currentl... more This paper presents the findings from the study of a unique coaching situation. Coachees currently accessing mental health services and members of Converge (see below) were paired with undergraduate coaching students for time-limited coaching. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Results suggest that both groups found the experience to be beneficial. Both groups reported greater sense of agency. Coachees experienced a sense of potential achievement in their personal lives. The student coaches reported a sense of greater professional competence and identity. Both groups negotiated tensions between concepts of normality/abnormality and formality/informality, which seemed to create learning.
The rock art of indigenous communities from 20,000 years ago have been interpreted as early indic... more The rock art of indigenous communities from 20,000 years ago have been interpreted as early indications of how humans have connected performance, in a broad sense, with the health and well-being of ...
International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 2006
This paper outlines an innovative curricular development at Leeds Metropolitan University. Two ne... more This paper outlines an innovative curricular development at Leeds Metropolitan University. Two new programmes the MSc occupational therapy (OT) and MSc physiotherapy (PT) (preregistration) which have a strong element of shared learning in their curricula are running for their first year post approval. Medical humanities (MH) is frequently used as method of education with preregistration OT students and medical students (Hurwirz, 2003) but is much less commonly used in PT preregistration education. The OT and PT students jointly took part in a week of MH involving workshops, discussion and a ‘performance’ of work in progress. The week focused on the use of literature and the arts as a channel for exploration and discussion of human issues that are pertinent to health professionals. The aim was to help foster empathy, compassion and skills which the students would need to use on an everyday basis when dealing with a wide spectrum of service users and colleagues at the University and o...
Page 1. Playing the Othe Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Nick Rowe 1 Page 2. ... more Page 1. Playing the Othe Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Nick Rowe 1 Page 2. Page 3. ... Page 5. Playing the Other Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Nick Rowe Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia Page 6. ...
People with mental health problems can find it difficult to access good quality educational oppor... more People with mental health problems can find it difficult to access good quality educational opportunities. The stigma that surrounds mental health and the social challenges that face a new student can seem daunting. As a means of creating a bridge into education that is both supportive and of good quality, the Faculty of Arts at York St John University offer theatre courses for users of mental health services. These courses are taught by tutors and third year students. The project is a collaboration between the university and local mental health service providers. It is an innovation in line with current agendas with regard to widening participation and lifelong learning in the Higher Education sector and to social inclusion in the mental health field. It offers valuable ways for students to develop the attitudes and insights needed to work with people who use mental health services and it inevitably challenges the cultural attitudes that surround mental illness. This paper discusse...
This chapter describes and analyzes a project offering university-based courses to local people w... more This chapter describes and analyzes a project offering university-based courses to local people with mental health problems. Converge is a partnership between York St John University and the National Health Service (NHS) that is built on a convergence of interests of the two organizations: real world experience for university students and good quality, non-stigmatizing courses for people with mental health problems. Three key principles of the project will be considered: to work with participants as students and to frame the provision as education, not therapy; to involve university students in the delivery of the courses and in the support of participants; and to work closely with the university and mental health providers in order to offer a resource that supports social integration and recovery. It will be proposed that this partnership provides the conditions for the creation of a “healing campus”: an attempt to heal the “fracture” between people who experience mental health pro...
This study gathered the experiences and perceptions of participants of a university-based program... more This study gathered the experiences and perceptions of participants of a university-based programme of free arts education for people who use mental health services, known as Converge. A total of 70 per cent of the authors have lived experience of mental health difficulties and attend Converge courses. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was taken, using Photo Elicitation to facilitate interviews with relatively new Converge participants. An inductive thematic analysis of the data identified four themes: establishing community; purpose; student not patient; and accessing valued, inclusive spaces. These reflected findings in the existing literature about the mental health benefits of the arts and factors important to the process of recovery. A major finding was the clear indication that locating courses in socially valued and inclusive venues is of very high importance to participants, and that this seems to amplify benefits they experience from attending. This suggests th...
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reach beyond existing research into the mental health ben... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reach beyond existing research into the mental health benefits of arts-based or educational opportunities, to discover the particular impact on members’ recovery processes of being part of a committed, long-term troupe or community – specifically focussing on specialist theatre companies. Design/methodology/approach Following a literature review investigating the growing number of theatre troupes for mental health service users, qualitative research was conducted into one such company. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with six company members. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was then cross-checked and enriched through a group interview with six other members. Findings Two overarching themes emerged: the importance of “being known” within the company (key sub-themes included “intuitive democracy” and the “paradox of reliability”), and the ways in which individuals “branched out” from this secure basis into artistic, pro...
This article is the second of two contributions looking at the under-representation of people fro... more This article is the second of two contributions looking at the under-representation of people from the United Kingdom's minority ethnic groups in the occupational therapy profession. These articles suggest three broad areas that should concern occupational therapy practitioners and educators; the recruitment of people from minority ethnic groups to the profession; the admission process to occupational therapy education and training courses; and the curriculum and ethos of those courses. Part 2 deals with the last concern, that of the curriculum, as part 1 addressed the Issues of recruitment and admission. The authors strongly advocate that these three Issues cannot be treated in isolation but must be dealt with simultaneously.
... More recently, the limited reference to this subject in the occupational therapy literature h... more ... More recently, the limited reference to this subject in the occupational therapy literature has been acknowledged further (Honey 1999, Barber 2002). ... Protecting Professional Identities: Service User Involvement and Occupational Therapy Cathy Wright and Nick Rowe 45 ...
This article reports on the experiences of a group of five undergraduate theatre students working... more This article reports on the experiences of a group of five undergraduate theatre students working alongside people who use mental health services. Our aim was to study any changes in students’ attitudes over the period when they were making theatre with people with mental health problems. At first students were keen to define ‘mental illness’ and to draw clear lines between people who had or did not have mental health problems. They were likely to notice differences and attribute these to mental illness and they were keen to understand how they could help people through theatre. The most striking consequence of students’ contact was a change from regarding people who use mental health services as ontologically different, highly vulnerable and in need of special care and treatment to engaging with them as theatre makers and learners: a relationship and a purpose far more familiar to students. We have called this ‘a return to ordinariness’.
In the summer of 2002, users of mental health services came together, told their own stories and ... more In the summer of 2002, users of mental health services came together, told their own stories and watched as these were acted out by others in the group. They were learning the art of playback
International journal of evidence based coaching and mentoring, 2017
This paper presents the findings from the study of a unique coaching situation. Coachees currentl... more This paper presents the findings from the study of a unique coaching situation. Coachees currently accessing mental health services and members of Converge (see below) were paired with undergraduate coaching students for time-limited coaching. Participants took part in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Results suggest that both groups found the experience to be beneficial. Both groups reported greater sense of agency. Coachees experienced a sense of potential achievement in their personal lives. The student coaches reported a sense of greater professional competence and identity. Both groups negotiated tensions between concepts of normality/abnormality and formality/informality, which seemed to create learning.
The rock art of indigenous communities from 20,000 years ago have been interpreted as early indic... more The rock art of indigenous communities from 20,000 years ago have been interpreted as early indications of how humans have connected performance, in a broad sense, with the health and well-being of ...
International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 2006
This paper outlines an innovative curricular development at Leeds Metropolitan University. Two ne... more This paper outlines an innovative curricular development at Leeds Metropolitan University. Two new programmes the MSc occupational therapy (OT) and MSc physiotherapy (PT) (preregistration) which have a strong element of shared learning in their curricula are running for their first year post approval. Medical humanities (MH) is frequently used as method of education with preregistration OT students and medical students (Hurwirz, 2003) but is much less commonly used in PT preregistration education. The OT and PT students jointly took part in a week of MH involving workshops, discussion and a ‘performance’ of work in progress. The week focused on the use of literature and the arts as a channel for exploration and discussion of human issues that are pertinent to health professionals. The aim was to help foster empathy, compassion and skills which the students would need to use on an everyday basis when dealing with a wide spectrum of service users and colleagues at the University and o...
Page 1. Playing the Othe Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Nick Rowe 1 Page 2. ... more Page 1. Playing the Othe Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Nick Rowe 1 Page 2. Page 3. ... Page 5. Playing the Other Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Nick Rowe Jessica Kingsley Publishers London and Philadelphia Page 6. ...
People with mental health problems can find it difficult to access good quality educational oppor... more People with mental health problems can find it difficult to access good quality educational opportunities. The stigma that surrounds mental health and the social challenges that face a new student can seem daunting. As a means of creating a bridge into education that is both supportive and of good quality, the Faculty of Arts at York St John University offer theatre courses for users of mental health services. These courses are taught by tutors and third year students. The project is a collaboration between the university and local mental health service providers. It is an innovation in line with current agendas with regard to widening participation and lifelong learning in the Higher Education sector and to social inclusion in the mental health field. It offers valuable ways for students to develop the attitudes and insights needed to work with people who use mental health services and it inevitably challenges the cultural attitudes that surround mental illness. This paper discusse...
This chapter describes and analyzes a project offering university-based courses to local people w... more This chapter describes and analyzes a project offering university-based courses to local people with mental health problems. Converge is a partnership between York St John University and the National Health Service (NHS) that is built on a convergence of interests of the two organizations: real world experience for university students and good quality, non-stigmatizing courses for people with mental health problems. Three key principles of the project will be considered: to work with participants as students and to frame the provision as education, not therapy; to involve university students in the delivery of the courses and in the support of participants; and to work closely with the university and mental health providers in order to offer a resource that supports social integration and recovery. It will be proposed that this partnership provides the conditions for the creation of a “healing campus”: an attempt to heal the “fracture” between people who experience mental health pro...
This study gathered the experiences and perceptions of participants of a university-based program... more This study gathered the experiences and perceptions of participants of a university-based programme of free arts education for people who use mental health services, known as Converge. A total of 70 per cent of the authors have lived experience of mental health difficulties and attend Converge courses. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was taken, using Photo Elicitation to facilitate interviews with relatively new Converge participants. An inductive thematic analysis of the data identified four themes: establishing community; purpose; student not patient; and accessing valued, inclusive spaces. These reflected findings in the existing literature about the mental health benefits of the arts and factors important to the process of recovery. A major finding was the clear indication that locating courses in socially valued and inclusive venues is of very high importance to participants, and that this seems to amplify benefits they experience from attending. This suggests th...
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reach beyond existing research into the mental health ben... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reach beyond existing research into the mental health benefits of arts-based or educational opportunities, to discover the particular impact on members’ recovery processes of being part of a committed, long-term troupe or community – specifically focussing on specialist theatre companies. Design/methodology/approach Following a literature review investigating the growing number of theatre troupes for mental health service users, qualitative research was conducted into one such company. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with six company members. Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was then cross-checked and enriched through a group interview with six other members. Findings Two overarching themes emerged: the importance of “being known” within the company (key sub-themes included “intuitive democracy” and the “paradox of reliability”), and the ways in which individuals “branched out” from this secure basis into artistic, pro...
This article is the second of two contributions looking at the under-representation of people fro... more This article is the second of two contributions looking at the under-representation of people from the United Kingdom's minority ethnic groups in the occupational therapy profession. These articles suggest three broad areas that should concern occupational therapy practitioners and educators; the recruitment of people from minority ethnic groups to the profession; the admission process to occupational therapy education and training courses; and the curriculum and ethos of those courses. Part 2 deals with the last concern, that of the curriculum, as part 1 addressed the Issues of recruitment and admission. The authors strongly advocate that these three Issues cannot be treated in isolation but must be dealt with simultaneously.
... More recently, the limited reference to this subject in the occupational therapy literature h... more ... More recently, the limited reference to this subject in the occupational therapy literature has been acknowledged further (Honey 1999, Barber 2002). ... Protecting Professional Identities: Service User Involvement and Occupational Therapy Cathy Wright and Nick Rowe 45 ...
This article reports on the experiences of a group of five undergraduate theatre students working... more This article reports on the experiences of a group of five undergraduate theatre students working alongside people who use mental health services. Our aim was to study any changes in students’ attitudes over the period when they were making theatre with people with mental health problems. At first students were keen to define ‘mental illness’ and to draw clear lines between people who had or did not have mental health problems. They were likely to notice differences and attribute these to mental illness and they were keen to understand how they could help people through theatre. The most striking consequence of students’ contact was a change from regarding people who use mental health services as ontologically different, highly vulnerable and in need of special care and treatment to engaging with them as theatre makers and learners: a relationship and a purpose far more familiar to students. We have called this ‘a return to ordinariness’.
In the summer of 2002, users of mental health services came together, told their own stories and ... more In the summer of 2002, users of mental health services came together, told their own stories and watched as these were acted out by others in the group. They were learning the art of playback
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