Stories of Clients with Mental Illness: The Structure of Occupational Therapists' Interactions

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine therapist—client interactions in the psychosocial rehabilitation process. Data comprised narratives of clients with severe mental illness as told by the therapists. Some additional data were taken from field notes collected at the interviews. Narrative analysis was based on Ricoeur's concept of mimesis. An occupational therapy perspective was employed to both generate and interpret the narratives. One of the key findings highlighted how occupational therapists' actions functioned as emplotment—supporting the clients in handling the suspense they experienced. This suspense inhibited them from taking risks and thus hindered them in taking the next step in the rehabilitation process. Another key finding was the importance of designing a supportive, tolerant, and safe therapeutic environment that could enable clients the opportunity to grow. The essential roles of the occupational therapists in this context were role model, supervisor, and overall collaborator. The narrative approach has exposed some of the important therapist—client interactions that benefit clients with severe mental illness.