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Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health

Lofgren, Axel; Hewitt, Vanessa; das Nair, Roshan

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Authors

Axel Lofgren

Vanessa Hewitt

ROSHAN NAIR Roshan.dasnair@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology



Abstract

A growing body of research indicates that the way health care professionals conceptualize mental health might have important clinical implications. We adopted a discursive psychology approach to explore clinical psychologists’ accounts of mental health and its effects. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 11 clinical psychologists in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. The participants constructed mental health through building up biological factors and psychosocial aspects as opposite ends of the same spectrum, and then positioned themselves as distant from these extremes to manage issues of stake and accountability. A discourse of moral concern for service users was used to negotiate the implications of having different views of mental health from service users, enabling clinicians to manage issues of accountability and demonstrate their ability to be helpful. This suggests that clinicians should be mindful of the effects of their use of language and make the contingent nature of their knowledge explicit.

Citation

Lofgren, A., Hewitt, V., & das Nair, R. (2015). Doing fence sitting: a discursive analysis of clinical psychologists' constructions of mental health. Qualitative Health Research, 25(4), https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732314549479

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 8, 2014
Online Publication Date Sep 8, 2014
Publication Date Apr 1, 2015
Deposit Date Jun 30, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Qualitative Health Research
Print ISSN 1049-7323
Electronic ISSN 1552-7557
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 25
Issue 4
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732314549479
Keywords Critical Methods, Discourse Analysis, Health and Well-Being, Health Care Professionals, Interviews, Semistructured, Knowledge Construction, Mental Health and Illness, Psychology, Qualitative Analysis
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/745920
Publisher URL http://qhr.sagepub.com/content/25/4/470

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