A Qualitative Exploration of how Mental Health Professionals Can Experience Aspects of their Role.

Strange, Sarah and Perez Algorta, Guillermo (2025) A Qualitative Exploration of how Mental Health Professionals Can Experience Aspects of their Role. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

The thesis comprises a systematic literature review, empirical research paper and a critical appraisal of the research findings and process. The systematic literature review synthesised qualitative data exploring mental health professionals’ experiences of support in psychiatric inpatient settings in the United Kingdom. A meta-ethnographic approach was used to analyse the results from 20 papers and three main themes were developed: ‘finding value in colleagues’, ‘a need for a supportive space’ and ‘leaders need to support us’. The findings highlighted the experiences of support that the mental health professionals valued but also the ways in which their experiences of support could be improved. Clinical implications of these findings were discussed along with suggestions for future research. The empirical research paper qualitatively explored the experiences of clinical psychologists when working with clients with bipolar disorder when the session’s content related with risk-taking behaviour. Eight clinical psychologists were interviewed and the data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three main themes were presented: ‘feeling with the client’, ‘we are overcoming battles together’ and ‘a lot to hold in mind’. The findings of the research were discussed in relation to existing research alongside the clinical implications and suggestions for future research. Finally, the critical appraisal further discussed the findings, clinical implications and potential future research from both the systematic literature review and empirical research paper. Personal reflections regarding the findings and process of completing the thesis were also shared.