“If there’s no stability around them”: experienced therapists’ view on the role of patients’ social world in recovery in bipolar disorder.
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Recovery in severe mental illness has traditionally been described as a deeply personal process. At the same time, researchers are increasingly attending to the social nature of such processes. In this article, we aim to supplement the growing knowledge base regarding these social aspects by exploring the perspectives of experienced therapists: how do they view the role of the social world in processes of healing and growth for people with bipolar disorder? And in what ways can the social world impede recovery? METHODS: We conducted 12 semi-structured individual interviews and analyzed the resulting transcripts using a team-based thematic analysis method. RESULTS: We identified three themes: (a) establishing a sense of belonging; (b) backing ongoing therapy; and (c) relational ripple effects. CONCLUSIONS: We relate our findings to existing theory and research, discuss clinical implications, and highlight study limitations. We argue that our findings underscore the need to integrate an understanding of recovery as a personal and social process in the mental health care services that we provide.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Qualitative explorations from first-person and therapist perspectives describe the importance of belonging and social connectedness for people with severe mental illnesses.
“Qualitative explorations from a first-person- and therapist perspective describe the importance of belonging and social connectedness for people with severe mental illnesses (Bradshaw et al., 2007; Veseth et al., 2017; Ware et al., 2007).”
From Moving toward connectedness – a qualitative study of recovery processes for people with borderline personality disorder (2019) · cites this paper as Veseth et al., 2017
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · see citing works
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Merikangas, K. R., & Walters, E. E. (2005) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593 · Cited by 20,391 · see citing works
Hepburn, R. W., Heidegger, M., Macquarrie, J., & Robinson, E. (1927) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 12,201 · see citing works
Gadamer, H. G., Weinsheimer, J. C., & Marshall, D. G. (1960) · Cited by 9,238 · see citing works
Leamy, M., Bird, V., Boutillier, C. L., Williams, J., & Slade, M. (2011) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.110.083733 · Cited by 3,038 · see citing works
Prevalence and Correlates of Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in the World Mental Health Survey Initiative
Merikangas, K. R., Jin, R., He, J.-P., Kessler, R. C., Lee, S., Sampson, N. A., Viana, M. C., Andrade, L. H., Hu, C., Karam, E. G., et al. (2011) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.12 · Cited by 2,627 · see citing works
Phenomenology of Practice: Meaning-Giving Methods in Phenomenological Research and Writing
van Manen, M. (2014) · Cited by 1,570 · see citing works
Psychotherapy relationships that work : therapist contributions and responsiveness to patients
Norcross, J. C. (2002) · Cited by 1,197 · see citing works
Psychotherapy Relationships That Work: Therapist Contributions and Responsiveness to Patients
Weiner, I. B. (2003) · Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1093/ptr/kpg044 · Cited by 1,158 · see citing works
Uses and abuses of recovery: implementing recovery-oriented practices in mental health systems
Slade, M., Amering, M., Farkas, M., Hamilton, B., O'Hagan, M., Panther, G., Perkins, R., Shepherd, G., Tse, S., & Whitley, R. (2014) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20084 · Cited by 949 · see citing works
What Is Recovery? A Conceptual Model and Explication
Jacobson, N., & Greenley, D. (2001) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.52.4.482 · Cited by 888 · see citing works
Geddes, J. R., & Miklowitz, D. J. (2013) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)60857-0 · Cited by 848 · see citing works
Social Factors and Recovery from Mental Health Difficulties: A Review of the Evidence
Tew, J., Ramon, S., Slade, M., Bird, V. J., Melton, J., & Boutillier, C. L. (2011) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcr076 · Cited by 615 · see citing works
Boutillier, C. L., Leamy, M. C., Bird, V. J., Davidson, L., Williams, J., & Slade, M. (2011) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.001312011 · Cited by 481 · see citing works
Living outside mental illness: qualitative studies of recovery in schizophrenia
Davidson, L. (2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-3110 · Cited by 462 · see citing works
Relational recovery: beyond individualism in the recovery approach
Price-Robertson, R., Obradovic, A., & Morgan, B. (2017) · Advances in Mental Health · doi:10.1080/18387357.2016.1243014 · Cited by 344 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Similarly, Price-Robertson, Obradovic and Morgan [8] call for a new vision of relational recovery that is “based on the idea that human beings are interdependent creatures; that people’s lives and experiences cannot be separated from the social contexts in which they are embedded” (p.”
BackgroundInfluentialNot Just an Individual Journey: Social Aspects of Recovery
Topor, A., Borg, M., Girolamo, S. D., & Davidson, L. (2009) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0020764009345062 · Cited by 325 · see citing works
Living Outside Mental Illness: Qualitative Studies of Recovery in Schizophrenia
Frese, F. J. (2004) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.55.9.1073-a · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Creating a recovery-oriented system of behavioral health care: Moving from concept to reality.
Davidson, L., Tondora, J., O’Connell, M. J., Kirk, T., Rockholz, P., & Evans, A. C. (2007) · Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal · doi:10.2975/31.1.2007.23.31 · Cited by 206 · see citing works
A Practical Guide to Recovery-Oriented Practice: Tools for Transforming Mental Health Care
Tondora, J., Rowe, M., & Davidson, L. (2008) · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Binder, P.-E., Holgersen, H., & Moltu, C. (2012) · Nordic Psychology · doi:10.1080/19012276.2012.726815 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Self-citation“Walking alongside:” collaborative practices in mental health and substance use care
Ness, O., Borg, M., Semb, R., & Karlsson, B. (2014) · International Journal of Mental Health Systems · doi:10.1186/1752-4458-8-55 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
The components of helping relationships with professionals in psychiatry: Users’ perspective
Denhov, A., & Topor, A. (2011) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/0020764011406811 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Veseth, M., Binder, P.-E., Borg, M., & Davidson, L. (2012) · Qualitative Health Research · doi:10.1177/1049732311411487 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Self-citationVeseth, M., Binder, P., Borg, M., & Davidson, L. (2017) · Nordic Psychology · doi:10.1080/19012276.2017.1282324 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationPartnering for Recovery in Mental Health: A Practical Guide to Person-Centered Planning
Tondora, J., Miller, R. A., Slade, M., & Davidson, L. (2014) · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Relationship between the working alliance and social support on counseling outcome
Leibert, T. W., Smith, J. B., & Agaskar, V. R. (2011) · Journal of Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1002/jclp.20800 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
The role of work in recovery from bipolar disorders
Borg, M., Veseth, M., Binder, P., & Topor, A. (2011) · Qualitative Social Work · doi:10.1177/1473325011424642 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Self-citationHelping Relationships and Time: Inside the Black Box of the Working Alliance
Topor, A., & Denhov, A. (2012) · American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/15487768.2012.703544 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
Moltu, C., Stefansen, J., Nøtnes, J. C., Skjølberg, Å., & Veseth, M. (2017) · International Journal of Mental Health Systems · doi:10.1186/s13033-017-0119-5 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Self-citationTopor, A., & Ljungqvist, I. (2017) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-017-0146-3 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Binder, P., Schanche, E., Holgersen, H., Nielsen, G. H., Hjeltnes, A., Stige, S. H., Veseth, M., & Moltu, C. (2016) · Scandinavian Psychologist · doi:10.15714/scandpsychol.3.e8 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Self-citationVeseth, M., Binder, P., Borg, M., & Davidson, L. (2013) · Qualitative Studies · doi:10.7146/qs.v4i1.8127 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Self-citationCarr, S. (2015) · Disability & Society · doi:10.1080/09687599.2015.1020637 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Veseth, M., Binder, P., Borg, M., & Davidson, L. (2016) · Journal of Psychotherapy Integration · doi:10.1037/int0000046 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationThe who and the where of mental health promotion
Reupert, A. (2016) · Advances in Mental Health · doi:10.1080/18387357.2015.1122705 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 39 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [4]Slade M Personal recovery and mental illness: a guide for mental health professionals 2009 Cambridge Cambridge University Press
- [26]Veseth M, Stige SH, Binder P-E. Medicine and meaning—how experienced therapists describe the role of medication in processes of recovery in bipolar disorder. Submitted for publication.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Kverme, B., Natvik, E., Veseth, M., & Moltu, C. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00430 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Self-citationA Stabilizing and Destabilizing Social World: Close Relationships and Recovery Processes in SUD
Veseth, M., Moltu, C., Svendsen, T. S., Nesvåg, S. M., Slyngstad, T. E., Skaalevik, A. W., & Bjørnestad, J. R. (2019) · Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s40737-019-00137-9 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Self-citationAnderson, M., Devlin, A. M., Pickering, L., McCann, M., & Wight, D. (2021) · Drugs Education Prevention and Policy · doi:10.1080/09687637.2021.1933911 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Svendsen, T. S., Bjørnestad, J., Slyngstad, T. E., McKay, J., Skaalevik, A. W., Veseth, M., Moltu, C., & Nesvaag, S. (2020) · Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy · doi:10.1186/s13011-020-0254-x · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationLived Experiences of a Sustained Mental Health Recovery Process Without Ongoing Medication Use
Lee, M. Y., Eads, R., Yates, N., & Liu, C. (2020) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-020-00680-x · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Veseth, M., Stige, S. H., & Binder, P. (2019) · Counselling and Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1002/capr.12193 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationVansteenkiste, T., Reubens, R., Derison, T., & Swerts, C. (2024) · International handbooks of quality-of-life · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-65873-0_18 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ruysscher, C. D., & Goethals, I. (2024) · International handbooks of quality-of-life · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-65873-0_10 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Eldal, K., Natvik, E., Veseth, M., Davidson, L., & Moltu, C. (2019) · Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s40737-019-00143-x
Self-citationKnowles, E. A., Schneier, L. G., Yang, L., & Meter, A. V. (2023) · Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy · doi:10.1007/s10879-023-09610-w
Garrusi¹, B., Garousi, S., & Raaie³, F. (2026) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-026-08722-6
Laurent, N. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1782201
- Authors
- Veseth, M., Binder, P.-E., & Stige, S. H.
- Affiliations
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Veseth, Marius
- Venue
- International Journal of Mental Health Systems
- Published
- 2017-09-20
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 55-55
- ISSN
- 1752-4458 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5607588
- OpenAlex
- W2755487766
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- International Journal of Mental Health Systems (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- EkstraStiftelsen Helse og Rehabilitering
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Bipolar Disorder and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mental Health and Patient Involvement
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Keywords
- bipolar disorder, recovery, social world, therapist perspectives, sense of belonging, social support, severe mental illness, mental health services
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
