Supporting Dialogue: Using Self-Selected Material Objects to Explore Spirituality, Mental Distress and the Social Worker Role

This article is based upon a qualitative doctoral study about the role, if any, of spirituality in the lives of mental health service users, and how the subject is engaged with mental health social workers in Northern Ireland (NI). One-to-one interviews with twelve mental health service users and twelve mental health social workers were conducted with participants invited to bring an object. The object was used to assist dialogue with participants regarding their experience of spirituality, and its application in practice. International research proposes that spirituality plays a supportive role for some people experiencing mental health problems. The acknowledgement of spirituality in mental health social work practice in NI is, however, challenging due to various factors. Of particular significance is NI’s history of violent political conflict, shaped in part by the contested role of religion in the creation of the NI state. This article considers how the selection, presence and absence of the object were used to support participants in exploring a subject that can be challenging to communicate. This article proposes the use of objects within mental health social work practice and research as useful aides to explore culturally sensitive and personal topics. This article discusses the challenges of researching culturally sensitive subjects, such as spirituality and mental health, and the value of inviting participants at the recruitment stage, to bring to the interview a self-selected object that had some meaning for them in relation to spirituality. The study interviewed mental health service users and mental health social workers about their perceptions of the relationship between spirituality and mental health and how, if at all, spirituality is included in their practice. This article considers the ways in which the object contributed to the interview process and developed from being an interview aide to being a method in its own right. The discussion also considers when participants chose not to bring an object and the ways in which exploring this further enhanced their understanding about spirituality in both service users and social workers’ lives.