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Walk-in single session counselling is becoming a more widely used model for delivering mental health services across Ontario. This paper reports findings from the qualitative phase of a mixed method study, exploring the experiences of those attending walk-in counselling model compared to the traditional service delivery model employing a wait list. We used a comparative case study design for the qualitative phase. Findings reveal that participant outcomes of the walk-in counselling model are influenced by accessibility, how a participant makes sense of the service and the degree to which a participant is motivated and able to engage in counselling. Walk-in counselling supports the mental health system by reducing wait lists associated with traditional service delivery models and meeting the needs many people identify for immediate consultation. Other participants still perceive themselves as requiring ongoing counselling over time and involving in-depth exploration. This research supports health systems providing access to both models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on the findings of the qualitative phase of a New Zealand longitudinal study on vulnerable young people’s transitions to adulthood. The young people were aged between 12 and 17 years at the time of the first interview. The paper focuses on one key finding, how youth enact agency through their relationships with significant others: families, social workers, teachers and care workers. These youth had experienced sustained exposure to harm including abuse, violence, addictions, disengagement from school and mental health issues. The qualitative interviews focused on young people’s experiences with services (child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and education support services) their key transitions, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources. The thematic analysis of the interviews indicated that a search for agency was a central motif in young people’s experiences. This was reflected in three thematic clusters: making sense of the world, having a voice and acting on the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a growing number of reported offenses, clandestine photo-taking has become an increasingly noticeable phenomenon in Hong Kong and other parts of the world. This behavior is usually seen as a selfish act as it invades people's privacy and sexual autonomy to satisfy one's own sex drive. However, the present study provides new and varying insights into the problem. This is the qualitative section of an impact assessment including three focus group interviews with 10 young sexual offenders aged between 18 and 25 years who were either arrested or under probation. The results suggest that more than being sexually driven, people engaged in clandestine photo-taking to eliminate their sense of loneliness and break through the routinization of their everyday lifestyle. Living in a fast-paced and highly demanding metropolitan city, they felt lost and occupied to the extent that they were unaware of their purpose and meaning in life. In contrast, clandestine photo-taking allowed them to have a sense of control and satisfaction that they were lacking in their everyday lives. Based on the young offenders' experiences and responses in the present study, social and parental understanding with early and preventive measures such as curriculum-based sexual education, and sufficient sexual and counseling support will be more important than imposing strong legal sanctions or social control to handle their sexually offending behavior. To assist young people in their need to overcome their everyday life's boredom, stress, and routine, in combination with existing treatments, a meaning-centered approach is suggested for future practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a series of 18 in-depth qualitative interviews from six participants, the present study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore emerging conceptualizations of motherhood among young mothers who gave birth as teenagers while living in foster care. Analysis revealed three themes: Ambivalent Beginnings, Coming into Our Own, and Finding Our Way, which, together, offer an understanding of youths’ interpretation of their experiences of motherhood over time. Findings extend and complicate a risk-only view of teenage pregnancy within foster care settings. They call for a compassionate view of mothering and attuned intervention in these challenging circumstances in order to support both mother and infant mental health and well-being. Study findings further suggest a need for ongoing, relationship-based parenting support coupled with thoughtful pregnancy planning, foster parent training in coming alongside teens rather than either withdrawing or taking over, and nurturing postpartum support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to describe emotion work within a crisis resolution home treatment team in Norway. As defined by Hochschild, “emotion work” refers to managing one’s emotions according to what is culturally acceptable within a particular situation. A crisis resolution home treatment team is of particular interest when studying emotion work, because it represents a working environment where mental health crises and suicidal threat are common and where managing emotions is necessary for the team to function well. We aimed to expand current knowledge of the particular ways in which emotion work may be done by observing and describing the daily work of such a team. Our analyses showed that team members’ emotion work had five main features: (1) emotional expression was common and there seemed to be an informal rule that “vulnerable” emotions could be expressed; (2) emotional expression was most commonly observed in post-event discussions of challenging events or service users; (3) emotional expression facilitated digesting or processing of the event with the help of a fellow team member; (4) emotional expression was met with validation and support; and (5) this support seemed to increase mentalization and understanding of the situation and could be offered only by other team members. An implication of these findings is that informal exchanges of emotion are a necessary part of the work and cannot occur outside of the work context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the findings of a study on child–parent interaction during suspicion of child sexual abuse as seen from the children’s point of view. Study methods followed the principles of grounded theory approaches. Data were drawn from research interviews and child abuse assessment interviews with thirteen children referred to the child protection services because of suspected child sexual abuse. During analysis the core concept of Interactive Regulated Participation was constructed on the basis of the following main categories developed from the children’s narratives: conversations on suspicion, receiving information, contributing in decision-making, sharing feelings and thoughts, and engaging in conversations on meaning-making. These categories help us understand the difficult situation children find themselves in when a suspicion of child sexual abuse is raised, and help us explore and support child–parent interaction in this specific situation. Attention to variations in child–parent interaction may help professionals and parents to focus on children’s opportunities to talk about possible abuse as well as on the children’s situation in the midst of child sexual abuse allegations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]