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Background: Despite the continuous increase of trafficking in the UK, there is limited understanding of the experiences and circumstances of trafficked individuals, and how service providers should best support their rehabilitation. Existing studies with this population, tend to reduce trafficked people's multidimensional experiences to health issues such as classifying individuals as a function of symptoms and conditions experienced due to trafficking, which restricts our understanding of the complex realities faced by them. There is therefore a need for a more nuanced understanding of trafficking requires the consideration of individuals' insights, reflections and experiences from their perspectives. Aim: The aim of this research is to systematically explore trafficked people's lived experiences in the UK. Methodology: This study builds on Arts-based and narrative methodologies, to incorporate respondents' creativity and active engagement in knowledge construction. By means of facilitating a reflexive process, participants, men and women who have accessed posttrafficking services in the UK, chose their preferred methodology for relaying their experiences through visual and/or narrative methods, and were subsequently invited to discus, interpret and illuminate their findings. Recruitment and Sampling: Participants (n=57), men and women who have accessed or are accessing post-trafficking services in the UK, were recruited from three support centres within two umbrella organisations, one aligned to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and another independent organisation within the voluntary sector. Conclusion: Findings from this study convey marginalized discourses which have been largely overlooked in the research literature. Despite dominant perceptions of inherent vulnerability associated with trafficked people, participants in this study demonstrated strengths, resilience and agency, alongside areas of difficulties following trafficking. Findings further establish that the post - trafficking period is characterised by instability, perceptions of being under surveillance, as well as experiencing economic and immigration uncertainties. Original Contribution to Knowledge: Apart from adopting a holistic approach to affirming the views and experiences of those who are mostly affected by trafficking, recommendations inform best practices aimed at supporting trafficked people's integration in the host community and the development of appropriate support services. Further, this study adds to the body of the literature on arts-based methodologies and highlights the therapeutic potential of the use of research as intervention.

Background: Effective communication is core to patient care, this includes recognising and responding to patients’ emotions. Evidence suggests that when health care professionals provide facilitative (provide space) responses to patient emotions, these are associated with more positive health outcomes and satisfaction. However, less is known about emotional communication in the context of mental health and with nurses and nursing students. The aim of this thesis was therefore twofold. Aims: To explore how student mental health nurses (SMHN) respond to patient and simulated patient emotions. To explore the relationship between these responses and patient and SMHN satisfaction. Methods: A quantitative design was adopted with a sample of second and third year undergraduate SMHNs. Three separate but linked studies assessed SMHN responses to patients’ emotional expressions in classroom and clinical settings using the Verona Consensus Coding Definition of Emotional Sequences (VR-CoDES). Patient and student satisfaction with the consultation was also measured using an adapted Interview Satisfaction Questionnaire (ISQ). Results: Results indicated that a high number of SMHNs gave facilitative (provide space) responses for the patient to discuss their concerns further. There were significant differences in responses between academic year groups in classroom settings, with third year students giving more provide space responses that facilitated discussions with patients than second year students. In addition, positive satisfaction ratings by both patients and SMHNs provided clinical validity to the SMHN identification of, and responses to, patients cues and concerns. Conclusions and implications for practice: This study is unique as it is the first to explore emotional communication between SMHN and inpatient mental health population samples using VR-CoDES analysis. Findings from this study can directly inform undergraduate mental health nurse training, learning and assessment and have implications for practice such as providing patient centred care and responding to patient emotions in such settings.