Experiences of family group conferencing in an adult mental health service

Aim: This study aimed to explore the experiences of adults who had engaged with the FGC approach, in an NHS mental health service in the UK. Background: FGC is not frequently used to work with adults experiencing mental health difficulties in the UK and is more widely applied in the Netherlands. While the literature regarding this topic is limited, the available studies share encouraging results, regarding it being a positive and beneficial intervention for service users. Methodology: The approach taken was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and six semi-structured interviews were conducted with adults who had attended their family group conference within the past twelve months within a mental health service. Results: Through the analysis, themes were identified, four group experiential themes (GETs) and eleven personal experiential themes (PETs). The GETs were ‘the changing self,’ ‘exploring relationships,’ ‘a therapeutic experience’ and ‘sharing power.’ Conclusion: There are findings in this study that add to the existing literature that FGC is experienced, as being empowering and helpful for improving relationships. This research has also explored different ideas, such as individuals experiencing positive changes in identity, improving self-care and wellbeing through the work. Further consideration has been given to the perspective that the intervention is therapeutic for those engaging with it and the impact of this. A change model has been applied to FGC and various hypotheses have been put forward about the mechanisms of how the intervention works. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for research in the future was discussed.