Transforming identity through participation in music and theatre: exploring narratives of people with mental health problems

BACKGROUND There is a growing understanding that mental health problems and prolonged contact with mental healthcare systems can affect people's identities. Working with identity is an important element in mental health recovery. PURPOSE In this article, we explore the significance of participation in a music and theatre workshop in terms of people`s experiences of identity. DESIGN AND METHODS This is a qualitative study based on a hermeneutical phenomenological epistemology. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 11 participants at a music and theater workshop, analysed through a narrative analysis and presented in an ideographical "long" narrative form. The music and theater workshop is not overtly therapeutic although the activity takes place in a Norwegian mental health hospital for adults living with long-term mental health problems. RESULTS We identified three crosscutting themes: (1) becoming a whole person, (2) being allowed to hold multiple identities and (3) exploring diverse perspectives. CONCLUSION Findings show that participation in the music and theatre workshop transformed the participants' experiences of identity on two levels: individually and collectively. The participants developed a broader picture of themselves through their creative work with others. When they developed new identities, the narratives of themselves expanded.