Outline for a Qualitative Pilot Project on Vancouver’s Down Town East Side Regarding What Consumers of Mental Health and Substance Misuse Services Consider Effective & Beneficial Outcomes Following from Therapeutic Conversation

Abstract

This thesis represents a proposal for a qualitative inquiry research pilot project. The project would involve consumers of both mental health and addiction services in the vicinity of Vancouver known as the Down Town East Side. Participants within the project would be considered co-researchers, thus the project would be collaborative. The primary research question proposed would be, In your experience, what has been most beneficial in terms of the counselling experience(s) you have had with mental health and/or addictions services? The co-research deriving from this qualitative inquiry would be utilized in fine tuning existing mental health and addiction services of the Down Town East Side and would be further proposed to all levels of government involved with funding new, innovative, programs, evolving from participants‟ lived experience and suggestions. The idea informing this project derived from a nine-month internship the writer undertook as an Outreach Worker with Strathcona Mental Health Team, located at Cordova and Heatley, on the Down Town East Side. The inspiration came from many conversations with consumers whose thoughts regarding just what entailed therapy often challenged taken for granted notions of what therapy represents.