Mental health intervention programmes on television - a force for good?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Brighton
Department Name: Sch of Applied Social Sciences
Abstract
A growing number of reality TV series have presented participants with mental health problems undergoing
'tailored for television' psychological interventions (for example, House of OCD and The Vertigo Road Trip).
These programmes attract large audience figures, and generate wide reaching coverage and debate across
multimedia platforms; but very little is known about their impact on participants and their families, the TV
production team and experts involved, or the audiences who engage with them. These series claim to make
significant therapeutic breakthroughs, often in rapid timeframes. However, they cause controversy within the
professional psychology and self-help communities in both their handling of vulnerable participants and the
simplification of how mental health difficulties and therapeutic treatments are presented to the audience.1
Although there may be serious reasons to be concerned, if these series are achieving positive outcomes for the
people involved, there may also be lessons to be learned that could be applied to conventional therapeutic
models. In addition, there is some research that suggests this style of television series may have some psychoeducational
benefits for audiences.2 This interdisciplinary research project will employ theoretical frameworks
and methodologies from psychology, media and cultural studies to investigate the impact of televised series
involving a mental health intervention - for the participants involved and/or as a tool for meaningful psychoeducation
within audience communities.
'tailored for television' psychological interventions (for example, House of OCD and The Vertigo Road Trip).
These programmes attract large audience figures, and generate wide reaching coverage and debate across
multimedia platforms; but very little is known about their impact on participants and their families, the TV
production team and experts involved, or the audiences who engage with them. These series claim to make
significant therapeutic breakthroughs, often in rapid timeframes. However, they cause controversy within the
professional psychology and self-help communities in both their handling of vulnerable participants and the
simplification of how mental health difficulties and therapeutic treatments are presented to the audience.1
Although there may be serious reasons to be concerned, if these series are achieving positive outcomes for the
people involved, there may also be lessons to be learned that could be applied to conventional therapeutic
models. In addition, there is some research that suggests this style of television series may have some psychoeducational
benefits for audiences.2 This interdisciplinary research project will employ theoretical frameworks
and methodologies from psychology, media and cultural studies to investigate the impact of televised series
involving a mental health intervention - for the participants involved and/or as a tool for meaningful psychoeducation
within audience communities.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Matthew Adams (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Hannah Selby (Student) |
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000673/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 1957049 | Studentship | ES/P000673/1 | 01/10/2017 | 15/08/2021 | Hannah Selby |
| Description | Presentation at South Coast Training Partnership Final Year Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This was a postgraduate event with a series of presentations on impact by third year funding PhD students to other postgraduates from within the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership. It was attended by postgraduates and staff from Southampton, Portsmouth and Brighton University. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |