“If walls could talk”: A photo-elicitation-based observation of service users' perceptions of the care setting and of its influence on the therapeutic alliance in addiction treatment

Julie Bailly (1) , Olivier Taïeb (2, 3, 4) , Marie Rose Moro (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) , Thierry Baubet (3, 2, 13, 4) , Aymeric Reyre (4, 2)

1 McGill University = Université McGill [Montréal, Canada]
2 Service de psychopathologie de l'enfant et de l'adolescent, psychiatrie générale [Avicenne]
3 UTRPP - Unité Transversale de Recherche Psychogenèse et Psychopathologie
4 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
5 UPD5 - Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5
6 Maison de Solenn [CHU Cochin]
7 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
8 UPD5 Médecine - Université Paris Descartes - Faculté de Médecine
9 USPC - Université Sorbonne Paris Cité
10 Hôpital Cochin [AP-HP]
11 UP11 - Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11
12 UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
13 CN2R - Centre National de Ressources et de Résilience [Lille]

A good quality therapeutic alliance is central to the support and treatment of people who use psychoactive substances. Although previous research has suggested that place has an important role in sustaining the therapeutic alliance, this issue has been insufficiently explored in the field of addiction treatment. We conducted a qualitative study using photo-elicitation and interviewing service users in an outpatient addiction treatment centre. They reported both strongly positive and negative perceptions of the place, alongside an unstable therapeutic alliance. Apprehending the place in which care is delivered as a dynamic relational network helps to understand the role of place in shaping the therapeutic alliance in addiction treatment. There is a need for careful design and layout, and thoughtful organisation of these places.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Julie Bailly, Olivier Taïeb, Marie Rose Moro, Thierry Baubet, Aymeric Reyre. “If walls could talk”: A photo-elicitation-based observation of service users' perceptions of the care setting and of its influence on the therapeutic alliance in addiction treatment. Health & Place, 2018, 54, pp.69-78. ⟨10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.09.007⟩. ⟨hal-03948576⟩