Using focus groups, the group interaction provide an important source of data about the group process. The aim of this study is to explore how users and professionals in mixed focus groups interact when discussing power in user-professional relationships. By analysing three mixed focus group discussions where both mental health service users and professionals participate, the article contributes to the discussion on focus group interaction in mixed focus groups. The analysis is inspired by Stevens’ twelve-question guide for group interaction. The results show how the participants related to the vignettes, how they related to each other, and contradictions and disagreements in the focus groups discussing the vignettes. Despite the participant’s background as users and professionals, the vignettes engaged the group discussions and became a tool for equality within the groups. By discussing power in user-professional relationships in mixed focus groups, the vignettes were interpreted from perspectives as user, mental health workers and researchers. Mixed focus group interaction can make a valuable contribution to developing knowledge in the field of mental health service research.

Sykepleiestudenter i praksis i psykisk helsearbeid kan være usikre i samhandlingssituasjoner med pasientene. Å reflektere over praksis kan hjelpe dem og kan gjøres gjennom forumspill. Studiens hensikt er å beskrive anvendelsen av forumspill som en dramapedagogisk form for refleksjon med fokus på sykepleierstudenters praksiserfaringer i psykisk helsearbeid. Gjennom deltakende observasjon ble forumspill anvendt, beskrevet og analysert. Forumspill anvender virkelighetsnære, selvopplevde fortellinger som skaper engasjement og en følelse av autentisitet. Gjennom intervensjonene blir nye perspektiver som kan lede til empati og nye fortellinger, synlige. Forumspill kan være en pedagogisk form for å reflektere over og diskutere praksiserfaringer i grupper. To reflect on situations from practice can contribute to nursing students’ knowledge of how to encounter patients and relatives. The aim of the study is to describe the application of Forum Theatre as a drama pedagogical form of reflection focusing on nursing students’ practical experiences in mental health care. Using students’ experienced situations from their practice was of importance as it contributed to their engagement and learning, and resulted in authenticity and new stories. Conclusion: Forum Theatre can be used to enhance nursing students’ reflection and learning about managing situations in alternative ways.

Current mental health policy emphasizes the importance of community-based service delivery for people with mental health problems to encompass personal recovery. The aim of this study is to explore how users and professionals construct the place’s influence on personal recovery in community mental health services. This is a qualitative, interpretive study based on ten individual, semi-structured interviews with users and professionals, respectively. A discourse analysis inspired by the work of Foucault was used to analyze the interviews. The findings show how place can be constructed as a potential for and as a barrier against recovery. Constructions of the aim of the services matter when choosing a place for the services. Further, constructions of user–professional relationships and flexibility are important in the constructions of an appropriate place for the services. The aim of the service, the user–professional relationship, and flexibility in choosing place were essential in the participants’ constructions. To find “the right place” for mental health services was constructed as context-sensitive and complex processes of assessment and co-determination. Trial registration The study is approved by the Regional Committee for Medical Research Ethics, Norway (REK-Midt 2011/2057)