The role of place-making dynamics in recovery from co-occurring disorders: An in-depth ethnographic study

The recovery processes of persons with co-occurring substance use and severe mental health problems (e.g. psychosis) take a slow and unpredictable course. Despite the fact that a number of essential building blocks of recovery have been identified (e.g. social relationships, treatment, personal beliefs), the actual process of recovery in persons with co-occurring disorders largely remains a black box. Rooted in a relational geographical conceptualization of place, this study aims to unravel the role of place-making dynamics in the recovery processes of persons with co-occurring disorders, by means of an in-depth ethnographic study of one low-threshold meeting place in Belgium engaging with this population. The global COVID-19 pandemic provided us with a unique caesura to study the role of place in service users’ recovery processes, as corona measures severely disturbed the meeting place’s daily practice and prevailing place-making dynamics. Data collection took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (January-February 2021) by means of 11 in-depth interviews with different involved actors (service users, staff members, volunteers). Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results showed how the daily practice of the meeting place is continuously reproduced through place-making rituals that create an inclusive space of hospitality, are fuelled by creative processes and form an indispensable counterweight for service users’ mental health needs and substance use. These rituals shape the meeting place as a territory of recovery. To further open up the ‘black box’ of recovery in persons with co-occurring disorders, it is vital to broaden our analytic focus from the individual in recovery as primary unit of analysis onto recovery as a dynamic, contextual and relational practice.