Understanding the story and narrative gave richness to the interview data, and, when reinforced by the
workshop, gave a transparent data source that both researcher and the researched could understand. The
narrative approach clearly gave a longitudinal perspective to recovery. Participants could explain how
they experienced public space at different stages in recovery over time. Typically, 4–6 h were spent with
each participant (including workshop time) enabling more familiarity with individual participants’ stories.
Recovery is a journey, and different aspects of urban public space can be valuable or detrimental at
different points and for different people. For example, one participant could not look at photographs
of public space without anxiety increasing, whilst another participant reported no longer experiencing
any mental health problems. Familiarity with places affected the benefits they provided; it is not solely
features of spaces but the ‘habituation’ of individuals to them that matters. Material, social and symbolic
aspects of space all influenced recovery, but the ability to deal with multiple layers of these aspects
was something associated with later stages of recovery. More reductionist approaches to researching
recovery from mental illness may not capture this complexity.