Method
Participants and Setting
Participants were recruited after human subjects review and approval was received from the university and the two collaborating psychosocial rehabilitation organizations involved in the study. As detailed in a previous publication (Van Lith,2014), selection criteria were that the participants were actively engaged in their program of recovery, were satisfactorily managing their mental illness, and were well enough to consent to participation in the study. The study comprised twelve participants: five men and seven women. Their ages ranged from early 20s to late 50s. Length of participation in mental health care services ranged from 5 years to more than 10 years. The participants had ongoing and severe levels of mental health issues; however, their diagnoses were not specifically identified in the study. This decision followed the mental health recovery principle that requires one to look beyond diagnosis to focus on personal growth (Anthony, 1993; Deegan, 1988, 2005). Participants had widely different degrees of interest and experience in art making, ranging from no interest in art before the onset of illness to regularly creating and exhibiting artworks. In order for participants to be able to locate themselves in any research publication they were asked to create their own pseudonyms.