Publications
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Mandelkow, Lars; Sørensen, Torgeir & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2026).
Norwegian folk high schools: mental health and meaning.
Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.
ISSN 0031-3831.
doi:
10.1080/00313831.2026.2685704.
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Mental health challenges are increasing among young people, making it important to understand how educational environments can support well-being and existential development. This study examines changes in mental health and meaning in life among students attending Norwegian folk high schools (FHS), a non-formal, residential model emphasising community and personal growth. Using an independent-samples pre–post design (nT1 = 670, nT2 = 833), we compared FHS and university students across a school year with validated measures (SCL-10, MAPS) and regression analyses. FHS school students showed significant improvements in mental distress and meaningfulness, whereas university students showed no change. Screen time, time in nature and gender identity predicted distress and meaning-related outcomes. More than 70% of FHS students reported reduced screen time, compared to fewer than 30% of university students. Findings suggest that FHSs may offer a protective environment for existential development amid pressures of digitalisation, performance and disconnection.
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Sælør, Knut Tore; Sundet, Rolf; Lidbom, Per Arne; Bertelsen, Bård; Bøe, Tore Dag & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2026).
An ontology of difference: Speculations on psychotherapy, mental health work, difference, and ethical realism.
Theory & psychology.
ISSN 0959-3543.
p. 1–21.
doi:
10.1177/09593543261418615.
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In mental health and substance use, assessment and the resulting diagnosis determine the choice of treatment or therapy to be used with the individual client. In health policy today, treatment should be evidence based and standardized. Health care thus draws on New Public Management principles, where only those methods and practices considered to be evidence based are accepted in the “market” of public health care. However, we view psychotherapy and mental health work as a meeting between persons that in the spirit of standardization might well be labelled “an individual case.” Psychiatric diagnoses are subject not only to standardization but also to a focus on identity and similarities, as more generally seen in Western science and philosophy. Difference arises when comparing identities; difference is secondary to identities. In this article, we draw on the philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari to explore whether an ontology of difference could be helpful in therapy. An ontology of difference speaks to our experience as therapists, researchers, and teachers that there will always be difference, and that identities are secondary to difference. Rather than providing standardized answers, knowledge is useful for speculating, experimenting, and bringing forth innovative suggestions as to what could be helpful therapy in the individual case. We do not know what psychotherapy and mental health work can become and we need tools for experimentation, suggestions, and visions of what could be helpful. This must be based on collaborative relationships with those who seek help and support. The central question is, then: What can therapy become?
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Mandelkow, Lars; Lauritzen, Mirjam & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2026).
Caring for meaning: a qualitative exploration of healthcare professionals’ experiences.
Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.
ISSN 1403-4948.
doi:
10.1177/14034948251411758.
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Background: Healthcare professionals often face tension between caregiving values and systemic demands for efficiency and economic stability. While caregivers focus on patient well-being, hospital leaders must ensure resource and staff management—roles that can appear contradictory.
Objective: This study explores how both caregivers and leaders in a large Norwegian hospital experience meaning in their work, aiming to identify shared ground for healthcare engagement. Drawing on Hartmut Rosa’s resonance theory and Tatjana Schnell’s research on meaning in life, we examine how professional experiences foster or hinder resonance—a mode of being characterized by mutual responsiveness and transformation.
Methods: Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses, doctors, and leaders using a guide informed by resonance theory. Data were analyzed thematically in a multidisciplinary team.
Results: Four themes emerged: (1) healthcare as a demanding yet meaningful profession, (2) organizational challenges, (3) patient relationships, and (4) teamwork and collegial support. Across roles, participants described systemic pressures that threaten meaningful engagement, but also highlighted moments of deep resonance—particularly in patient care, collaboration, and learning.
Discussion: Resonance and meaning are sustained when work aligns with moral purpose and supports relational and reflective engagement. Both caregivers and leaders seek meaning in their roles, often through shared values and relationships. These findings underscore the need for organizational structures that allow space for resonance, rather than accelerating alienation through excessive control and restructuring.
Conclusions: Caring for meaning represents common ground for caregivers and leaders. A resonance-informed healthcare leadership might strengthen both staff well-being and quality of care.
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Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Bertelsen, Bård
(2025).
Posisjonen til terapeuten - en videoveiledningsmetode.
Fokus på familien/ Nordisk tidsskrift for familie- og relasjonsarbeid.
ISSN 0332-5415.
53(4),
p. 320–340.
doi:
10.18261/fokus.53.4.4.
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Artikkelen presenterer en videobasert veiledningsmetode for studenter i familieterapi og systemisk praksis. Kjernen i metoden er en transkripsjonsmatrise som studentene bruker for å transkribere deler av terapisamtaler fra egen praksis. Studentene transkriberer en sekvens fra en samtale og analyserer den i en tredelt struktur der de redegjør faglig for egne valg i terapisituasjonen, alternative muligheter de kunne valgt, og hvordan de tenker at samtalen påvirket de ulike deltakerne. Veiledningen vektlegger refleksjon over egne handlinger. Målet er ikke bare å lære teknikk, men å utvikle dømmekraft og en «føling med faget» som praksis, og bygger på pedagogiske ideer fra Donald Schön og Gert Biesta. Metoden er ment å fremme langsomhet, selvrefleksjon og utforsking av faglige og personlige posisjoner, og skaper rom for usikkerhet og subjektivisering – det å tre frem som et ansvarlig, handlende subjekt i møte med virkelighetens kompleksitet. Den passer særlig godt for studenter på videreutdanning i familieterapi og systemisk praksis, som er i ferd med å gjøre seg kjent med feltets teorier og praksisformer. Slik kan den danne et godt grunnlag for senere veiledningsprosesser med større fokus på terapeuten som person, og terapeutens indre dialoger.
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Bertelsen, Bård; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth; Olkowska, Alicja; Lindeman, Sari Kaarina; Flon, Halvor de & Karlsen, Tor-Ivar
(2025).
Relevance and utility of family therapy education. Recommendations for a large-scale survey based on a pilot study among students, therapists and employers. | Research Square.
Research Square.
ISSN 2693-5015.
doi:
10.21203/rs.3.rs-8059525/v1.
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This article presents a pilot study of family therapy education and practice in Norway, forming the basis for a planned large-scale survey. The pilot examined perceptions among students, practitioners, and employers regarding the relevance and utility of family therapy education. Theoretical perspectives, such as Donald Schön’s concept of «reflection-in-action», guide the survey questions, as do pressing issues in the welfare sector, including multiculturalism, violence, addiction, and sexual health. Key findings highlight diverse educational and professional backgrounds in the field and varying assessments of family therapy competencies across sectors. The pilot study identifies challenges, including low response rates in some target groups and discrepancies in the perceived value of family therapy education. Insights from the pilot will inform the design of a comprehensive survey to further explore family therapy education’s role in meeting evolving professional demands.
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Mandelkow, Lars & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2025).
Mental health and meaning in modern life among young adults in Norway.
Discover Mental Health.
5(1).
doi:
10.1007/s44192-025-00317-z.
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Mental health concerns are increasing among young adults in Western societies, including Norway. While rising distress is well documented, fewer studies investigate how meaning in life and everyday social behaviour relate to mental well-being – especially in highly secular, individualised contexts. This study examines how mental health symptoms among Norwegian young adults are associated with perceived meaning, social commitment, screen time, and time spent in nature. A total of 713 first-year students aged 18–21 from different education institutions completed a survey including the SCL-10 (mental health symptoms), The Meaning and Purpose Scales (MAPS), and behavioural measures. Analyses included correlations, t-tests, MANOVA, and hierarchical regressions. Higher levels of psychological distress were strongly associated with lower perceived meaningfulness and higher crisis of meaning. Social commitment correlated with better mental health and stronger meaning scores across several MAPS domains, including spirituality and community connection. Screen time was positively associated with distress, while time in nature was linked to higher meaning. Guided by different theoretical psychological and sociological perspectives, the findings suggest that existential resources – especially meaningfulness, social engagement, and resonance with nature – play a central role in young people’s mental health. Conversely, excessive digital engagement may disrupt these sources of orientation. The study contributes to existential health research by combining psychological and sociocultural theory in a secular setting. Policy and educational strategies should support young people’s access to resonant, meaning-oriented environments, with special attention to screen balance, social participation, and nature-based experiences.
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Bertelsen, Bård; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth; Bøe, Tore Dag; Lidbom, Per Arne; Sundet, Rolf & Ingold, Tim
(2025).
Steps towards a New Humanism in the Mental Health Disciplines - An Interview with Tim Ingold.
Integrative Psychological and Behavioural Science.
ISSN 1932-4502.
59.
doi:
10.1007/s12124-024-09877-1.
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This interview article explores how British anthropologist Tim Ingold’s work can inspire innovation in mental health and the psy disciplines. Ingold critiques dominant biomedical and individualistic approaches, arguing for the importance of caring attentiveness and abolishing dichotomies like those between surface and depth, when engaging with people to understand and assist them. Instead, he suggests viewing human existence as correspondences with environmental, social, and relational others. The interview highlights the concept of “doing-undergoing,” proposing that care is a reciprocal, relational process. Ingold’s ideas suggest a shift towards practices that engage directly with the world and promote attentiveness to human and more-than-human relations. The article encourages practitioners, educators and students of mental health disciplines to rethink traditional models and adopt more humane approaches.
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Bøe, Tore Dag; Bertelsen, Bård; Sundet, Rolf; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Lidbom, Per Arne
(2024).
Return to reality: What does the world ask of us?
Theory & psychology.
ISSN 0959-3543.
34(4),
p. 531–550.
doi:
10.1177/09593543241245071.
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This article introduces the project Return to Reality: What Does the World Ask of Us? This project evolved from a concern that frameworks in mental health operate with knowledge as their primary mode in such a way that reality is lost from sight. This is not primarily an epistemological problem, but an ethical and existential one: ethical because a knowledge-mediated relation to the real can make us blind to the ethical imperatives found in encounters with reality; existential because to be a subject is to respond to what is real. The works of Gert Biesta are a key inspiration. We use Levinas’s, Lingis’s, and Arendt’s ideas to elaborate these concerns. A return to reality is needed; a shift from knowledge-based to reality-sensitive approaches. We relate these ideas to the Open Dialogue approach, with the key imperative of responding to the presence of those present, and to Reflecting team practices, which Tom Andersen describes as being guided by people’s bodily responses.
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Bertelsen, Bård; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth; Bøe, Tore Dag; Lidbom, Per Arne; Sundet, Rolf & Biesta, Gert J.J.
(2023).
The World Asks Something from Us: An Interview With Gert Biesta About Encountering Subjects in Education and Mental Health Work.
Journal of constructivist psychology.
ISSN 1072-0537.
p. 1–11.
doi:
10.1080/10720537.2023.2291648.
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This interview with Gert Biesta is part of an ongoing research initiative to explore the relationship between reality, social construction, and professional practices within the mental health field. Biesta’s work has been a critical source of inspiration for this project. Biesta’s work centers on the purpose and aims of education, emphasizing subjectification or the process of engaging with one’s own freedom and becoming a subject capable of navigating the world. Biesta argues for a world-centered rather than child-centered or curriculum-centered education. This is not only because education should provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to act effectively in the world, but most importantly, because the world is where our existence as human beings takes place. Biesta thus engages with ethics and the connection between education and broader philosophical themes and challenges instrumental approaches in favor of seeing education as having intrinsic value for human growth and democratic citizenship. Although Biesta’s work is primarily concerned with educational questions, his ideas transcend education and can prove productive in other domains. In the interview, we extend the conversation to mental health, seeking areas where Biesta’s ideas resonate. In the concluding paragraph, the authors highlight the parallels between education and mental health, particularly their shared emphasis on subjectivity and the challenge of navigating reality. It is suggested that education and mental health intersect in their concern for “subjectness” and how individuals must relate to what the world demands of them.
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Zahl-Olsen, Rune; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth; Ness, Ottar & Oterholt, Frank
(2022).
Å bli familieterapeut: En kvalitativ studie av videoveiledning i familieterapiutdanning.
Uniped - Tidsskrift for universitets- og høgskolepedagogikk.
ISSN 1500-4538.
45(3),
p. 233–244.
doi:
10.18261/uniped.45.3.7.
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Studenter som utdanner seg til familieterapeuter, skal tilegne seg kunnskap om aktuelle teorier og metodiske
tilnærminger. De skal tilegne seg ferdigheter og utvikle et reflektert forhold til egne verdier og holdninger og hvilken
betydning dette har i arbeid med mennesker. Veiledning av familieterapistudentenes kliniske arbeid i utdanningen
er en viktig faktor for at studentene skal oppnå læringsutbyttet og kunne reflektere over sin personlige og sin
profesjonelle utvikling. I denne kvalitative studien ble ni familieterapistudenter intervjuet i fokusgrupper for å
reflektere over hvilke erfaringer de hadde med videoveiledning i sine lærings- og utviklingsprosesser. Datamaterialet
ble analysert gjennom systematisk tekstkondensering. Studien viser at studentene gjennom videoveiledning fikk
anledning til å se og høre rollen spilt i reelle settinger i samtaler med familier som sliter. Det gjorde at de fikk
anledning til å få en bred oppfatning av rollen som familieterapeut og var til hjelp i deres læringsprosess mot
å bli familieterapeut.
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Helgeland, Anne; Oanes, Camilla Jensen; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Zahl-Olsen, Rune
(2017).
Med blikk på oss selv : intensivt familieterapeutisk behandlingstilbud.
Fokus på familien/ Nordisk tidsskrift for familie- og relasjonsarbeid.
ISSN 0332-5415.
45(4),
p. 258–279.
doi:
10.18261/issn.0807-7487-2017-04-02.
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Ulland, Dagfinn; Ulland, Erna & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2014).
Samhandling om utdanning av psykisk helsearbeidere.
Nordisk sygeplejeforskning.
ISSN 1892-2678.
4(2),
p. 129–141.
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Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Bertelsen, Bård
(2025).
Ferdighetstrening ved hjelp av videoveiledning.
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I workshopen vil vi beskrive en
videoveiledningsmetode utviklet for ferdighetstrening med familieterapistudenter. Videoveiledning gir
studenter et rammeverk og en struktur for å knytte sammen teoretisk kunnskap og praktiske
ferdigheter. Som arbeidsform legger det også til rette for sosialisering til profesjonell samhandling,
gjennom å kreve at studentene engasjerer seg i hverandres arbeid gjennom observasjon og dialog. I
videoveileding inviteres også den enkelte student til å reflektere over sin egen nåværende praksis, og ta
stilling til hvem de er og hvem de ønsker å være som terapeut.
Vi vil først kort redegjøre videoveiledning i systematisk veiledet ferdighetstrening av familieterapeuter,
før vi presenterer vår metode for videoveiledning. Deretter beskriver vi konteksten metoden ble utviklet
i, og det utdanningsteoretiske grunnlaget den bygger på. Avslutningsvis vil vi drøfte hvordan denne
metoden skiller seg fra andre videoveiledningsmetoder benyttet på familieterapifeltet, hva vi anser som
metodens særlige fortrinn og mulige ulemper, og foreslå hvordan metoden kan brukes og
videreutvikles i andre kontekster.
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Bøe, Tore Dag; Lidbom, Per Arne; Melby, Kristian Leonard; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Bertelsen, Bård
(2025).
Elements of Expression in Human Relationships: Multimodal Exploration of the Bio-Social Dynamics of Communication.
Full text in Research Archive
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Bertelsen, Bård & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2024).
Perceptions of the value of family therapy education among students, therapists and employers: A survey.
Full text in Research Archive
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Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Bertelsen, Bård
(2024).
On expertice and being an expert - a (k)not knowing approach to therapy.
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Bøe, Tore Dag; Lidbom, Per Arne; Sundet, Rolf; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Bertelsen, Bård
(2019).
What the world asks of me.
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Bøe, Tore Dag; Hillesund, Odd Kenneth & Austrud, Stein
(2016).
ANERKJENNENDE ARBEID MED BARN OG UNGDOM MED ATFERDSVANSKER
Hvordan kan perspektiver fra terapi, ny forskning og bruk av musikk gi nyttige innspill?
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Bøe, Tore Dag; Bertelsen, Bård; Lidbom, Per Arne & Hillesund, Odd Kenneth
(2016).
“Attentive pro-spective responsibility: Opening the future for each other”.
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Published
Apr. 16, 2024 11:15 AM
