ORIGINAL ARTICLE – PEER REVIEWED

Objective: This mixed methods study aimed to develop and test a brief pictorial motivational intervention for Indigenous people with mental illness, which can be delivered in remote settings. For the purpose of this paper ‘Indigenous ’ refers to Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and acknowledges their rich diversity of culture. Methods: This study was conducted in remote Indigenous communities in Northern Australia. An ethnographic approach was used to gather remote Aboriginal Mental Health Worker (AMHW) perspectives of wellbeing through key informant interviews and participant observation. The perspectives were integrated into a brief intervention. The intervention was tested in a randomised controlled trial with Indigenous clients and carers and showed improved outcomes. Concurrent qualitative data related to strengths, stressors, goals for change and reasons for change were collected and thematically analysed. This paper reports on the findings of the analysis of the qualitative data. The findings of the randomised controlled trial have been reported in an earlier paper. Results: Clients rated ‘family ’ as one of the main worries, the main strengths and th