Experiencing Flow in the Clubhouse Model of Psychosocial Rehabilitation

Persons with mental illness struggle daily to overcome their illnesses that relentlessly attack the mind. In efforts to revolutionize mental health treatment, psychologists and doctors have attempted to go beyond symptom reduction. One such method is the Clubhouse Model of psychosocial rehabilitation that welcomes persons with severe mental illness into a socially supportive environment and involves them in meaningful and productive work (Doyle, Lanoil & Dudek, 2013). The Clubhouse Model works: its members report greater feelings of functionality, autonomy, and happiness (Tanaka & Davidson, 2015). However, it is not yet clear how exactly the Clubhouse Model is so effective. The current proposed study will apply the psychology phenomena of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) to the Clubhouse Model’s core structure, its work-ordered day. This proposed study will collect data on Clubhouse members’ experience in three activities: the work-ordered day, free time, and therapy to determine if they are ever in a state of flow. The proposal will collect the data over a six-month period using the Experience Sampling Method (Hektner, Schmidt & Csikszentmihalyi, 2007). Additionally, the proposal will collect longitudinal data of the members’ quality of life (QoL) to determine if members’ QoL increase due to their Clubhouse membership. The proposal’s first hypothesis is that members will experience greater levels of flow during the activities of the work-ordered day over their free time and therapy. The proposal’s second hypothesis is that by experiencing flow, Clubhouse members will experience greater levels of QoL