In our paper, we will present a narrative research connected to storytelling project with 8 previous substance abusers and their next-of-kind. In 20 days they developed stories of their dreams for the future, to be performed at a RØST-conference in Bergen. Early in the process, it became obvious that several participants had given up on dreaming, because their dreams had been broken. Developing stories of the future with a personal link to their past, made the devising process very hard. Our research question was: How can previous substance abusers foster wellbeing through a shift in perspective from fears of the past to dreams of the future?
Mette Bøe Lyngstad:
Associate professor in drama and applied theatre at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences. She has been working with marginalised group and storytelling for several years. Lyngstad’s research interest is educational drama and theatre in schools, storytelling and applied theatre. She has been a part of the Norwegian research project: Drama, Theatre and Democracy.
