"I can't remember the last time I was comfortable about being home": lived experience perspectives on thriving following homelessness.

PURPOSE: Strategies for preventing and ending homelessness are frequently measured by their effectiveness on indices of tenancy sustainment. To shift this narrative, we conducted research to identify what is needed to "thrive" following homelessness from the perspectives of persons with lived experience in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Conducted in the context of a community-based participatory research study aimed at informing the development of intervention strategies, we interviewed 46 persons living with mental illness and/or substance use disorder [n = 25 (54.3%) unhoused; n = 21 (45.7%) housed following homelessness] using qualitative interviews. A subsample of 14 participants agreed to engage in photovoice interviews. We analysed these data abductively using thematic analysis informed by health equity and social justice. RESULTS: Participants described experiences of "living in a state of lack" following homelessness. This essence was expressed through four themes: 1) housing as part one of the journey to home; 2) finding and keeping "my people"; 3) meaningful activity as critical for thriving following homelessness; and 4) struggling to access mental health supports in the context of challenging circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals struggle to thrive following homelessness in the context of insufficient resources. There is a need to build on existing interventions to address outcomes beyond tenancy sustainment.

'We stick people in a house and say okay, you're housed. The problem is solved': A qualitative study of service provider and organisational leader perspectives on thriving following homelessness.

Research aimed at identifying and evaluating approaches to homelessness has predominately focused on strategies for supporting tenancy sustainment. Fewer studies focus on strategies for enabling thriving following homelessness, and the perspectives of service providers and organisational leaders (SPOL) on this topic are rare. We conducted this study in the context of a community-based participatory research project in two cities in Ontario, Canada. This research was aimed at identifying the strengths and challenges of existing supports in enabling thriving following homelessness, followed by co-designing a novel intervention alongside persons with lived experience of homelessness (PWLEH) and SPOL. The current study presents the findings of interviews conducted in 2020-2021 with SPOL in organisations serving PWLEH. We interviewed 60 individuals including service providers (n = 38; 63.3%) and organisational leaders (n = 22; 36.7%) using semi-structured qualitative interviews. Interviews were conducted and recorded on Zoom to align with physical distancing protocols associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed abductively informed by the lenses of social justice and health equity. The essence of our findings is represented by a quote from a research participant: 'We stick people in a house and say okay, you're housed. The problem is solved'. This essence was expressed through five themes: (1) stuck in a system that prevents thriving, (2) substance use as an important coping strategy that prevents tenancy sustainment and thriving, (3) the critical importance of targeting community integration following homelessness, (4) incorporating peer expertise as imperative and (5) people need to be afforded options in selecting housing and services following homelessness. Our findings indicate that SPOL envision possibilities of thriving following homelessness yet are embedded within a system that often prevents them from supporting individuals who are leaving homelessness to do so. Research, practice and policy implications are discussed.

James F. T. Bugental (1915-2008).

James F. T. Bugental died peacefully at age 92 at his Petaluma, California, home on September 18, 2008. Jim was a leading psychotherapist and a founding father, with Abraham Maslow and others, of humanistic psychology, or the "third force" (in contrast to psychoanalysis and behaviorism). Jim was also the creator, along with Rollo May, of existential-humanistic psychotherapy. Jim was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Christmas Day in 1915. Jim earned his doctorate in 1948 from Ohio State University, where he was influenced by Victor Raimy and George Kelly. After a brief time on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) faculty in psychology, Jim resigned in 1953 to found the first group practice of psychotherapy, Psychological Service Associates, with Alvin Lasko. With Abraham Maslow and others, Jim was a cofounder of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology (JHP) and the Association for Humanistic Psychology in 1961. Jim also wrote many books on the topic of psychotherapy during his lifetime. Jim was a great and bold spirit--his many writings and teachings are cherished today widely, and the field of psychology is much richer for his efforts.