Knut Tore Sælør

Knut Tore Sælør is an Associate Professor at the University of South-East Norway (USN) in the Department of Health, Social and Welfare Studies, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. He is co-leader of the Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse and teaches in master's and PhD programs. His clinical background in adult mental health nursing informs his research on recovery-oriented practices, hope in healthcare, and collaborative approaches to mental health and substance use challenges.

Education: BSc Nursing (Buskerud University College, 2003), Master’s in Clinical Health Work (Buskerud University College, 2010), PhD in Clinical and Developmental Psychology (University of Bergen, 2016). His research integrates qualitative methods like autoethnography and narrative analysis to explore systemic barriers in healthcare and promote patient-centered solutions.

Research interests include mental health recovery dynamics, social inclusion, staff-patient interactions in crisis settings, and the role of hope in long-term care. Recent work focuses on collaborative clinical practices, housing-first models, and peer support systems. His publications analyze recovery narratives, staff-directed aggression prevention, and interdisciplinary approaches to complex health challenges.

Teaching roles include leading the master’s course “Society and Health” and the PhD seminar on autoethnography. He co-founded an autoethnography interest group and participates in international research networks on recovery and social welfare systems.

Key contributions include developing a heuristic model for collaborative mental health practice and evaluating services like the Booppfølgingsteam in Oslo. His work emphasizes democratizing knowledge production through participatory research methods and resisting overly standardized clinical protocols.