‘Naught but a story’: Narratives of successful AA recovery

Weegmann, Martin; Piwowoz-Hjort, Ewa

doi:10.5172/hesr.2009.18.3.273

Cited by 37 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…One popular metaphor in connection with addiction treatment, especially in 12-step communities -is that recovering from an addiction is a journey (Marlatt and Fromme 1986;Weegmann and Piwowoz-Hjort 2009). This also appears in our study as well: the helper is a companion for the client's journey, the mentor of a traveler, who touches the traveler's shoulder but does not designate the destination.…”

Section: The Experience Of Helpingmentioning

confidence: 75%

The Therapeutic Journeys of Recovering Helpers – an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Rácz

Kassai

Pintér

et al. 2015

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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Recovering helpers play an increasing role in addiction treatment. In this study, we assessed the process of how addicts become recovering helpers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six recovering helpers, and the transcribed interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four turning points were identified during the interviews: starting using drugs or gambling, becoming an addict, hitting bottom, and becoming a helper. In addition, four themes related to being a helper were identified: the recovering self and the helping self, the wounded helper, the skilled helper and the experience of helping. Understanding the dynamics and background of recovering helpers' work may contribute to their training, to finding the most appropriate place for them in addiction treatment, and in drug and alcohol policy.Recovering helpers already existed in the 19th century in hospitals or in other rehabilitation centers in the US. Currently about 37-75 % of helpers in the USA are recovering users (Knudsen, Ducharme, and Roman 2006;McNulty, Oser, Johnson, Knudsen, and Roman 2007). Often they work within the frameworks of the Minnesota method (also known as the 12-step program) (White 2000a, b). Motivation is a very significant factor in helpers' lives: their life is a role, which helps other drug users to recover.

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Section: The Experience Of Helpingmentioning

confidence: 75%

The Therapeutic Journeys of Recovering Helpers – an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Rácz

Kassai

Pintér

et al. 2015

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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show abstract

“…Prior studies have shown that clients in recovery from addiction perceive religion and congregational life as a supporting context in which one takes responsibility and develop reciprocal relations [21]. Individuals who have recovered with support of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) seem to appreciate the spiritual/existential value-based parts of AA [48]. A tentative thought is that the participants in this study appreciated that religious and spiritual systems acknowledge that as human beings, we are all deficient and we all need guidelines and a frame for how to behave.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It’s A Deficiency Disorder”. Clients Understanding of Substance and Behavioral Addictions and Treatment Needs: An Interview Study

Punzi¹

2016

J Reward Defic Syndr Addict Sci

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“…The studies devoted to issues of identity of alcohol dependent persons have been focused mainly on the problems of acquiring the identity of an 'alcoholic' or 'recovering alcoholic' , reconstructing of identity during treatment and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and the role of these mentioned processes in maintaining abstinence and avoiding alcohol relapses [7][8][9]. Studies of this kind have been conducted primarily from a phenomenological and narrative perspective [10,11]. Nevertheless, there are not many studies based on developmental or clinical identity theories [12].…”

Section: ■ Wprowadzeniementioning

confidence: 99%

The identity of alcohol dependent persons

Wojtynkiewicz¹

2018

ain

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Introduction: Identity is seen as the basis for human mental and psychosocial functioning. The formation of a coherent and stable identity is treated as crucial for a person's healthy development whereas difficulties in terms of its formation can lead to various forms of disorder. The aim of the research was to verify if alcohol dependent people differ from the nondependent in terms of identity coherence, stability, accessibility, specificity, separateness and valuation, also taking gender into account. And whether identity in the group of alcohol dependent persons relates to the length of dependence, length of abstinence, number of undertaken therapies, level of alcohol use, gender and age. Material and methods: The sample consisted of 221 alcohol dependent (including 166 men) and 121 non-dependent persons (including 84 men). In order to examine the features of the identity dimension structure, Pilarska's Multidimensional Questionnaire of Identity was used. Test AUDIT was used to estimate the level of alcohol use. Results: The variance analysis proved that the alcohol dependent persons obtain lower Streszczenie Wprowadzenie: Tożsamość uznawana jest za podstawę psychicznego i psychospołecznego funkcjonowania człowieka. Uformowanie spójnej i stabilnej tożsamości traktowane jest jako kluczowe dla zdrowego rozwoju człowieka, natomiast trudności w zakresie jej kształtowania mogą prowadzić do różnych form zaburzeń. Celem badań było sprawdzenie, czy osoby uzależnione od alkoholu różnią się od osób nieuzależnionych w zakresie spójności, stabilności, dostępności, specyficzności, wyodrębniania i wartościowania tożsamości oraz jaką rolę odgrywa tu płeć badanych. Dodatkowo analizowano, czy tożsamość w grupie osób uzależnionych od alkoholu zależy od długości uzależnienia i utrzymywania abstynencji, liczby podejmowanych terapii, poziomu używania alkoholu oraz płci i wieku. Materiał i metody: Badaniami objęto 221 osób uzależnionych od alkoholu, w tym 166 mężczyzn i 55 kobiet, oraz 121 osób nieuzależnionych, w tym 84 mężczyzn i 37 kobiet. Do badania właściwości struktury tożsamości zastosowano Wielowymiarowy Kwestionariusz Tożsamości A. Pilarskiej; ponadto dla określenia poziomu używania alkoholu wykorzystano test AUDIT. Wyniki: Analiza wariancji pokazała, że osoby uzależnione od alkoholu uzyskują niższe wyniki

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‘Naught but a story’: Narratives of successful AA recovery

Cited by 37 publications

References 3 publications

The Therapeutic Journeys of Recovering Helpers – an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

The Therapeutic Journeys of Recovering Helpers – an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

“It’s A Deficiency Disorder”. Clients Understanding of Substance and Behavioral Addictions and Treatment Needs: An Interview Study

The identity of alcohol dependent persons

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