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1.INTRODUCTION = 17 and identity formation (which are essential to recovery from addiction) could be examined beneficially. According to narrative psychological studies the critical point of the recovery process is when drug users recognize that their damaged sense of selves have to be restored, and they should engage with a new identity (Biernacki, 1986). In other words, they have to transform the “spoiled identity” (as Goffman, 1963 described it) into the identity of recovery (J. McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001). The “turning points” are considered to be the essential steps on the road to recovery. These could help drug users to reconstruct meanings of their experiences, reflectively reconsider their lives and change their future (Hanninen & Koski-Jannes, 1999; Koski-Jannes, 1998; J. McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001). ” Turning points” are incorporated in life history as motors of identity work (Hanninen & Koski-Jannes, 1999; Koski-Jannes, 1998, 2002). The experience of the "rock bottom” (the turning point which often emphasized by AA literature, e.g., Alcoholics Anonymous, 2001) facilitates the recognition of they have not cared for themselves before (Koski-Jannes, 2002). Recovery involves continuous selfcare, self-monitoring, and reconstruction of life narratives (Larkin & Griffiths, 2002; Jozsef Racz et al., 2015). The reconstruction of narratives means reinterpreting experiences of addiction, and it is promoted by pre-constructed narratives of self-help groups, where peers’ stories could offer inspiring models of how to forming a non-stigmatized identity (Koski-Jannes, 2002; Larkin & Griffiths, 2002; J. McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001). Self-help groups could be considered as a “normative narrative community,’ where identity transformation takes place through the use of metaphor and storytelling (Davis & Jansen, 1998). According to J. McIntosh and McKeganey (2000) recovery is grounded in the formation of “non-addict identity”. This new identity is a consequence of reinterpreted “user self” and reconstructed self-image. The alteration of experiences and the alteration of identity during substance use are parallel processes. Users’ experiences of psychoactive substances are mostly positive at the beginning of the drug use career, and these positive experiences often relate to a positive identity or positive self-image. In the later stages of drug use, the drug (or the object of addiction) with many unpleasant symptoms lose much of its previous power and “mystic” (pp. 1504), thereby the users should reinterpret their “user self” which was perceived as being positive at the beginning of drug use carrier. Due to the reinterpretation, they keep distance from the “user self” and endeavor to evolve a more authentic self, thereby, evolve the “non-addict identity” (pp. 1504). The identity change during recovery from addiction is a dynamic process, in which experiences and identity change during addiction and experiences of non-addict identity are equally important. In Figure 1.1 try to visualize this process (of course this process is not as linear) according to existing literature.
