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2. THE THERAPEUTIC JOURNEYS OF RECOVERING HELPERS ® 39 2.4. DISCUSSION In this study, we assessed the process of how addicts become recovering helpers by utilizing IPA. 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. Recovery is a lifelong process, which requires constant work (Laudet, 2007; Madiacsy, 2013). Shinebourne and Smith (2011b) described this activity as “selfcare’, which Foucault characterized with the term “technologies of the self”. This so-called practicing takes a lifetime: testing, observing, and monitoring ourselves in terms of who we are, what we do, and what we can do (Foucault, 2001). The constant recall of the past as an addict serves the needs of the present; therefore, it is not actually recall, but it is a constant reconstruction (Shinebourne & Smith, 2011a, 2011b). The institutional background serves an important role here, where helpers constantly meet users, so they are always exposed to factors triggering drug use (Curtis & Eby, 2010; Doukas & Cullen, 2010). Turning points that delineate a descending, hitting bottom and then ascending pattern are well known from international AA literature (Aaltonen & Makela, 1994; Cain, 1991; Hanninen & Koski-Jannes, 1999; Jensen, 2000; Steffen, 1997). While the work is done on the drug user or gambler, the addict, and then the recovering self is in the centre, our participants also reported on other changes as well, which accompany these stages: changes in a lifestyle, values, and social connections. In their studies utilizing IPA, Dima and Bucuta (2012) emphasize the role of the “therapeutic journey” in the professional development of psychotherapists. However, when someone wants to become a psychotherapist, they deliberately and consciously start this journey, while recovering helpers recover not with the aim of becoming helpers. However, understanding and experiencing the meaning and essence of helping is important for both professional and recovering helpers (Dima & Bucuta, 2012; Oteiza, 2010; Rizq & Target, 2008). However, one of the main differences between becoming a professional and a recovering helper is the relationship to intrapsychological contents (Dima & Bucuta, 2012; Oteiza, 2010). There seems to be a contradiction between the active work that recovering helpers do on themselves and the passive role that they play as helpers. In this sense, the one being helped goes on his or her own path towards recovery, while the helper helps only by being there. However, an important prerequisite of being there is self-awareness: the constant work that helpers do on themselves. At the same time, when recovering helpers talk about their drug use or their addiction, they often mention an “outsider” (not real) and an “insider”
