Oldal 42 [42]
40 = USING INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
(real) self - deep in their hearts they are different, as J. McIntosh and McKe¬
ganey (2000) put it.
Groesbeck (1975) and Barr (2006) highlighted the importance of helpers’
prior “wounds”, which motivate their choices of profession and professional
careers. In our study, participants’ past “wounds” (their wounded identities)
also have an effect of the present: although the professional helpers have re¬
covered from their wounds, but they do not want to get rid of their wound¬
edness or scars (metaphorically speaking). On the other hand, they want to
make them visible and use them during their work as helpers. According to
Conti-O’Hare (2002), people with living wounds become healers (“wounded
healers”) by “walking wounded” on a certain path. Therefore, processing and
transforming woundedness and pain is necessary for the helper to achieve
the transcendence that enables him or her to heal others.
One popular metaphor in connection with addiction treatment, especially
in 12-step communities — is that recovering from an addiction is a journey
(Marlatt & Fromme, 1987; Weegmann & 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. The “recovery is a journey” and the “wounded
helper” metaphors suppose a more complete destination, where the helper is
capable of healing others.
One limitation of the study is the small sample size and that the sample
was a convenience sample. Since our findings are consistent with the literature,
there may only be limited sampling bias in our study. Another limitation is
that because IPA is used mainly with specific subjects using specific questions,
results may not be valid for other groups or other questions, or to assess
cause-effect relationships. In addition, this study is not capable of deducting
conclusions about the effectiveness or efficiency about the work of recovering
helpers — but this was not the goal of the study to begin with.
2.5. CONCLUSION
Recovering helpers play an increasing role in addiction treatment. They work
can be best described as mentoring. Therefore, understanding the dynamics
and background of their helping work may contribute to their training, to find¬
ing the most appropriate place for them in addiction treatment, and in drug
and alcohol policy. This study contributes to their better understanding.