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6. GENERAL DISCUSSION = 83
Self-help group )
User identity Non-addict => Recovery identity »
Recovering helper
5. Figure Process of identity change during addiction and recovery
with recovering helper identity
According to the Groesbeck’s (1975) Wounded Healer Paradigm (the wounded
healer was first described by Jung (1963)) the wounded healer is only able to
help patients if he/she is aware of his/her wounds, otherwise the healer un¬
consciously projects his/her own wounds onto the patient, especially when
both the patients and a client has something in common. In this case, treat¬
ment loses professional objectivity (Miller & Baldwin, 1987). Therefore, work¬
ing and reflecting on own recovery is not only beneficial for the healer but
this is a fundamental element of helping others with the same problem.
6.3.2. Study 2 and Study 3
Study 2 and Study 3 could be discussed together as significant research results
because the findings of these studies respond to the lack of literature on ex¬
amination of NPS use with a qualitative approach. Many papers have pub¬
lished data on NPS use and tried to discover the effects and consequences of
using these new types of drugs. Most of these results are based upon quantita¬
tive survey (e.g.: Barratt et al. 2013 ; A. R. Winstock & Barratt, 2013 etc.) or
medical case reports (e.g.: Müller et al., 2015; Müller et al., 2010; Zimmer¬
mann et al., 2009 etc.). When I have started to conduct this research, no previ¬
ous study examined the use of NPS from the users’ perspective. However
research results like that could be beneficial for addiction treatment services.
At the time of Study 2 and Study 3 were under processing at Harm Reduction
Journal and International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction Marie
Claire Van Hout and Evelyne Hearne published a paper that examined nar¬
ratives of synthetic cannabinoid users and analyzed their experiences of de¬
pendence and withdrawal symptoms (Van Hout & Hearne, 2016). Their study
was the first in this field which published qualitative results on users’ perspec¬
tive, nonetheless Study 2 and Study 3 are the first studies that could give a
detailed and profound analysis of SC users’ experiences and these studies also