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6. GENERAL DISCUSSION = 87
for them not just because they start reconcile with their voices, but because
they start to recover from stigma that was often assigned by professionals
(Corstens et al., 2014; Dillon & Hornstein, 2013).
Ihe recovery approach could facilitate overcome multiple problems and
moving towards a positive and meaningful life (Terry & Cardwell, 2015).
Recovery from something does not mean being cured most often it means
living together with the problematic condition (such as addiction, mental
health issues) but by concentrating on future and building on individual
strengths could help the person to live a full life. Recovery from voice hearing
could be considered as a unique process because the condition of voice hear¬
ing is not perceived as problematic during recovery. It was apparent in Study
4 that voices could help the hearer to heal, by becoming a supportive experi¬
ence and this condition becomes an integral part of the recovery process
because the change in hearers relationship with their voices results in devel¬
opment in hearer’s relationship with social others. The study findings suggest
an opening to the outside world parallel to the change in the relationship with
the voice.
The findings of Study 4 outline the importance of voice hearing movement
that is characterized by deinstitualization and self-help help. Therefore, Study
4 could draw attention to this particular kind of consumer movement that is
barely known and is in its infancy in the Hungarian context.
6.4. LIMITATIONS
Limitations of the four empirical studies were discussed at the end of each
paper. This time I will briefly summarize the main limitations and highlight
what limitations could be when we use a qualitative research method (espe¬
cially the method of IPA) and when we would like to examine recovery.
6.4.1. Limitations of IPA
Since IPA is a relatively recent method that is still establishing itself (Eatough
& Smith, 2008) and these studies that were included in my book were the first
published IPA studies in the Hungarian sample, I find it important to discuss
what further limitations of applying IPA could have.
Qualitative research is focusing on shortcomings (Atieno, 2009) and as it
was mentioned earlier, IPA is a suitable research method for explorative stud¬
ies. Based on my research experience IPA should be used when the researcher
has some previous information about the research topic but wants to examine
it in a more detailed way. For example, in case of Study 1 (which was about