Experiences of Professional Helping Relations by Persons with Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Recovery in co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders often involves relationships with professional helpers, yet little is known about how these are experienced by service users. The aim of this study was to explore and describe behaviour and attributes of professional helpers that support recovery, as experienced by persons with co-occurring disorders. Within a collaborative approach, in-depth individual interviews with eight persons with lived experience of co-occurring disorders were analysed using systematic text condensation. The analysis yielded four categories of recovery-supporting behaviour and attributes of professional helpers and the ability to build trust cuts across all of them: Building trust through (a) hopefulness and loving concern, (b) commitment, (c) direct honesty and expectation and (d) action and courage. Services should allow for flexibility and continuity, and training should recognise the importance of establishing trust in order to reach out to this group.

Narratives of recovery in people with coexisting mental health and alcohol misuse difficulties

“…These findings are also consistent with existing literature in showing that ongoing, supportive and trusting relationships with a key professional was central to many participants' recovery (Brekke et al, 2017b), and previous research on the use of a professional as a positive attachment figure in substance misuse recovery (Waters, Holttum, Perrin, Campus, & Wells, 2014). An additional finding is the importance of specialist…”

Dilemmas in recovery-oriented practice to support people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders: a qualitative study of staff experiences in Norway

“…This study is part of a larger project to investigate recovery-orientation in services in a Norwegian local authority area, containing agricultural areas, forested areas, and two community centres (< 6500 inhabitants). The project, which has an exploratory and descriptive purpose, has included individual interviews with residents with co-occurring disorders exploring what recovery means [ 21 ] and how professional helpers may contribute to recovery [ 7 ]. Interviews with family members have been conducted and results will be sought published.…”

“…The individual is considered the central actor and decision maker in his or her recovery, each person’s unique experiences are considered important, structural factors are recognised, and everyday life is acknowledged as a central arena for change [ 5 ]. While recovery may occur regardless of professional help [ 6 ], relationships with professional helpers often play an important role in the recovery process of persons with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (co-occurring disorders) [ 7 ], but may constitute both barriers and facilitators [ 8 ]. Underpinning the recovery movement is the intention to make services available and beneficial from the perspective of service users and to promote citizenship and civil rights.…”

Using Dyadic Interviews to Explore Recovery as Collaborative Practices: Challenging the Epistemic Norm of the Single Person Perspective

“…Thus, subjective experiences of recovery and improved quality of life may not necessarily be in line with a more clinical understanding of recovery with a focus on symptom relief symptom (Davidson et al, 2010;McCabe et al, 2018). In our understanding, recovery holds that people living with persistent and severe mental health challenges are the experts in their own recovery Furthermore, in looking at recovery as social and contextual processes, we are more interested in the multifaceted consequences of mental health issues on people's everyday life (Brekke et al, 2018;Paton et al, 2018;Price-Robertson et al, 2016). Though recovery-oriented practices has become an accepted and widely used term in mental health guidelines during the past two decades, the roots of recovery go further back.…”