“It’s almost as if I’ve relapsed”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of addiction therapists’ experiences with supporting their clients through repeated relapse

Klein, Maike, Dixon, Jeremy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0656-5646, Butler, Catherine and Best, David 2024. “It’s almost as if I’ve relapsed”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of addiction therapists’ experiences with supporting their clients through repeated relapse. Journal of Drug Issues 10.1177/00220426241277775

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Abstract

Background: Although addiction therapists are faced with immense pressures to effectively support clients through relapses and overdose risks, the evidence base on relapse remains significantly limited. Aims: This study aims to generate novel understandings of substance misuse relapse from a lived experience perspective of addiction therapists. Methods: Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with seven addiction therapists across specialist addiction treatment services in England, and subsequently analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings: The analysis revealed three superordinate themes around the impact that supporting clients through relapse has on addiction therapists’ psychological wellbeing, their treatment approaches, and their therapeutic relationships. Conclusion: Relapse can shape how therapists perceive and engage with recovery of their clients. Although therapists sometimes consider relapse as a positive experience, they often feel negative psychological effects from it, including emotional withdrawal, self-doubt, and compassion fatigue. This paper sets out the implications for policy, practice, and research.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0022-0426
Funders:	e Economic and Social Research Council and the Society for the Study of Addictions.
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 September 2024
Date of Acceptance:	6 August 2024
Last Modified:	02 Sep 2024 10:01
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/171568

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