Images of addiction and recovery: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experience of addiction and recovery as expressed in visual images

Abstract

This article focuses on visual representations of subjective experiences of the process of recovery from addiction and the meanings that participants attribute to their visual work. The data are drawn from a study of six female participants. In this article, we discuss the results with reference to one participant, to allow for detailed consideration of the visual and the verbal material. This participant was selected because of the richness of her material, which provided an opportunity to carry out a detailed case study. Potential participants were informed in advance that they would be asked to draw during the interview. They were also asked to bring to the interview some artwork made during their engagement in creative activities at an earlier stage in their recovery. The data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The analysis comprised both the drawings and the transcripts, moving between the image and the corresponding text. The results provide a vivid visual journey through the landscape of early recovery. It is suggested that using drawings in conjunction with interviews can make a valuable contribution to furthering our understanding of experience and its meaning in ways not possible with verbal accounts or visual material alone.

Notes

Notes

1. The Minnesota Model (MM) of treatment for addictions has been adopted by many private treatment centres in the UK. There are four key areas in the model philosophy (Cook, 1988): (i) the possibility of change, (ii) the ‘Disease Concept’, (iii) treatment goals, which include two longer term goals of treatment: (1) abstinence from all mood-altering chemicals; (2) improvement of lifestyle and (iv) the principles of AA and NA (the ‘12 steps’).