An exploration of lesbians’ images of recovery from alcohol problems

The author's purposes in this article are to explore the images lesbians use to describe their recovery from alcohol problems and to derive from this exercise relevant implications for health care. Lesbians’ experiences in recovery are particularly significant because of growing concerns about the prevalence of alcohol problems among lesbians, the vulnerability of lesbians as an aggregate, and the cultural trend away from substance use in lesbian communities. Images of recovery are the descriptions that people offer about their healing from alcohol problems. They are the frameworks by which problem drinkers interpret the meanings of their experiences and determine which aspects of their lives are most pertinent to their recovery efforts. The images persons use to represent their progress and the difficulties they encounter in recovery also provide important bases for developing relevant resources, therapeutic techniques, and social support. Excerpts from an ongoing ethnographic interview study about the recovery experiences of lesbians with alcohol problems illustrate the diversity of recovery images that are characteristic of this population.