A communicative journey from dysfunctional-to-functional in a therapeutic community for substance abuse

Thesis (M.A.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2001The research question for this study explores change in the lived experience of the substance abuser whose life is moving from dysfunctional-to-functional and investigates how communication grounds this change in human interaction. Communication appears in experience as one changes from addictive substance dysfunctionality to a balanced functionality. The communicative processes, in the setting of a therapeutic community, are constructive to such transitions. The methodology for answering this question of how suggests addressing the lived experience of transition. Narrative analysis of the eight open-ended interviews produced three emergent themes. Those emergent themes are (1) isolation, (2) self-disclosure, and (3) connectedness. The process of communicative interaction is a vital step demonstrated in all three emergent themes within the context of a therapeutic community