"Relationen går före liksom alla metoder som finns" : Gemensamma erfarenheters betydelse inom relation mellan socialarbetare och klient i missbruksvården

Establishing a relationship between a social worker and a client is an important element in social work. An alliance can be created by seeing something in someone else that affects one's self. The purpose of this study is to investigate how mutual experiences affect the relationship between social workers and clients. We have restricted the study to the area of substance, alcohol and gambling abuse mainly because these relationships are often frequent and long lasting which gives a deeper insight of the relationship. We have conducted eight semi-structured interviews at two different treatment centers through a qualitative method where four respondents have their own experiences of abuse and four who have not abused. The results of the study show that it is very important to use oneself as a tool, to be able to be personal, and to set one's own individual boundaries with the help of common sense. Having mutual experiences with clients prove to have advantages in the way that there is an automatic respect and thus alliance but also the ability to understand what the client is going through. It is also evident that the concept of professionalism is perceived in different ways in the respondents and that it is not always professionalism that works. Personal suitability is an important factor in being able to create relationships