[Narrative psychological approaches in psychiatry and addictology]

Psychiatr Hung 22(2):134-44 (2007) PMID 17895536

This study reviews the evolution, short history, and practical domains of narrative psychology based on foreign and Hungarian publications. It throws light first of all upon research into clinical addictology and its practical domains and secondly upon borderline applications, for example in criminal and clinical psychology (in the examination of schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and depression). Based on the reviewed publications, it discusses the expressions of identity and self-representations in the narratives of addicted patients, the protective factors of recovery, and the efficiency factors of different therapies and mutual help groups which can be described by the narrative approach. It provides a justification for the narrative approaches in the practice of addiction medicine, and suggests further opportunities in their application.