Inte bara en droppe i havet? En tematisk analys av svenska och danska psykologers erfarenheter av att arbeta inom missbruksvården

Sammanfattning: The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate psychologists' experiences of working in addiction care in Sweden and Denmark. Six semi structured interviews were conducted with three Swedish and three Danish psychologists, and the material was analysed using a reflective thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified; “The patient, the psychologist and society” which describes how the organisation and politics influences the care and the participants; The misunderstood patient which describes the participants view of their patients and their difficulties and; Treatment: Where do we go from here? detailing the treatment of their patients. Differences between the Danish and the Swedish participants were mostly seen on a societal level, while treatment and views of the patients were more similar. The participants experienced the public view of addicts as negative and simplified which contrasted against their own positive view of their patients. They also expressed that stigmatization of their patients is common. The participants described substance use disorder as a complex condition which is difficult to treat. According to their experience there are large problems within addiction care on an organisational and political level. They expressed that the expectation of complete abstinence from drugs is sometimes misguided, unrealistic and unhelpful for the patients. Despite difficulties the participants reported that their job brings them plenty of joy and meaning.