The purpose of this thesis is to study how relapse influences the meeting with a client. The goal for this research is to study how a specialist experiences patients’ relapse and how it is possible for the specialist to motivate the patient to continue his treatment. The research questions are: How does relapse influence the meeting with a client in the recovering process? How does relapse influence the client and specialist's motivation and continuation of treatment?
This study was carried out at a rehabilitation centre which operates as a rehabilitation institution for substance abusers. The study was done using a qualitative method. The research method is theme survey. The surveys were carried out at the rehabilitation institute and five specialists who are working at the institute took part in the survey. In the theoretical part of this study, themes such as care for the alcohol and drug abusers, recovering from substance abuse, relapse and prevention of relapse were studied. The research contains the results, which were processed along with the themes rising up from the survey. The research shows that specialists find relapse being common and a large part of recovery process, not just a return to using intoxicants. The results revealed that, according to specialists, relapse usually is a part of patients’ recovery process. This research showed that rehabilitation specialists know how to help to prevent relapses of a person suffering from substance abuse and they are able to handle the relapse as a part of the recovery process. They are also able to motivate clients to stay in rehabilitation in spite of relapse.