Resumen
In Argentina, as is common in most Latin American countries, therapies addressed to wellness or healing are commonly shared in groups or communities. In contrast, self-help books emphasize personal appropriation and individual treatment. Research on the appropriation of self-help books is based on the premise that reading material is an essential therapeutic resource.The aim of this article is to present different ways of using and interpreting self-help books. Using grounded theory methodology, I explore the importance of an interpersonal context as a proper sphere for dealing with suffering. The research is based on interviews, field notes, and analysis of documents. My main findings start with differentiating two categories: curing as an objective perspective to the remedy of disease, and healing as the subjective feeling of health. Up from here, three dynamics of treatment based on self-help books had been reconstructed: I show that self-help books, as well as faith-based therapeutic groups, focus on the healing perspective whereas therapeutic groups with a qualified coordinator are mostly involved in the perspective of cure. Support groups ? i.e., mutual aid groups ? fluctuate between healing and curing.URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs1701216