| Abstract: | Summary This article focuses on lesbians in later midlife who are in recovery (for at least six months) from chemical dependency and on the ways the traumatic effects of their chemical dependency affect and influence the issues they face, the decisions they make, the actions they take, and, most especially, the relationships they have with both self and others. Although earlier midlife (from 40 to 50) is an important time, we will focus on the later years (from 50 to 60) because they seem to comprise the critical decade, the time when “old selves are lost and new ones come into being” (Stein, 1983, p. 3). |
