Studiens syfte har varit att undersöka vilka motiv som ligger bakom besökarnas val av gatuterapi och vilka erfarenheter de har av kontakt med offentliga myndigheter. Syftet var också att undersöka vilka upplevelser besökarna hade av gatuterapin samt studera vad som sker i mötet mellan gatuterapeuten och besökarna. Studien har genomförts utifrån en kvalitativ metodansats och bygger på intervjuer och observationer med 15 personer som besökt gatuterapin. För analysen har teorin om interaktionsritualer, teorin om transaktionella behov, stämplingsteorin, stigmatisering samt skam använts.   Resultatet visar att motiven bakom valet av gatuterapi är att gatuterapeuten har erfarenhet av missbruksproblem samt att han har tystnadsplikt och heller ingen anmälningsskyldighet. Erfarenheterna av offentliga myndigheter är både positiva och negativa. De har haft en god relation med några socialtjänsthandläggare, vilka de haft förtroende för, och de har gjorts delaktiga i beslutsfattandet. De negativa erfarenheterna handlar om att bli dömd, att känna skam, att inte bli lyssnad på eller att inte känna sig förstådd. Upplevelserna av gatuterapin är däremot enbart positiva: upplevelser av en god relation och tillit till gatuterapeuten, ett ökat självförtroende samt upplevelser av att inte bli dömd. I mötet mellan gatuterapeuten och besökarna tycktes besökarna bli lugnare samt erhålla en ökad nivå av emotionell energi. / The purpose of this study was to examine the reasons behind the visitor’s choice of street therapy and their experiences of contact with public authorities. The aim was also to examine the experiences visitors had of street therapy and to study what happens in the meeting between the street therapist and the visitors. The study was conducted based on a qualitative research approach and is based on interviews and observations of 15 people who visited the street therapy. For the analysis, the theory of interaction rituals, the theory of transactional needs, labeling theory, stigmatization and shame where used.   The result shows that the reasons behind the choice of street therapy is that the street therapist has his own experience of substance abuse problems, and that he has professional secrecy towards the visitors and towards the public authorities. The visitor’s experience of public authorities is both positive and negative. They have had a good relationship with some of the social workers, who they trusted, and they have been involved in the decision making. The negative experiences is about being judged, feelings of shame and not being listened to or felt understood. Experiences of street therapy is however only positive: experiences of a good relationship and trust with the street therapist, increased self-confidence and experiences of not being judged. In the meeting between the street therapist and the visitors it seemed liked the visitors became calmer and received an increased level of emotional energy.

This qualitative study focuses on digitalisation in the social-work field within an ethical context. As a result of society's digital development and after the covid-19 pandemic paralyzed the world, today many meetings between professionals and clients take place through digital services. The purpose of this study is mainly to examine the role of digital meetings in the social-worker-client relationship. Through interviews with professionals working with digital tools in the field of social work, this study has been able to show both the opportunities and the challenges of digitalisation for the relationship between social worker and client.