Sentidos sobre a prática grupal no contexto de saúde pública

Abstract

Group work has been considered an alternative of psychological intervention in the public health context. The objective of this research was to describe the meanings of group practice present in eighteen semistructured interviews with psychologists that work in the public health context in Uberlândia-MG. The discourse analysis, based on Social Constructionism perspective, allowed the identification of four interpretative repertoires used to describe group work: group as a collective space; as an alternative to the demand; as a mediating activity; and as strangeness. The use of the repertoires legitimized group work in different ways. However, the predominance of a clinical-individualist bias on the interviewees' speech hasn't allowed a description of group practice designed to teams and communities and sensitive to the level of health attention. Thus, it is necessary to construct new ways of saying/doing group work in the Brazilian health context.