Danilo perestrello and the psychosomatic medicine movement in Brazil: From theory to institutional acceptance

Abstract

In the 1950s, the psychosomatic medicine movement emerged in Brazil, led by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Danilo Perestrello. This article analyzes the strategies developed to configure this proposal and establish this field of study. From the beginning, this movement was characterized by a plan to reformulate medicine based on psychoanalytic theory and obtain favorable reception in institutions. During his career, Perestrello published articles and books with the intention of establishing a new way of thinking among physicians and worked at strategic institutions. His withdrawal from professional work due to a serious illness in 1976 was a factor contributing to the fragmentation of the psychosomatic movement in Brazil.