As atividades com grupos realizadas num Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Infantojuvenil (CAPSi)

Abstract

The Centers of Psychosocial Attention for the Children and Adolescents (CAPSi) are mental health services, territorial-based, oriented by the logic of psychosocial attention and destined to care for children and adolescents who suffer from mental illnesses. Group and individual activities are developed at the CAPSi, among which we can highlight group activities with users. In the absence of a single official model of group activity to be followed by mental health professionals, there is a diversity of goals and strategies for planning and conducting group activities with CAPSi users. The current research aims at describing and analyzing group activities executed at the Center of Psychosocial Attention for the Children and Adolescents (CAPSi) of Maceió, Alagoas. We developed a qualitative study based on semistructured interviews with nine professionals who plan and execute group activities with users. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. Data obtained was submitted to a content analysis according to D.W. Winnicott’s emotional development theory. Analysis resulted on 5 themes about group activities Execution and development of activities; Planning and goals; Evaluation; Interpersonal experiences provided by the group; and the Social Context of group participants. We identified 4 types of group activities within CAPSi: psychomotricity activities, psycho-pedagogical activities, expressive activities and external activities, which take place outside the institution. Activities aims at developing psychomotricity and basic psychological abilities, subjective expression, creativity, emphasizing the interpersonal experience provided by the group. The main criteria to group formation is the age of users, even though there is an exclusive autistic group of users. The planning is done beforehand by the multi-professional team, prioritizing the sequence and continuity of activities. The evaluation of these group activities are not systematic, but professionals see users benefits regarding established objectives. They point out to difficulties related to the service infrastructure and the lack of equipment, which impairs the development of activities. The data inform as well, that children and adolescents who are users of CAPSi live in poverty and social vulnerability, which affects the family and school settings in which they are inserted, just as well as the treatment inside the institution. We highlight that the guaranty and amplification of interdisciplinarity and intersectoriality are necessary conditions to therapeutic actions that take place at CAPSi and are in accordance with the principles of psychosocial attention in mental health. Even still, the institution needs to ensure the necessary infrastructure for the adequate execution of the activities by professionals. Based on Winnicott’s ideas, we assert that group activities enable interpersonal meeting through the sharing of experiences and collaborative action. When performed in a sufficiently adequate therapeutic environment, characterized by continuity and responsivity, those activities favor the emergence of potential space and creativity, enabling emotional development in children and adolescents. At last, we conclude that Winnicott’s theory may contribute to base clinical practice of groups, which constitute an important therapeutic instrument to CAPSi. This research holds the purpose of contributing to group activities performed within CAPSi, aiming at amplifying its therapeutic possibilities and claiming for institutional conditions that are consistent with the guiding principles of psychosocial attention.