Family therapy and social constructionism: an analysis about this approximation in a group of Brazilian therapists

• Grant number: 13/10592-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: September 01, 2013
• End date: November 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Carla Guanaes Lorenzi
• Grantee: Gabriela Silveira de Paula Ravagnani
• Supervisor: Sheila McNamee
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of New Hampshire (UNH), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/17502-6 - The dissemination of social constructionist discourse among family therapists: challenges and potentialities, BP.MS

Abstract

This abroad Internship Project is part of the Master's Study titled: "Meanings made by family therapists about their career and professional identity", which has been conducted in the FFCLRP-USP post-graduation program and has been financially supported by FAPESP. This study aims to understand how Brazilian family therapists who apply the contributions of the social constructionist movement in their clinical practices make sense of both their career and professional identity. In the initial analysis of the 14 interviews conducted, we have identified many constructionists' sensibilities present on the clinical work of the family therapists interviewed. We also noticed that these sensibilities influence the relationships between the family therapist and the family members during the therapeutic process. Thus, we propose this abroad Internship Project, which aims to assist the analysis and provide support to the discussion about the contributions of social constructionism for the clinical work of these therapists, emphasizing the implications of these ideas for their professional identity. We also intend to link these contributions and implications to the family therapy's propositions described by McNamee as having a social constructionist sensibility. We believe that this Internship Project will contribute to the development of our research, considering that Prof. McNamee is one of the main references on the works that describe practices in the family therapy field that are related to the social constructionist movement. Furthermore, this Internship project will enable the student to participate in seminars offered at the University, and to further investigate the themes related to the main project of this research. (AU)