Aesthetic experience in the Grupo Comunitário de Saúde Mental

• Grant number: 25/10529-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Psychological Treatment and Prevention
• Principal Investigator: Carmen Lúcia Cardoso
• Grantee: João Pedro Brajal Varejão
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Following the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform and the transformation of public mental health services in Brazil, new ways of dealing with mental suffering have been developed, taking into account aspects that were previously ignored, such as community based-treatment and the use of other forms of language, such as the arts. In this context, the Grupo Comunitário de Saúde Mental (GCSM) was born, an original program in the field of mental health that proposes a new methodology of group dynamics. The group is open to the community and is conducted horizontally, not relying on interpretive or hermeneutic aspects, but rather on the subjective experiences of the participants. The sessions are unique and divided into three stages: sarau (cultural gathering), sharing of experiences, and a reflective stage. This study aims to understand how the practice of aesthetic perception occurs within the sarau of the Grupo Comunitário de Saúde Mental, investigating the impacts of these experiences on the daily lives of the participants. It is a qualitative research grounded in the phenomenological theoretical framework of Mikel Dufrenne and will employ the Phenomenological Method of Investigation in Psychology. For the construction of the corpus, a mixed collection will be conducted, utilizing recordings of GCSM sessions, interviews with group participants, and participant observation, with the preparation of a field diary. The research results may enrich the understanding of the group and the sarau stage, allowing the description of the possible effects that participation in the GCSM may have on individuals' daily lives, as well as expanding knowledge about the therapeutic effects of art in the field of mental health.