THE CENTRALITY OF EXPERIENCE IN THE FORMATION OF COORDINATORS OF THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH GROUP

Abstract

The clinical framework of group practices has proven to be a qualified alternative in transforming subjectivities and proposing new care strategies in mental health. In this context, the Community Mental Health Group Program, by developing methodologies aimed at a personal and continuous exercise of attention to one’s own experiences, has been consolidating itself as an original contribution to group work in the field of mental health and personal development. This program offers a Community Mental Health Group Coordinator Training Course (FCGCSM) aiming to equip professionals in the use of this method. The objective of this study was to understand, from the perspective of students who completed the course, the experiences present in this training, and more specifically, to investigate the formative phenomenon, its constitution, effects, and composition from the perspective of its graduates. The research corpus consisted of fourteen open, online, video-recorded, and fully transcribed interviews. The theoretical, epistemological, and methodological framework used was classical phenomenology. In the comprehensive analysis, each material was considered individually and then related to the set of interviews. This approach allowed the identification of the pedagogical structuring of the FCCGSM as being centered on experience, which suggests contributing to the revitalization of a humanistic approach in mental health care. The study also contributes to the knowledge of new methodologies for teaching, learning, and personal-professional training for group work in the field of mental health.