Abstract
Meanings that primary care psychologists ascribe to psychosocial group intervention in the treating of depression in Chile
The present article describes and characterizes, from the perspective of the psychological discipline, the meanings that psychologists working in primary health care (PHC) clinics ascribe to psychosocial group intervention (PGI) in the treatment of depression. Eight psychologists from a diverse range of the Health Services of the Metropolitan Region of Santiago were interviewed. This study was based on Grounded Theory and used its analytic strategies. The category ‘the groups do not work for us’ reveals the main barriers that prevent these interventions from being realized. The focus on individual care, the limited budget allocated for its implementation, and the lack of adequate facilities to carry out PGI emerged as institutional barriers. Likewise, the ‘little faith’ in the effectiveness of group work, the notion that psychologists are the only professionals trained to work with emotions, the idea that low adherence to treatment does not depend on professional practice, and the fact that the implementation of PGI depends on the individual interest of particular professionals emerged as the main sources of professional resistance to PGI’s realization. The scope of these barriers are discussed, and solutions are proposed that promote the necessary cultural change to enable health professionals and institutions to fully align themselves with the community health model proposed by the Plan Nacional de Salud Mental y Psiquiatría (PNSMP, or National Plan for Mental Health and Psychiatry) in Chile. (Global Health Promotion, 2019; 26(3): 112–121)