From the gates and locks to the possibilities of choosing the path to be followed

Abstract

Objective: to propose a critical reflection on the care of occupational therapy in Mental Health for people in psychological distress. Methods: experience report, considering interventions guided by the Dynamic Occupational Therapy Method, during practice at a Psychosocial Care Center II in a city in the interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Records of the interventions, the subject's speeches and the field diary narratives were used. The analysis was guided by the technique of content analysis that, after reading, made it possible to identify the nuclei of meaning and thematic units. Results: 14 therapeutic interventions were carried out and three thematic blocks were built: Approaching the subject of care and perceptions of the family and professionals; Therapeutic process; Associative trails and the end of the therapeutic process. Conclusion: the therapeutic process through the use of meaningful activities, the triadic relationship and associative paths were powerful resources in the process of Occupational Therapy care in mental health and in the possibilities of inhabiting and belonging to the world, producing meaning, autonomy and protagonism in life.