Intercultural clinic: Hearing the difference

Abstract

The migration process involves the experience of living with different cultures and diff erent world views, going beyond the geographical displacement. Given the involuntary nature of their displacement, refugees and immigrants post-natural disasters bring with them an even greater specificity of such experience. The various changes generated by the migration process as a whole can lead immigrants to a state of psychic vulnerability. Aware of these issues, in 2012 the university extension project Clínica Intercultural began its activities. The Center’s main goal is to provide psychological care for immigrants and refugees through a qualified hearing of psychological distress. This is done by taking into account the cultural dimension in search of the person’s dynamic equilibrium, by recognizing their role in the psychic structure. Over the time, the project sphere of action extended beyond the limits of clinical psychology, consolidating its political and social character in relation to immigration in the Brazilian context. This article is an experience report that presents the path of Clínica Intercultural with its respective activities, public profile and clinical devices. The work has achieved the following positive results: recognition expansion of the clinic work in the community; the systematic awareness of some services about the issue; and the political engagement with other institutions, contributing to hosts and integration strategies of immigrants and refugees in the metropolitan region of Florianópolis.

Keywords: Intercultural Clinic Psychology, immigrants, refugees, ethnopsychiatry.