Psicologia escolar e adoecimento psíquico: estratégias de enfrentamento a partir da Psicanálise e da Psicologia Histórico Cultural

Abstract

The contemporary educational scenario is characterized by mental illnesses affecting students, teachers and other professionals in the field. The school psychologist has emerged as one of the main people responsible for working with mental health, developing prevention, promotion and recovery actions. However, the inclusion of this professional in basic education is recent — it will only become mandatory in 2019 through Law No. 13.935, which provides for psychology and social work services in public education networks. Therefore, it is essential to build theoretical and methodological foundations for the practice of school psychologists in the field of mental health. In this scenario, there are two theoretical currents that work ethically and critically with the issue of mental illness: Historical-Cultural Psychology and Psychoanalysis. Based on these two frameworks, the present study aimed to analyze mental illness in the educational context and to propose coping strategies for the school psychologist's practice in basic education. To this end, a qualitative study was developed, comprising theoretical and field components. The theoretical component was based on the contributions of Psychoanalysis and Historical-Cultural Psychology, while the field component consisted of validating a theoretical-practical guide elaborated as a synthesis of the research. Fourteen professors from Brazilian universities, located in the five regions of the country, who teach and/or conduct research in the field of school and educational psychology, participated in the validation process. The responses were analyzed by measuring the content validity index (CVI) and the standard deviation (SD). Of the 29 evaluated items, 96.5% obtained a CVI of 1.0, and only one item showed an index of 0.93, with SDs below 0.6 — results that indicate a high level of precision and consensus among participants. Thus, the Delphi study confirmed the theoretical and methodological consistency of the theoretical practical guide, as well as its practical relevance and ethical coherence, recognizing it as a consistent resource to guide the work of the school psychologist in addressing psychological distress. Based on these results, it is possible to sustain that the dialogue between Psychoanalysis and Historical-Cultural Psychology broadens the understanding of mental illness in the educational context, guiding the development of coping strategies for the school psychologist's practice in basic education. This is because mental health is understood by these frameworks as a complex and dynamic construction, determined by social, historical, cultural, and unconscious factors. When the concrete living conditions are precarious and the resources available to individuals are limited, mental illness manifests itself. In view of this, the school psychologist must intervene beyond the symptoms, addressing the conditions that produce suffering, as well as promoting spaces for listening, strengthening the collective, fostering healthier experiences, encouraging critical practices, and subverting the neoliberal logic. Through this, they contribute to the construction of school contexts that recognize subjectivity and enable the emergence of new ways of being and living, envisioning the school as a space of desire, creation, and transformation.