Driving and restrictive factors of group practice in community psychosocial care services

This qualitative research aimed to investigate workers' theoretical conceptions regarding group work and analyze the driving and restrictive factors of group therapeutic practice in Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS). Sixty-six workers from CAPS and outpatient clinics from the Psychosocial Care Network from twenty-three municipalities in the State of Goiás participated in the study. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire and a group interview audio-recorded and documented with photographs. The concept of what the group is and is not emerged from the thematic analysis of the data. The categories were organized into three analysis blocks concerning driving and restrictive forces: service-related, professional-related, and user-related. Relational, structural, and therapeutic aspects and professional competence for group coordination are integrated in an antagonistic, complementary, and inseparable way to apprehend the studied reality. We conclude that highlighting the restrictive aspects that must be recognized and improved and the drivers that must be maintained and enhanced can actively contribute to expanding the therapeutic capacity related to the use of group technology in mental health.