Abstract
The objective is to analyze the knowledge and the practices of psychologists acting in Mental Health, as well as its effects on the care production and in the ways as those professionals are implicated on the Psychiatric Reform process undergoing in the country. It is a qualitative study, using semi-structured interview (n = 29) and observing the work processes and services organization: CAPS, primary health unities and outpatient services, psychiatric hospitals and mental health management. Results indicated that undergraduate and postgraduate formation favored little support for Piauí psychologists to act in Mental Health. The theoretical-technical and practical-professional guiding chosen by the respondents qualify them as well committed professional with the classic know-how of what defines the psychologist nature of work; on the other hand, they place us little consonant with the psychosocial care perspective, consequently, with political sustentation for the process of psychiatric reform underway in the country.
psychologist formation; psychiatric reform; psychosocial approach