This paper aimed to put into place the discourse of the subjects involved in the psychiatric reform process in the municipality of Joinville, Santa Catarina. The discourse and practices needed to be elucidated and revealed because knowledge is constructed and realities are transformed in daily practice. Qualitative investigation of case study type was the methodological route, and it was carried out by means of open interviews with a semistructured script. The subjects involved contributed their experiences and reflections through expressing their opinions and convictions about the current process. The final considerations, based on discourse analysis, indicated some criticisms: the discourse was sometimes more controversial and political and sometimes more conservative and traditional, thus revealing a certain degree of bias and reductionism in the process. Nonetheless, new spaces are being occupied, and some professionals' practices have been transformed.
Psychiatry; Mental Health; Discourse analysis