This study aims to understand the meanings about the family participation in the treatment produced in a support group for the families of people diagnosed with anorexia and bulimia. The participants of this study were families attended at a specialized health care service. The data was constituted by the audio recorded registrations of the group session, which were analyzed through the delimitation of its different interactional sections according to this study purposes. The social constructionism approach was used as theoretical and methodological reference and was used to data analysis. The results permitted understanding that the different descriptions about the relation between the family and the treatment can restrict the different possibilities to give meanings to the families' participation in the treatment. We conclude that the group may function as a significant space to observe the meaning production in statu nascendi, making possible to explore the construction and reconstruction of alternative meanings, that may enrich the interpretative possibilities of each participant.
Rating disorders; support group; family; social constructionism