The Trilhos da Psicologia, which took place in Tavira and Loulé this month, called for a “convergent alignment between the structures of education and health” to solve “the problem of psychologists in schools doing the work that should be done in health centers, when the need is clinical”.
«The Order is developing work in this direction, but for everything to work it is essential to hire more health psychologists. The few who are there, due to work overload, have difficulty responding to all requests», warned the vice-president of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists
(OPP) Sofia Ramalho.
The statements were made during the visit to places where psychologists work in the municipalities of Tavira and Loulé, which is part of the 'Trilhos da Psicologia' initiative.
One of the psychologists present at one of the meetings regretted not having time for the prevention and skills promotion activities that should be carried out in schools and that a kind of “firefighterism” would occur when having to systematically respond to urgent situations.
“It’s anguish. We wanted to do the work we knew we should be doing. But we cannot leave a child unanswered. We know that the health center will not provide it due to lack of resources,” she said.
Members of the national board and the board of the Southern Regional Delegation of the OPP who organized these Psychology Trails visited the Humanitarian Center of the Portuguese Red Cross in Tavira, in a building that was a former convent.
In Loulé, the OPP delegation visited the Algarve Mental Health Association (ASMAL), founded in January 1991 to «respond to people when they are not experiencing acute problems» and «promote inclusive mental health».
It has several types of responses, such as a Supported Living Unit and a Socio-Occupational Unit for teenagers.
In both cities there were meetings with psychologists from the region, where doubts were clarified and the main difficulties experienced by professionals in the field were learned, whether in the clinical, social, education or work areas.
Representing the national leadership of the OPP were vice-president Sofia Ramalho and member Tiago Pereira. The leadership of the Southern Regional Delegation (DRS) was represented by president Raquel Raimundo and members Carla Fernandes and Gabriel Soares.
The Trilhos da Psicologia are an initiative of the Order of Portuguese Psychologists that consists of a series of visits to local institutions, with the aim of «better understanding the reality of psychological intervention in a given region, promoting and disseminating good practices and assisting in the construction of networks local contact points, in order to benefit the citizens of the area».
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