Dano existencial na clínica de psicologia contemporânea : um estudo preliminar a partir da violência

Abstract

The present study came from the demand to understand feminism in psychology and the way of receiving victims of domestic violence in psychology clinic. It was made a presentation of the historical aspects of the struggle against machismo and patriarchy in Brazil and how the Maria da Penha Law came about. From this, it was introduced the concept of "existential damage", which is commonly used in legal context to define non-material damage, and is divided into damage to life project and damage to life relations. The term was paralleled by existential philosophy and how people who suffer this damage become psychically ill. From this, the concept of the "notion of self" of humanistic psychology and a critique of clinical psychology were introduced in relation to the individualized way of dealing with the human being, without taking into account his social context. A case study was conducted with a woman victim of domestic violence and concluded that the concept of "existential damage" may help clinical psychology in understanding the phenomenon presented.