Integrative Community Therapy - Social Constructionism in Collective Contexts

Pulsating Practices: Constructionism in Action is a free webinar series hosted by the Taos Institute. In these interactive events, practitioners from around the world showcase ways to co-construct more positive and hopeful futures. Please join in the conversation in the free Taos Institute Commons online community for more events like this: www.taosinstitutecommons.com

Integrative Community Therapy: Social Constructionism in Collective Contexts with Marilene Grandesso, INTERFACI and PUC-SP, Brazil

IN PORTUGUESE, USE YOUTUBE AUTO-CAPTIONS TO VIEW CAPTIONS IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE

I invite you to join me as I present and reflect on Integrative Community Therapy (ICT), a conversational practice focused on working with communities and groups in general. Developed in Brazil in the mid-1980s by psychiatrist, theologian, and anthropologist Adalberto de Paula Barreto, ITC has expanded to more than 40 countries and is currently practiced in Portuguese, Spanish, English, and French. In the INTERFACI team, ITC is guided by the principles of social constructionism and is organized as a collaborative-dialogical practice that values the construction of new realities through the joint action of participants.

I consider ICT a pulsating practice for several reasons:

It can be carried out in a collaborative-dialogical manner, both with small groups and large communities; for example, we have already conducted an ICT with 1,400 people.
It does not depend on a fixed space: it can take place anywhere people are, as long as there is comfort and favorable conditions for mutual listening. Schools, neighborhoods, squares, prisons, churches... the practice goes where people are.
Due to its simplicity, ICT adapts to the most diverse populations and needs. Although born in a context of great social vulnerability, its methodology promotes conversations and strengthens social networks in different scenarios.
ICT recognizes and legitimizes local knowledge, popular knowledge, and cultural diversity. According to Paulo Freire, everyone has something to learn and to teach.
The community therapist acts as a facilitator of processes anchored in the interests of the group. Each meeting arises from a collective purpose and ends with the sharing of new learnings and experiences lived in that day's ICT circle.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ICT has also been conducted online, expanding its reach and relevance, especially in periods of social isolation.
In this webinar, the intention is to present ICT as a practice guided by social constructionism, inviting reflection and dialogue about its potential to promote transformative conversations in community contexts.

The Taos Institute is a non-profit educational organization. We strive to make our programs and resources accessible to as many people as possible around the world. Please consider making a donation to support our mission of creating promising futures through social construction. www.taosinstitute.net/donate.