Representaciones sociales de profesionales en psicología clínica sobre lesbianismo y colectivo LGBT en la ciudad de Ambato

Abstract

Clinical psychologists are socially seen as neutral figures whose job is to provide care without discriminating against any condition of the patient, for this reason, the methods they use are almost never questioned. In recent years, the lgbti community in ecuador has had greater visibility because great progress has been made in terms of their rights. However, there are many stigmas that surround this community and create various repercussions in their lives, such as social rejection or difficulty in accessing quality health services. In the present study, these stigmas are evidenced in the pathologizing discourses those psychologists have about homosexuality, as well as the lack of knowledge about the lgbti community and the most appropriate practices for therapeutic exercise. For this reason, this research tries to investigate the social representations (sr) that clinical psychologists have about homosexual patients, emphasizing lesbian women, and how these diminish the quality of their professional care. A semi-structured interview was applied to a group of 10 clinical psychologists in the city of ambato. The collected results showed that the participating psychologists perceived these patients as rejected subjects, with feelings of guilt and a need for acceptance. In addition, through a detailed analysis of their discourse, it was concluded that psychologists act from the heteronormative influence of society and that they have a pathologizing view of homosexuality. Although this vision is not, there are subtleties that were detected in their opinions, such as emphasizing negative differences. The analysis carried out in this research aims to make visible the lgbti community, lesbian women and the shortcomings in therapeutic care that they suffer, in order to improve them.