Resumo

LIMA, Beatriz de Souza. Casa da Árvore, a place for talking and playing: a collective treatment proposal for children from 0 to12 years old in destitute communities in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói. Estud. psicanal. [online]. 2010, n.33, pp. 33-48. ISSN 0100-3437.

This article is the result of a study of Winnicott' concepts and the observation of a collective treatment, for children between 0 and 12 years old, that has been developed, since 2001, by the non-governmental organization Casa da Árvore, in destitute communities in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói. During a year and a half the author accomplished systematical visits to the treatment sites and participated of supervisions and meetings with the staff. The author also followed closely the functioning of an innovative medical device that essentially bet on the therapeutic potential of talking and playing, without being neither in an individual nor in a group therapy. It is a place of living that can be attended for those who have interest to and according to theirs necessities. Dwelling upon the observation of Chapéu Mangueira' house, the author illustrates this therapeutic setting operation of this device through some episodes, keeping specially attention with the clinical handling of the aggressive and destructive manifestations that since a determined moment a became the central feature, the main challenge faced by therapists.

Palavras-chave : Aggressiveness; Violence; Creativity; Anti-social tendency; Environmental provision; Collective treatment for children.