Abstract

SILVEIRA, Ricardo Wagner Machado da; WUO, Ana Elvira  and  AZEVEDO, Rafael Torres. Harm reduction and bonding with drug users: the listening under the optics of a clown. Rev. abordagem gestalt. [online]. 2022, vol.28, n.1, pp.28-39. ISSN 1809-6867.  https://doi.org/10.18065/2022v28n1.3.

The present work is the result of a dissertation carried out in the Graduate Program in Psychology at the Federal University of Uberlândia. The study aimed to raise insights on the experiences of the researcher as he played the role of a clown/damage reducer while taking part in the Street Office team. The effort integrated the Public Health Network of a city in the countryside of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The method consisted of mapping the possible therapeutic effects of this way of working with homeless people: on the street, stimulating bonds through daily basis encounters lived in the territory. The effects of this investigative and interventional experience led us to recognize the importance of respect toward drug users and the uniqueness of each occupied territory; from the open-hearted welcoming to individuals to the construction of bonds in order to set the conditions for the collective problematization of the drug use issue. Such actions were based on knowledge, practices, and achievements of the anti-asylum struggle, contextualized by conflicts between the institutionalized war on drugs, as well as treatments based on total abstinence. In contrast, harm reduction presents an insight on the right for freedom and flexible regulations on drug use, which may expand therapeutic possibilities.

Keywords : Harm reduction; Drugs; Public Policy; Bond; Clown.

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