Abstract

FERREIRA, Fernanda Leite  and  CERATT, Caio Cezar Sangioni. Psychology resident in focus: the psychic repercussions of ICU care. Rev. SBPH [online]. 2025, vol.28, e027.  Epub Oct 24, 2025. ISSN 1516-0858.  https://doi.org/10.57167/rev-sbph.2025.v28.812.

This article investigates the psychological repercussions experienced by resident psychologists after treatment at a tertiary hospital in southern Brazil. The motivation arose from the researcher’s personal experience as a resident, noticing symptoms such as recurring thoughts about care, insomnia, disturbing dreams, physical pain, anxiety, and distress. From this experience, the central question emerged: is there a relationship between these repercussions and difficulties in clinical management? To answer this question, semi-structured interviews were conducted with five psychology residents. The inclusion criteria were having performed at least one treatment in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and the exclusion criteria were being in the process of personal analysis. The research was approved by the hospital’s Research Ethics Committee. Data analysis followed a clinical-qualitative method grounded in psychoanalysis. The results were organized into three main categories. The first addresses the effects of the ICU environment, highlighting the intense presence of technology, the fragility of patients, the accelerated pace, and the volume of demands as factors that generate distress in residents. The second category refers to feelings of identification, highlighting the predominance of the Imaginary and Real dimensions, which hinders the maintenance of the analyst’s desire and the connection with the Symbolic. The third and final category highlights loneliness as a prominent feeling among residents and a contemporary trait. As a final consideration, the study suggests the importance of creating institutional spaces of support within the residency environment, such as group supervisions and formalized breaks, which can foster collective reflection, the sharing of experiences, and the elaboration of the emotions mobilized during ICU care.

Keywords : Internship and residency; Psychoanalysis; Intensive care unit..

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