A review of the role of the psychologist in the processes of closing psychiatric hospitals

Abstract

In this paper a reflection is made on the implications of the psychologist in those aspects concerned with the process of closing psychiatric hospitals and the deinstitutionalization of the cronically mentally disturbed hospitalized population. The context of psychiatric reform where the aforementioned closure process has been executed is analyzed, as are the first interventions of the psychologist in this field. Likewise, a series of aspects are considered which, from the authors' perspective, are implied throughout this process. The intervention of the psychologist in the hospital context adopts a series of peculiarities which, in turn, are analized.