Physical education in mental health: constructing development from an interdisciplinary perspective

This study aimed to analyze an experience in developing physical educators as mental health practitioners, within an interdisciplinary team. The investigation took place in the second semester of 2009, in a psychosocial support center in Santos, state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The projects and reports produced by the students were used as investigation materials. Their most significant excerpts were extracted, grouped according to their key messages, and discussed. This was qualitative data gathering that generated a reflective essay. Three key themes were identified: a tendency towards a sedentary lifestyle among the users; possibilities of actions for physical educators; and mutual significant learning. Physical educators appeared as interlocutors in the therapeutic dialogue: people who came to talk about the body or to the body of the human being affected by mental distress. Our results corroborate the importance of these professionals in this context and unveil new horizons for this intervention.