Working in Psycho-social Centres: a qualitative research on the experiences of Lombard psychologists.

Aims. Interest in the well-being of professionals working in psychiatric patient care contexts is growing in the literature. The aim of this study was to explore the perceived role and work experience of psychologist psychotherapists working in Mental Health Centers (MHC). Methods. A qualitative research was conducted involving psychologists with a training in psychotherapy working in Lombardy who had at least 3 months of working experience in a MHC. A convenience sample was recruited by email through the Order of Psychologists. From November 2022 to March 2023, 3 focus groups were conducted online and were audio-recorded. In each focus group, a video stimulus was shown, followed by questions on the perceived role and work experience of the participants. Three psychologists analyzed the focus groups' transcripts according to thematic content analysis. Results. We enrolled 21 psychologists (3 males, with an average age of 44.71 years (SD=9.09) and with an average of 8.49 (SD=8.81) years of work in MHC). Four themes emerged: epistemology of care, services' organization, role of the psychologist and work experience of the psychologist. Results suggest that the epistemology of care embraced, even implicitly, in the MHC contributes to influence the organization of services, the role of the psychologists and their work experience. In MHCs with a biopsychosocial epistemology, the psychologists felt their role was acknowledged and valued by the care team. This leads to experiences of valorization and appreciation. Discussion and conclusions. Results highlight the importance of the epistemology of care in influencing organization of services and the perceived role and work experience of the psychologists. However, it is also possible that a more circular relationship between the different levels exists, whereby organizational practices could also influence the epistemology of care and the perceived role and work experience of the psychologist. The variety of experiences, within the same Region, suggest that there is a possible cultural and organizational autonomy in MHCs. A reflection on the epistemology of care and organizational practices adopted in MHCs is needed to promote psychologists' well-being at work.