New forms of social suffering and of political action: Epistemologies, theories, methods and practices for a community mental health

<p>The reality of contemporary urban contexts, both in large than in small towns, is going through a phase of radical, irreversible and progressive change. Social processes, not predictable and even less governable, produce estrangement, alienation, marginalization and disorientation, undermining one of the fundamental relational goods of the human community: Mental Health. We still valid the Therapeutic Community, understanding as methodology, however, not as residential care, but as specific professional intervention where, who suffers from a condition of existential suffering (whatever that is) and who work to care for, are not left alone but immersed in a relational network that passes through and transforms them. The exclusion from bank credit to the condition of poverty and/or precariousness causes, seems to affect tragically participatory and community processes; negatively influencing the community development. Microcredit could therefore be a useful intervention device to act either on the psychological development of individuals as well as economic development of communities.</p><p>Keywords: Community-Based Psychotherapy, Relational Goods, Social Capital