LITERARY NARRATIVES AS A THERAPEUTIC RESOURCE IN THE EXPANDED CLINIC
Keywords:
Narratives, Therapeutic Resource, HumanizationAbstract
The use of literary narratives as a therapeutic resource has gained prominence in clinical approaches focused on subjectivity, autonomy, and person-centered care, as proposed within the perspective of the expanded clinic. Through contact with stories, characters, and metaphors, individuals are invited to reinterpret their life trajectories, access affective contents, attribute new meanings to the experience of suffering, and reconstruct identities shaped by illness. This chapter presents the experience of using literary texts as a clinical tool in a medium-complexity service of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), articulating theoretical foundations from psychology, collective health, and narrative practices. The results demonstrate that literature operates as a shared symbolic territory, mediating processes of subjective elaboration and strengthening the principles of humanization and the expanded clinic. It is concluded that incorporating narratives into psychological care broadens the possibilities for intervention and reinforces the ethical-political commitment to practices centered on the subject, bonding, and the production of meaning.
