THE CARE FOR THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM

Abstract

Within the conceptual approach to what represents a sufficiently good intervention that will satisfy the clinical needs of patients with eating disorders (ED), an incipient reflection becomes part of these requirements: the care for the multidisciplinary team. This is not of a dispensable nature, but is absolutely indispensable as an instrument aiming at a better foundation for the professionals involved in this task. The author, a psychoanalyst, examines the current doctor-patient relationship, which is inserted in the culture of vacuum, where both are at risk to be in a place emptied of “meanings” and to be involved in the arid function of counting calories and performing body measurements. Taking as an example a case of morbid obesity, the analyst reflects on the tensions experienced by the doctor in his contact with the patients and on the risk of burn-out, a type of severe mental suffering that may affect the professional in these situations. The author proposes some solutions for this problem aiming at the expansion of the mental space of the doctor, which is necessary to shelter the patient who asks for help.