We authorize the reproduction and partial publication of this text, by any conventional or electronic forms, for the
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Bentivi, Daiane (Editor). The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario[electronic form]. Brasília: SBPOT Publications, 2020 (Collection: Work andcontainment measures for COVID-19: contributions from Work and Organizational
Psychology in the pandemic context).
1. Psychology in fighting the COVID-19 Revolution; 2. Impacts on the Labor Worldand the Telepresence Reflexive Practice in the Context of Pandemic; 3. Professional
training and knowledge production in psychology in the face of the pandemic;
4. Psychological Interventions in Healthcare and Hospital Settings During theCoronavirus Disease Pandemic; 5. Psychology’s Contributions to Integral Risk
and Disaster Management, Sports, Traffic, and Person-Environment Relations in a
Pandemic Scenario; 6. Adaptation of Psychodiagnostic Practice, Psychotherapeutic
and Career Guidance in the midst of Pandemic. 7. Psychosocial and psychopoliticalaspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Educational material prepared by Brazilian Association of Organizational and Work
Psichology – SBPOT.

Special thanks: Renato Rojas for his collaboration in the final formatting of the document and cover book. We arealso grateful for the efforts of all authors who readily accepted our invitation and committed themselves to writing
high quality texts.

Introduction
Since March 2020, when the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic,
people have been dealing with a variety of consequences. Social isolation, services interruption
and compulsory remote work are measures that have caused heavy emotional impacts on
population. In this context, psychologists had to meet new demands, having to rethink and adapt
their performance, inviting Psychology to analyze and reflect on possible interventions in view ofthe pandemic’s development.
To contribute with this reflection, the Brazilian Association of Organizational and Work Psychology(SBPOT – Associação Brasileira de Psicologia Organizacional e do Trabalho) developed a threevolume collection named “COVID-19’s work and containment measures: contributions from theOrganizational and Work Psychology in the pandemic context”. Volume 1 provides home office(space designated in a person’s residence for official business purposes) guidelines, specificallyfor mandatory works that have had to be done at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Volume 2 embraces other themes that affect workers, also encompassing work experiences
beyond the organizational context, with particular attention to those in vulnerable conditions.
Volume 3 brings reflections about the impact of the pandemic on the work, considering different
fields of Psychology. For this, 15 Brazilian Psychology Organizations were invited to contributewith their experiences on the development of themes. To develop the content, SPBOT also
contacted expert researchers whose focus of investigation is this area. The objectives of theseven themes of this volume are presented below.
1. Psychology in fighting the COVID-19 Revolution. This chapter was written in partnership withde Federal Council of Psychology (CFP) and the Brazilian Psychology Society (SBP) and analyzes
the Psychology role in face of the dynamics driven by COVID-19. It also discusses the adjustmentof its own professional practices given the increasing virtualization and fragmentation generated
by the “trans-human” era perspective. Considering Psychology professionals performance incontexts of intensifying virtualization and tools-systems mediation.
2. Impacts on the Labor World and the Telepresence Reflexive Practice in the Context ofPandemic. In partnership with de Federal Council of Psychology (CFP) and Psychologists National
Association (FENAPSI), this chapter provides reflections on the world of work transformations
and restructuring underway as basis to understand the crisis caused by the pandemic. It also
analyzes how Psychologists could contribute with harm reduction procedures on collectivity
psychosocial protection, without losing sight of changes and productivity impacts, suggestingreflective practices in organizations.
3. Professional training and knowledge production in psychology in the face of the pandemic. This
chapter, written in partnership with Psychology Postgraduate and Research National Association(ANPEPP), analyzes professional education and knowledge production in Psychology, regardingthe educational problems and challenges raised by the pandemic. It considers the education andprofessional training in the Psychology from remote schooling perspective.
4. Psychological Interventions in Healthcare and Hospital Settings During the Coronavirus
Disease Pandemic. In partnership with Brazilian Association of Health Psychology (ABPSA), thischapter considers the professions’ regulation and standardization, defined by laws that determinelabor relations and duties, especially in the health field. It analyzes the psychologist`s role as ahealth promoting agent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
5. Psychology’s Contributions to Integral Risk and Disaster Management, Sports, Traffic,
and Person-Environment Relations in a Pandemic Scenario. In partnership with the Brazilian
Association of Sports Psychology (ABRAPESP), the Brazilian Association of Traffic Psychology,
and the Brazilian Association of Environmental Psychology and the Person-Environment
Relations (ABRAPA), this chapter presents possible options for the role of the psychologists
on Integral Risk and Disaster Management Psychology, Sports Psychology, Traffic Psychology,
and Environmental Psychology, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It elucidates possible roles andrelevant recommendations.
6. Adaptation of Psychodiagnostic Practice, Psychotherapeutic and Career Guidance in the midstof Pandemic. This chapter was written jointly with the Positive Psychology Brazilian Association(ABP+), the Psychotherapy Brazilian Association (ABRAP), the Psychological Assessment
Brazilian Institute (IBAP), the Rorschach and Projective Methods Brazilian Association (ASBRo)and the Professional Guidance Brazilian Association (ABOP). It discusses the need for Psychology
professionals to consider and review their technical-scientific strategies at times when reality
requires it, such as the current pandemic scenario. It resumes necessary special care points
in psychological assessment processes during the pandemic, in order to maintain the ethicalcommitment and quality service.
7. Psychosocial and psychopolitical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In partnership with the
Political Psychology Brazilian Association (ABPP), the Social Psychology Brazilian Association(ABRAPSO), and the Psychology Brazilian Society (SBP), this chapter analyzes how politicalconditions build certain subjectivation and social organization modes and, therefore, questions
the role of Psychology in its social and political dimensions. It contributes to the complexity
pandemic social and political repercussions analysis, as well as indicates coping possibilities.

SBPOT Board of Directors - Management 2018-2020
Fabiana Queiroga – President

Melissa Moraes – First Treasurer

Thaís Zerbini – Vice President

Daiane Bentivi – Second Treasurer

Lara Martins – First Secretary

Vitoria Ferreira – Intern

Raphael Di Lascio – Second Secretary

Translated by Liz Martinez

Themes and authors
Psychology in fighting the COVID-19 Revolution
Sigmar Malvezzi (USP), Izabel Hazin (CFP) & Lisiane Bizarro (SBP)
Impacts on the Labor World and the Telepresence Reflexive
Practice in the Context of Pandemic
José Carlos Zanelli (Instituto Zanelli), Antônio Virgílio Bittencourt
Bastos (CFP) & André de Carvalho Barreto (FENAPSI)
Professional training and knowledge production in psychology in the face of the pandemic
Roberto Moraes Cruz (rPOT), Maria Cláudia Oliveira (ANPEPP) & Rute Bicalho (ANPEPP)
Psychological Interventions in Healthcare and Hospital Settings
During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
Maria Geralda Viana Heleno (ABPSA), Miria Benincasa Gomes (Universidade Metodistade São Paulo, Suzana da Rosa Tolfo (UFSC) & Priscila Gasperin Pellegrini (UFSC)
Psychology’s Contributions to Integral Risk and Disaster Management, Sports,
Traffic, and Person-Environment Relations in a Pandemic Scenario
Marly Terezinha Perrelli (Sindicato dos Psicólogos do Paraná), Thabata Castelo Branco
Telles (ABRAPESP), Juliana de Barros Guimarães (ABRAPSIT) & Fábio de Cristo (ABRAPA)
Adaptation of Psychodiagnostic Practice, Psychotherapeutic
and Career Guidance in the midst of Pandemic
Ana Claudia Souza Vazquez (ABP+, UFCSPA), Angela Hiluey (ABRAP),
Thatiana Helena de Lima (IBAP), Sonia Regina Pasian (ASBRo), Manoela
Ziebell de Oliveira (ABOP) & Alyane Audibert (ABOP)
Psychosocial and psychopolitical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic
Frederico Alves Costa (ABPP), Deivis Perez (ABRAPSO), Fabiana
Queiroga (SBPOT) & João Gabriel Modesto (SBP)1
Psychology in fighting the COVID-19 Revolution
Sigmar Malvezzi
Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and Fundação Dom Cabral
Izabel Hazin
Federal Council of Psychology (CFP)
Lisiane Bizarro
Brazilian Psychology Society (SBP)

Pandemics are epidemics that spread quickly around the world. Virologists anticipated therisk of some large-scale epidemic outbreak, with potentially devastating consequences(Taylor, 2019), a prediction confirmed in the pandemic contamination by COVID-19. Thispandemic is considered the biggest public health problem in the last 100 years by theWorld Health Organization (WHO). In Brazil, in less than three months, the spread of thisvirus sparked a revolution in social life and in the economy whose impacts and reachmobilized the whole of society, offering a self-portrait from which the country’s challenges
in building future quality of life emerge.
In this portrait, the paradoxical equation of Brazilian society appears in the enjoyment ofsophisticated technological resources linked to the fragility of its mastery of the goodliving, as dreamed by the Greeks for all humanity. Aligned with other countries, Brazil also
moves its events at high speed, due to the almost miracle of digital technology, which
virtualizes reality in globalized networks, setting them going in several flows that have
instrumentalized the spread of COVID-19. This paradox reveals the long trajectory of weak
structures and institutions although they were built in Brazil to enable the collective goodliving of its population.
These problems are not only due to the limitations of public policies and the poor
performance of the structures and mechanisms that move Brazilian society but also result
from the implicit contradiction to the digital technology itself. The latter moves events athigh speed, risking the necessary adaptation to the sustainability of the biological being
and the conditions of its existence in society to maintain the regularity of properties andfunctions, always threatened by emerging events. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed Brazil’s

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

6risks to account for its sustainability. In it, Brazilian society proved to be limited in facing
two contradictory demands: the continuity of the economic movements that support it andthe social isolation to block the spread of COVID-19, given the lack of therapies, vaccines,
and hospital infrastructure.
Although digitalization is still a long way from many citizens, its effects reach, equally all,because they impact on the regularity of the resources that the biological being needs
to instrumentalize its adaptive action. These contradictory demands stem from the fierce
economic competitiveness and the insufficient management of risks to survival in the faceof the invisible spread of COVID-19. The strength, speed, and invisibility of this virus werefertilized by the available equations of exchanges in the digital communication networks,
which act in the subjectivation, in the socialization, in the collective imagination, and theother mechanisms involved in the present-day conditions of collective existence. The own
resources of these networks enabled COVID-19 to revolutionize adaptive action, adding
new risks to society’s survival and sustainability.

Psychology in the fight against COVID-19
COVID-19’s action is revolutionary (from the Latin revolution, “act of revolving”) for its
potential to abruptly and radically change political power, socioeconomic articulation,and the mobilization of all resources for collective existence. Pandemics such as cholera
and the Spanish flu have already promoted revolutions with devastating effects. Likewise,
COVID-19, in addition to deaths, raises the fear of infection, the demand for isolation, andthe rearticulation of the economy, impacting individually and collectively the conditions
that account for the sustainability of collective existence. The spread of COVID-19 could
have been more manageable, but its appearance and action were quick, not allowing
preparations, therapies, and other preventive actions for public health systems.
All over the world, Psychology - a reliable, already legitimized and matured scientific andprofessional field, - immediately enlisted, in the ranks of combating COVID-19, in theempowerment of society to sustain the conditions of collective existence, now threatenedby multiple disruptions and losses. Its practitioners and researchers mobilized, quickly,
formally and spontaneously, making their theoretical-professional framework available forunderstanding and coping with these ruptures and losses, explaining the chains of causes
and reasons that hurt the economy, coexistence, and lives, putting adaptive action at risk.
Its practitioners joined forces in health care, in blocking the contamination networks and inovercoming the consequences of personal, emotional, and social illness.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

7

Coping with revolutionary action is difficult and worsens when the adversary is invisible.
The enemy’s view favors security in the choice between ambiguous tactics and energizes
the creativity that enhances the structures and instruments that build collective existence.
In this battlefield with invisible enemy, Psychology has been an accessible and reliable
resource, as in the myth of Ariadne’s thread, to find the way out of the labyrinth created inthis revolution sparked by COVID-19. The security that Psychology offers, with its collectionof concepts and the experience of its practitioners, emerges from the richness of its
theoretical narratives that explain the individual and social existence in all its mechanisms
and instruments to deal with human conduct and the quality of life. The knowledge ofthese narratives instrumentalizes people and institutions as protagonists of good living,built through prevention and effective solutions to recover losses, sustain resources, andopen new paths for growth and emancipation.
If someone believes in a human fate, it can be the uninterrupted movement of organisms.
Intuitively and scientifically, organisms are known to function and interact, even during
sleep. These movements reveal the corner stone of the biological being, which is thecontinuous mastery of its own sustainability through its proneness to adaptive action. In
simple and naive terms, adaptation is understood as the set of changes promoted in boththe environment and organisms to sustain, develop, and move their functional relationships.
The sustainability of life and of human development depends on these changes, which are
manifested in the effectiveness of adaptive action.
Through its movements, the human organism creates the conditions for its sustainability,
being health one of the most relevant for its implications in the proneness to adaptive
action, i.e., in the capacity of the organism’s movements to respond to all the demands of
its existence in society. To simplify something complex, health can be understood as thecontinuous adaptation of the organism to its environment. In general, in different cultures,
health is treated as a predicate. It is often said that an individual has or has or has health,but in fact, health is the continuous movement of adaptation of the organism.
These movements and changes constitute organism adaptive action, revealing thehuman condition, as an always incomplete being, who acts in search of complementaritythat steadily expands its multiple properties and functions to support its survival andinstrumentalize its emancipation. This complementarity is found in the movementsof organisms and in their exchanges with the environment to overcome their wear andenergize their development.
The disruptions created by COVID-19 directly affected the body’s capacity for these
movements, either by limiting the effectiveness of its functions or by preventing the

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

8necessary complementarity, evidenced in situations such as the search for water andmedicines. The obstacles to movement and complementarity compromise the satisfactionof basic needs, such as food, shelter, and sophisticated needs such as social peace. The
disruptions, daily, manifested in the action of COVID-19, hinder the coexistence, and several
movements necessary to act adaptively. Isolation, lack of mechanical support to breathe,
job loss, insecurity, and particularities that compromise health and adaptation, prevent
community exchanges that have always been irreplaceable pillars of the sustainability oflife and its development.
The emergence of COVID-19 mobilized all the forces of society, beginning with scientificand technical knowledge, in all segments that make up the wisdom and practice of
health in its dependence on people’s behaviors. Psychology’s immediate response tothis mobilization was evidenced in the wide promotion and publication of research, in the
scrutiny of emerging solutions, in the survey and review of instruments for individual andcollective support and the entire spectrum of professional services that attention to life
requires. In this mobilization, Psychology revealed its participation in the professional
complementarity that underlies the effectiveness of the professions in the construction ofindividual and collective existence.
This mobilization of Psychology appeared in its contributions to all the actions requiredby adaptive movements. Although the causal axis of the revolution sparked by COVID-19
is the infection process, its effects unfold in prevention, in the control of risks and theconsequences of various sequential and interconnected disruptions, such as death, jobloss, and depression. Much of the chain of events involved in the COVID-19 revolution isinvestigated and treated in the field of Psychology, in demands such as social discipline,
community solidarity, understanding of suffering, support for the patient, institutional andstructural capacity, and the commitment to overcome losses. All of these demands are
aspects of human conduct involved in the disruptive force of COVID-19 and in the means
for its control. The spread and incapacity that characterize this revolution, call for anunderstanding of the problems in their relations with globalized chains of causes and withthe provisions for neutralizing their disruptive effects.
The virtualization of events and their structuring in fast and global networks moved throughtangled and interdependent flows make the understanding of society, in its causes andreasons, an almost insurmountable challenge, as evidenced in the daily debates broadcast
in the media about the tactics to block the spreading flows of COVID-19. Within networksof events that move quickly and interdependently, it is difficult to discriminate causes andidentify points of intervention aiming at their mastery (Sutherland, 2013). Many aspectsof today’s society, such as its economy and culture, operate in self-regulated ecosystems

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

9whose dynamics are hardly captured and understood, even by the State, the protagonist
responsible for their management. This difficulty is explained by the porosity and flexibilityof the boundaries between events and the interdependence between their multiples causes.
Within self-regulated systems, the conditions of existence become fluid in which the only
regularity is continuous changes, creating ambiguities for the biological being, which makeit difficult to understand and identify ways to cope with the adaptation of their skills, theirbonds, its goals and its balance standards (Esprit Editorial, 2019).
Today, the human being is challenged to adapt to the wide ecology of events thatcharacterizes the globalized and digitalized society, in which adaptive action demands
competences above its biological limits, as observed in the limitations of adjustments to
the recent economic crises. This demand explains the difficulty in controlling migratory
movements, nomadic life, timeless work, and political parasitism, impacting directly andindirectly, even on groups and people who enjoy economic, social, and cultural stability.
Levy (2019) named these self-regulated systems of kingdoms without territory and a king,but they impact on societies with the strength war forces of powerful nations. COVID-19
has all the predicates for its recognition as a new kingdom without territory or a king.
Similarly, control over the COVID-19 revolution requires the mobilization of the whole ofsociety, with all its forces. Psychology is a witness to the repertoire of complaints about
the evils of these kingdoms found in the suffering of nomadism and timeless professional
life, two routines of the digitalized society that hinder the continuous adaptation of theorganism to its environment and, therefore, compromise health.
The nomadism of globalized society complicates overcoming the disruptions generated by
COVID-19. In the context of this society, individuals do not choose to be nomads but are led
into this way of life, even without regularly moving from one place to another, as the Guarani
and Bedouin did, as they did. In fluid environments, made up of intertwined networks ofevents, movements flow at high speed, forcing people and groups to adapt continuously
and radically, as if they were moving places, carrying many uncertainties and insecurity
about their tomorrow. Routine events such as the demand for a new software signals
the inevitable updating of skills, procedures, and habits since today most services are
mediated by those instruments. Quality standards and evaluation criteria are also changed,
imposing rearticulation of cognitions, action options, and routines. These adaptations inskills and judgments complicate the management of identities with significant impacts on
interpersonal relationships and living well with oneself. The individual is charged with the
crystallinity of his/her identity and, at the same time, pressured to change his/her identity
predicates to adjust to the fluidity of the groups in which he/she transits. Nomadic life
requires continuous adaptive movements to respond to the demand for the validation of
one’s personal and social life.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

10It is difficult for individuals acculturated in nomadic life to adjust to the rigidity ofcoexistence required by blocking the spread of COVID-19, or teleworking online (Abdelnour& Médas, 2019). The habits of nomadic life in the search for merely functional adjustmentsin their routines and in the legitimation of these adaptations by the groups with whom
the individual has interfaces make it difficult to understand the environment and create
particularisms that complicate interpersonal relationships and the social peace. The risks
created by COVID-19 increase the cognitive and emotional insecurity that characterizes
nomadic life in today’s society, favoring the search for solutions in the external guidance ofgurus, technicians (coaches), and consultants (Hochschild, 2013).
In the personal dimension, COVID-19 potentiates psychological suffering, whether due to easecontagion, frequency, proximity of deaths, social isolation, and uncertaity about collapses in
the health system. Anxiety, fear, and stress are present in positive patients, suspects, family
members, and professionals working on the front lines (Shojaei & Masoumi, 2020). Such side
effects were added to the biological risks of COVID-19, with a high probability of perpetuating
itself after returning to activities. The revolution triggered by this virus created a different
world, which is redesigning the conditions of collective existence.
In the social dimension, Brazilian dystopia gains new nuances as evidenced in femicideand violence against fragile groups. The vulnerability of already marginalized populations,such as migrants, prisoners, and homeless people is exacerbated (Marques, Moraes,
Hasselmann, Deslandes & Reichenheim, 2020; Okabayashi, Tassara, Casaca, Falcão &Bellini, 2020). The COVID-19 revolution opened up the injustice in social inequality, further
implicating Psychology in combating its effects due to its potential and experience inmeaning reconstruction and in the quest for new answers for old problems whose terms
were changed by digitalization and globalization.
Under these new terms, the traditional scenarios of adaptive action are modified by
the modalities of remote interaction. Work, education, services, and coexistence areredesigned to adjust to the new patterns of relationship and the mediation of information,
to which the professional practice in the field of Psychology is adapting. This practicehas always been largely instrumentalized in face-to-face relationships and conversations.
The new conditions promoted by COVID-19 challenge Psychology in its contribution to
the reduction of suffering, the protection of the vulnerable, the resignification of ways ofworking, learning, and social relationships, requiring reinvention of its instrumentality. The
mission of Psychology was, once again, reaffirmed by COVID-19, in its capacity to act in
the context of digitalization and speed with the complexity of complaints in its services
and the interdependent ruptures. Its challenges remain focused on the development andstrengthening of individual and collective subjects, now more fragile within the world

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

11already heading towards the era of “transhumanism”, due to the artificial intelligence thatmoves to intervene in the adaptive action that enables it to good living and emancipation(Touraine, 2018).

Scientific knowledge and justice, allies in the post-COVID-19 era
Faced with this dynamic driven by COVID-19, Psychology, empowered by its maturity,
is challenged to reinvent itself in the development of theories and the adjustment of its
professional practices in the face of the growing virtualization and fragmentation brought
about by the horizon as predicted by the “transhuman” era. How will the professional
performance in the field of Psychology be in contexts in which the virtualized and systemstools are going to intensify and demand the inclusion of the online mediation of thesettings of the clinic, the hospital, the justice, the psychosocial care devices, the teachingand so many other scenarios (Sammons, VandenBos & Martin, 2020)? The trajectory of
the institutions that represent Brazilian Psychology shows a significant set of skills anddetermination to adapt to the times after COVID-19.
This trajectory of Psychology reveals what De Charms (1968) called “ontological strength”,
which is the recognition and trust in one’s own power for adaptive action. This strength
arises from the regularity of making the subject protagonist. The more an individual
performs, the more he/she discovers his/her potential to perform and develop his/heractions in the unfolding of new demands of adaptation. The recent history of Brazilian
Psychology exposes this “ontological strength”, to reinvent itself in the post-COVID-19
era. In this era, both sciences and professional practices in the field of Psychology will be
updated and strengthened in facing the current paradox of Brazilian society.
COVID-19 affects everyone, although its effects are more complicated in conditions of greater
vulnerability (Santos, 2020). This complication paradoxically encourages investments inthe “awareness of planetary communion”, the “common home” and justice. Psychology,
together with other behavioral and social sciences (Bavel et al, 2020) is called, once again toexpand knowledge about the existence in the society that depends on justice to overcome
the vulnerabilities that enhance the reproduction of the disaster of COVID-19. This callcomes not only from its development as a science but also from its ethical commitment to
the pursuit of justice and a good living for all (Chenneville & Schwartz-Mette, 2020).
Sigmar Malvezzi
Graduated in Psychology (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, 1969), PhD in
Department Of Behavior In Organizations (University of Lancaster, 1989), Professor and

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

12Researcher at the Institute of Psychology of Universidade de São Paulo (since 1986), andat the MPA, Fundação Dom Cabral (since 2012). Former visiting professor at Universityof Texas, Alliant International University, Universidad del Valle, Universidd Tecnológica
Nacional and Erasmus Mundus Program with emphasis on Work and Organizational
Psychology, acting mainly on the following issues: organization, work, human resources,
globalization, management, and psychology.
More information at http://lattes.cnpq.br/9251332435399660

Izabel Hazin
Graduated in Psychology from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - PUCSP (1994), Specialist in Neuropsychology from the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco(2002), Master (2000), Ph.D. (2006) in Cognitive Psychology from the Universidade Federal
de Pernambuco and Post-doctoral training at Universitè René Descartes - Paris V (2010).
She is currently Associate Professor 3 in the Department of Psychology at the Universidade
Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). She has experience in Psychology, with emphasison Development and Learning Neuropsychology; coordinates the LAPEN Research Group(Laboratory of Research and Extension in Neuropsychology at UFRN), Coordinator of theTalento Metrópole Program at the Instituto Metrópole Digital at UFRN. She is currently
Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Psychology at UFRN, President of the Brazilian
Institute of Neuropsychology and Behavior (IBNeC), Vice President of the Latin American
Society of Neuropsychology (SLAN), Member of the 18th Plenary (Counselor) of theConselho Federal de Psicologia, member of the ANPEPP Neuropsychology WG. CNPq
Productivity Scholarship - Level 2.
More information in http://lattes.cnpq.br/5496201609189471

Lisiane Bizarro
Full Professor at the Institute of Psychology at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande doSul (UFRGS), CNPq Researcher, and CAPES Visiting Professor at the Douglas ResearchCenter, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University (2019-2020). Psychologist (UFRGS
1991), Master in Developmental Psychology (UFRGS 1995), and Ph.D. in Psychology(Institute of Psychiatry King’s College London, 2000), with postdoctoral training in
Behavioral Pharmacology (Institute of Psychiatry King’s College London, 2000-2003).
Permanent professor of the Graduate Program in Psychology at the Universidade Federal
do Rio Grande do Sul (2004-present). General Editor of Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica (20052007), Head of the Department of Developmental and Personality Psychology (2013-2015).
She coordinates the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behavior(LPNeC), where she develops experimental tasks and conducts studies on attentional bias,
impulsivity, attention, emotional interference, decision making, self-regulation and illusionof control. Leader of the research group Experimental Psychology, Neuroscience and

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

13

Behavior at UFRGS, and member of the research group Consortium for Research on Obesity
at UFRGS. Full Associate Member of the Brazilian Society of Psychology, member of theBrazilian Society of Neuroscience and Behavior, the Brazilian Institute of Neuropsychology
and Behavior, the International Association for Applied Psychology and the Society for
Neuroscience. Professor of undergraduate and graduate courses in Psychology at UFRGS.
Teaches Basic Psychological Processes; Dissemination of Science; Experimental Behavior
Analysis; Cognitive-behavioral therapy and supervises internships. Teaching consultant at
Organization Junior Company of the UFRGS Institute of Psychology (2012-2018). Coordinatorof the WG of Psychobiology, Neuroscience, and Behavior (2012-2014) and member of the
Scientific Policy Forum (2015-2016) of ANPEPP. General Secretary (2016-2017, 2018-2019)
and First Secretary (2020-2021) of the Society of Brazilian Psychology. Principal Investigatorof the Welcome Trust project and Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s
College London (2006-2010). The organizer of the I, II, III, and IV National Meeting of Basic
Psychological Processes. She is the mother of a girl born in 2008.
More information in http://lattes.cnpq.br/9136343287056870

REFERENCES
1. Abdelnour & Médas (2019). Les Nouveaux Travailleurs des Aplis, PUF, Paris
2. Bavel, J.J.V., Baicker, K., Boggio, P.S. et al. (2020). Using social and behavioral science
to support the COVID-19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behavior 4, 460–471
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0884-z
3. Chenneville, T. & Schwartz-Mette, R. (2020). Ethical Considerations for Psychologists
in the Time of COVID-19. American Psychologist, Advance online publication, 1-11.
4. De Charms, R. (1968). Personal Causation. New York: Academic Press.
5. Esprit Editorial (2019). La transition permanente, Esprit, septembre.
6. Hochschild, A. (2013). The Outsourced Self, USA, ISBN-10: 1250024196
7. Levy, B-H (2019). L’Empire et les cinq rois, Paris, Edit de Poche.
8. Marques, E.; Moraes, C.; Hasselmann, M.; Deslandes, S.; Reichenheim, M. (2020). Violenceagainst women, children, and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: overview,contributing factors, and mitigating measures. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, 36(40), 1-6.
9. Okabayashi, N.; Tassara, I.; Casaca, M.; Falcão, A. & Bellini, M. (2020). Violence against
women and the femicide in Brazil - impact of social distancing for COVID-19. Brazilian
Journal of Health Review, 3(3), 4511-4531.
10. Sammons, M.; VandenBos, G. & Martin, J. (2020). Psychological Practice and the COVID-19
Crisis: A Rapid Response Survey. Journal of Health Service Psychology, 46, 51-57.
11. Santos, B. S. (2020). A cruel pedagogia do vírus. Coimbra: Almedina.
12. Shojaei, S. F., & Masoumi, R. (2020). The importance of mental health training for

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14psychologists in the COVID-19 outbreak. Middle East Journal of Rehabilitation and
Health Studies, 7(2), e102846. http://dx.doi.org/10.5812/mejrh.102846
13. Sutherland, T. (2013). Liquid networks and the metaphysics of flux: ontologies of flowin an age of speed and mobility. Theory Culture & Society, v. 30, n. 5, p. 3-23.
14. Taylor, S. (2019). The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the Next Global Outbreakof Infectious, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
15. Touraine, A. (2018). Nous Sujets Humains, Paris, Seuil.

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2
Impacts on the Labor World and the Telepresence Reflexive
Practice in the Context of Pandemic
José Carlos Zanelli
Zanelli InstituteAntônio Virgílio Bittencourt Bastos
Federal Council of Psychology (CFP)
André de Carvalho-Barreto
Psychologists National Association (FENAPSI)The COVID-19 ensues side damages with consequences that can go beyond the morbidity
and mortality, the need for immediate medical treatment, the hospital crowding, and theinterpersonal distancing. Damages related to phenomena known as “mental disorders”
are progressively increasing, and should supervene even more strongly, as a subsequence
wave of pandemic (Borges, 2020; Tseng, 2020). This herald and neglect regarding
health and well-being lead us to review how professional psychologists can contributein organizations, through procedures to reduce damages aiming at the psychosocial
protection of the collective, and its impacts on the economy and restructuring of work
processes.
The insertion of psychologists in the world of labor organizations dates back to the origins
of Psychology as an applied field. Over more than one century, concepts, principles, andmodels of action and instruments developed by psychologists have been systematicallyapplied to a wide range of contexts of production of goods and of the services provision.
Psychology was consolidated as a far-reaching and diversified field of action, with awealthy set of ways for managing both organizational processes and their impacts ongroups and individuals.
Our models of intervention - from classic areas, such as personnel recruitment, training,
performance evaluation, among others, to interventions in the field of worker’s health were built and changed over its history. From more simple interventions focused on
individuals, it advanced to more complex, more strategic interventions focused on the

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

16

collective of workers. Traditionally, the work on the field was on-site, with psychologists
in direct contact with the phenomena that they should deal with, typically in organizationsof different types and productive segments. On-site presence used to characterize evenconsultant and practitioners´ services, when the professional held no labor link with theorganization. Since long this work has suffered the impacts of the ongoing changes on
the labor world, including the advance of new technologies and the expansion of remote
work, or work mediated by communications technology.
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced an unprecedented rupture. It demands adjustments,changes, restructuring of professional activities, even from psychologists, includingorganizational and work psychologists. The impacts of the current health crises surely
go beyond changes on the work routines and processes. These should be added to a
global economic crisis that will affect the national economies in different ways. Dependingon the grounds of a country’s economics, the crisis can entail more unemployment andimpoverishment of working conditions. Even when it comes to organizational contexts,
the impacts on health and the required health-related measures demand creative andinnovative ways of sustaining the commitment to building healthier work environments,
capable of reducing damages to all those engaged in the lives of organizations.
The current paper aims to make a reflection over the changes in the labor world, theongoing restructuring as ground for a proposal that, in our view, is an important contributionthat Psychology professionals can offer. This contribution takes place through reduced
damages, and enhancing the psychosocial protection to the collective, without losing sightof the impacts ensuing from changes and productivity.

Brief summary of the labor world
The Taylorism-Fordism paradigm that marks the industry world since early the 20th century,and the counter-balance of a trade union structure that granted some power to the working
class, provided us with a sense of stability and continuity for more than half of the 20th
century. Notably in the central countries, mainly the European ones, policies on social wellbeing have also contributed to a feeling of equilibrium and stability in the labor world. Thisis sharper after the II World War when, under the dominance of the United States, economy
experienced times of prosperity, despite the geopolitical unrest. Big organizations, longterm service contracts, award policies were then associated to a notion of long-lasting
career in the company, expansion of the consuming market, improved conditions of life,
support when one loses the job, and so on. By the way, that was not a hegemonic reality for
all countries, mainly when it comes to the countries peripheral to the global capitalist order.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

17That seemingly stable order suffered a sharp blow as of the 1970s, resulting from thepetrol crisis that halted years of economic growth, as well as some income distributions in
the Western societies. The crisis of socialist societies brought about geopolitical changes
that undermined the bipolar world structured after the II World War. In parallel, technology
changes continued to produce huge impacts on production processes, and on the setup ofa globalized world, in which the notions of time and space were downplayed. We were thenfacing a Third Industrial Revolution, marked by the advance of cybernation and automationof production processes. This technology advance transformed Japan into a strong
economic power, and its model of work organization became a model to be conveyed to
the Western societies. This, in turn, triggered big changes on the models of structuring andmanaging labor organizations. These changes, in a context of the crisis of capital, groundthe emergence of neo-liberal policies that, briefly speaking, aim to respond the demandsof a globalized and more competitive world, sustaining or expanding profits while reducing
workers’ rights, and taking down the policies that used to structure the state of social wellbeing. Considering all these elements, we have the end of the 20th century marked by deepchanges not only in the labor world, but also at the level of society in processes conceived
and largely studied, such as globalization and production restructuring.
These macrosocial processes are the background that allows us to understand the specificchanges in organizations, in the workers and ways of working. This is the main focus of
this paper. Since these are processes that we experience and continue to experience, ourknowledge is still fragmented and little inconclusive. Something that should be emphasizedis that we do not have a homogeneous world, notably a labor world, within and between
countries. Frequently, the discussion about changes and future of work disregards thisheterogeneity, approaching a given productive or social segment, in which the ongoingchanges are more visible. Highlighting this heterogeneity is important to recall that in our
everyday life, we live together with virtual organizations, or highly technological organizations,side by side with medium, small and micro businesses whose work processes are muchless affected by those changes. Even worse, we coexist with organizations that sustain
slavery-like labor relationships. This diversity is also applicable when we consider labor
relations. More “deregulated” societies coexist with societies that preserve higher levels of
regulation of the workers’ rights and duties. Despite this diversity, we find some general linesthat redesign the labor world today, and foreshadow directions that are being apparently
consolidated for the decades to come. Some terms may summarize the major lines of thischange: flexibility, polyvalence, deterritorialization, outsourcing, and entrepreneurship.
As advocated by Spreitzer, Cameron and Garrett (2017), unsteadiness and lack of clear
frontiers, either spatial or temporal, are a beacon that replaces full-time, stable jobs, carriedout for years or decades in the same organization. Thus, the number of half-time workers;

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

18

informal and temporary jobs; indirect links with the organization through outsourcing;flexible working time; telework, is increasing. It is quite clear the divide between core andperipheral workers, as defined by Antunes (1995). Core workers are granted more security,
higher compensations, opportunities to grow, and development. Peripheral workers, in turn,face instability, and are only supported by the labor law bills (always challenged and, as
we saw, recently amended to remove historical rights of workers). Spreitzer et al. (2017)
acknowledge this distinction when they recognized that, for more specialized and better
educated workers, these new work arrangements can be positive experiences. However,the best term to define the current reality for the remainder workers is impoverishment,
mainly when we consider the workers of digital platforms (the work “uberization” process).
In another dimension, the technology advances have made jobs more cognitive, complex andvolatile, which demands working with a set of differentiated competences and skills. We are
now on the edge of a Fourth Industrial Revolution accountable for the “smart plant” (Buhr,
2017) in which machines are no longer instruments for human actions, becoming active
agents in the production process. This process is not limited to industrial corporations, andencroaches the social life, directly affecting the job event. Structural unemployment tends
to increase, thus reducing the workers’ chances of bargaining. The uncertainty, and all of its
consequences to people, is the keynote of current times (De Witte, 2005; Lee et al., 2018).
For Brazil, these changes are unique when we consider that we are experiencing one of
the sharpest economic crises in our history, surely deeply worsened by the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Economic stagnation and paltry growth levels in the years that an
economic crisis happened determine a huge contingent of unemployed, underemployed,
and informal workers. In this setting, labor laws are reviewed, the work of trade unions is
weakened, deteriorating the imbalanced relations of power between capital and work.

Labor organization and the COVID-19
Labor organization can be understood as the dynamic relationship between labor force,
structure, leadership, and management of a given organization (Turner, 2020). The authors
Zanelli and Silva (2008) argue that labor organizations are open and technical social
systems aimed at fulfilling specific objectives. As established collectivity, they are ininteractions and tensions with internal and external coalition (Katz & Kahn, 1978). Internalcoalition refers to the organization’s workers that execute and make decisions in theorganization, holding informal and/or formal power. External coalition can be understood
as non-workers of the organization whose actions and decisions can affect the workers’
behaviors (Zanelli & Silva, 2008). Furthermore, the engagement between employees,

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

19managers and policies can promote either alignment, or organizational incongruence anddetachment of the relevant players in the work organizations.
The social systems play core roles in the work organization. The functions of adaptation,
objectives’ fulfillment, integration and latency of values and beliefs of people sometimes
border the control powers (i.e., environmental pressure, rules enforcement, shared values
and expectations) that can reduce the individual’s variability in the context of work (Zanelli& Silva, 2008). In given situations, this tension produces psychical suffering, mainly inthe struggle between the individual’s history, plans, hopes and desires, and with a labororganization that ignores these (Dejours, 2016). The manager - representing those holding
part of the power in this dynamic - starts playing significant role in the social building of thelabor organization’s reality.
In the history of global pandemics, the COVID-19 became one of the core crises of health,interpersonal relationships, and economy. The pandemic affected people from all nations,continents, ethnicities, genders and organizations (Shanafelt, Ripp & Trockel, 2020). No
other experience with epidemics in the past has caused so many significant changes onlabor organization as the COVID-19 did. For example, during the Ebola virus epidemic, from2014 to 2016 in the West Africa, health resources were relocated as the response to theemergency, but business did not need to be locked down. During the Zika virus outbreak,
women were most affected, and the imbalanced income between men and women madewomen lack resources to undergo checkups at hospitals (Weham, Smith & Morgan, 2020).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the required responses such as lockdown and quarantineof entire cities, closure of organizations, physical isolation, and requests for shelter have
sharply changed every day and organizational lives (Shanafelt, Ripp & Trockel, 2020). Eachcountry responded these interferences in their own way to reduce effects on organizations
and the economy. For example, the German government launched packages to foster loans,backed the loans, and supported outsourced workers. Resuming on-site work became
optional. China, one of the first countries affected by the pandemic, launched campaigns
to encourage people to resume work at places where the pandemic was under control.
The Chinese government encouraged trust in workers and businesses through campaigns,
built infrastructure to create more jobs, and improved labor relationships. The Brazilian
government established unsuccessful measures, like the Provisional Measure (PM) N°
936/2020 that instituted the Emergency Plan to Maintain Jobs and Income. The program
allowed wage reduction and working hours in up to 70%.
The context of pandemic, added with this PM, encouraged and mandated new dynamics inorganizations and human relationships, such as: (a) clandestine opening of organizations;

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20

(b) alternation of employees’ working shifts and hours; (c) authorization by the State toopen organizations and, in few days, mandatory closure; (d) physical distancing between
workers and customers; (e) flexible working hours; (f) implementation of sanitary practices
for workers and customers; (g) incentives to remote purchase and delivery services; (h)mandatory use of individual protection equipment by workers and customers; (i) reduced
number of workers in each room; (j) remote work. Moreover, in few months there was a
noticeable increase in the number of deaths and leaves of absence from workers due to the
COVID-19, unemployed individuals, collective and individual bargains, labor suits, closureof organizations, and workers’ income reduction. In sum, the external coalition affected theinternal coalition in work organization with unprecedented severity at the macro, meso, andmicro time of social systems.
Considering this dynamic, even the most experienced manager suffered an increaseof overload resulting from the new events, with well-known stressor consequences(Zanelli, 2010) - a psychosocial context clearly susceptible to the rise of physical andmental pathologies that demand skilled interventions by professional psychologists atorganizations, far beyond the remedy clinical support.
The interconnected activities that make up the Psychological support scope now, andcircumstances pass by, are: review of the traditional human management processes, andexpand its influence on the organizational decisions; effectively humanize the organization,and make work worthy and decent; focus on workers’ experiences and participation, making
them meaningful; set programs on prevention, promotion and protection of psychosocial
health; increase competences, and enhance the digital culture; and many other activities(Zanelli & Kanan, 2019). A wide range of potential interventions can be worked in scheduledlearning processes, coordinated from the reflective practice of managerial actions. This
procedure is presented below.

The shared telepresence-based reflective process
The texts published in the volumes of this collection “O trabalho e as medidas de contenção
da COVID-19: contribuições da Psicologia Organizacional e do Trabalho” (COVID-19’s workand containment measures: contributions from Organizational and Work Psychology) by
the Brazilian Association of Organizational and Work Psychology offer alternatives forthe analyses and psychosocial interventions to managers, supported by robust empiricalevidence. They pave the way to identify the needs of the organization community basedon renewed parameters, provided these are shared in practice. In order to do that, andconsidering the impacts of the pandemic and its consequences on the worsening of labor

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

21

crisis and the crisis in organizations, we will conclude this text by displaying a procedure
designed to ground reflection, in an integrating process that facilitates learning prior, during
and after the managerial actions.
Many philosophers, scholars, and competent managers have discussed over time
the relevance of methodical consideration and reflective practice at managerial level(e.g., Schön, 2000). This peculiar moment of our history doubles the importance ofconsideration and unveils its usefulness, if Human Rights and the Agenda 2030 are to berespected (Nações Unidas Brasil, 2015). However, this consideration is not always shared,
systematized by groups and, above all, not always is supported by scientific evidence. Thisis mostly due to the scanty dialog between researchers and managers, to the enclosure
and pressure for results both from researchers and managers in their specific scopes ofwork. The problems discussed in managerial meetings are many times restricted to thesearch for “technical solutions”, i.e., solve the barriers to performance and productivity, as
if these could be disconnected from health and well-being (Zanelli & Kanan, 2019).
The current crisis unveils the fragilities of organizational structures, policies, and strategies,
and urges for solidarity and collaboration - values that are more than ever of extraordinary
relevance. According to Dejours (2016) cooperation “is the imperative mediation in theconstruction and renewal of solidarity against suffering at work” (free translation, p. 330).
The procedure that is briefly presented below is a cooperation resource aimed at developing
managerial competences to build collaborative and reflective, healthy and productive work
environments (Zanelli & Tostes, 2019).
The procedure should integrate the actions plan (human management, and others)
currently adopted or to be adopted by the organization in all of its subsystems, to respondthe challenges posed by the pandemic/crisis. It is enabled as group process of support
to cope with stress, and sustain affiliative bonds. Passing by the scheduled sessions ofreflective exchanges opens widely “to which extent coercive control destroys trust, mutual
consideration, and cooperation” and deconstructs the “objectives of the organization itself”(Zanelli & Tostes, 2019, p. 13, free translation). Relying with social support and finding
assistance in relationships of interpersonal affinities in scheduled meetings mediated byexperts, themselves, prove to be a protective resource to health and well-being.
The proposed Reflective Practice starts by the assembling of Reflection Groups (RGs) ideallyin the most powerful positions, to raise awareness about the power of the procedure to enable
the organizational reinvigoration, clarify doubts and, though the exercising of reflection, remove
unjustified fears about the potential effects of the Practice. The number of RGs is expected toincrease and be inclusive, as much as possible, from the development of the first RGs.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

22In order to expand the opportunities of individual manifestations when procedures are
exclusively performed online, all RGs are restricted to four or five members (preferably
selected by interpersonal affinity relationships), coordinated by a mediator professional, andone assistant. Execution is oriented by themes or subjects elected for their pertinence inrelation to the participants’ daily issues. These issues are worked on weekly basis, or biweekly 90-minute sessions. In the first sessions, the mediator professional and the assistantdefine the themes, jointly with professionals in charge of the training and development or
occupational health program, or by programs with other denominations, or simply in thecontext of human resources, depending on the allocation of Reflective Practice in some ofthese. After the second or third session, topics selection is decided upon negotiations in the
RG, strictly aligned with the participants’ needs clearly stated along the Practice development.
Participants are encouraged to keep up written records of the experiences and lessons,either during sessions or in-between sessions, to report in the beginning of the next session.
Sessions are planned to facilitate exchange of experiences and purposeful suggestions, ina sequence that starts by highlighting the major events to each participant in a period orinterval of time between the last and the current session. Next, the conceptual summaryin question is read in an attempt to achieve mutual understanding, and the resulting
reflections. Exercises and active experiences are coordinated and directly linked to theparticipants’ performance, and further clarification of the everyday practice.
Following is the sequence presented by Zanelli and Tostes (2019) to each session: 1. Recent
events (20’); 2. Objectives of Session # … (02’); 3. Introduction to the theme (05’); 4. Exercise
1 (20’); 5. Basic concepts related to the theme (05’ a 10’); 6. Exercise 2 (20’); 7. Comments infocus (03’ to 05’); 8. Reminders (03’); 9. Stringing questions (03’ to 05’). Certainly, this basic
structure can be adjusted to the context and demands estimated to each session.
Figure 1. Sequence presented by Zanelli and Tostes (2019) adaptable to the context and demands estimated toeach session.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

23

Stages

1

Recent events (20’)

2Objectives of Session # ... (02’)

3

Introduction to the theme (05’)

4

Exercise 1 (20’)

5Basic concepts related to the theme (05’ a 10’)

6

Exercise 2 (20’)

7Comments in focus (03’ to 05’)

8

Reminders (03’)

9Stringing questions (03’ to 05’)
Source: Prepared by the authors.

This procedure of Reflective Practice allows professionals (RGs coordinators andmembers) to become collaborators of the organizational and work reconstructs, oriented
by the collective needs. Initially, we suggest drafting summaries of the Brazilian Associationof Organizational and Work Psychology texts as presentations, as well as drafting own
materials, or resource to other summaries such as, for example, those presented by Zanelli
and Tostes (2019). It is an instrument to the psychologist professional and to, after being
understood, be disseminated by managers through their actions in their units and, gradually,
permeate the organization as a whole.

Final consideration
Based on the Socratic assumption that knowledge can make us better human beings, weconclude that decent work and a worthy world will result from actions anchored in scientificevidence, and coherent ethical principles. The circumstances we are experiencing now
demand new ways of responding to the needs or pressures imposed. With the Reflective
Practice presented here we intend to encourage the planning and execution of interactive,
adaptable and inclusive (regarding both participants and themes) procedures to (re)construct work environments that are collaborative, reflective and assertive - necessarily
productive environments, but healthy and sustainable ones.

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24

José Carlos Zanelli
Ph.D. in Education/Psychology from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP, 1992) with three
post-docs and permanence at North-American, Latin-American and European universities
and other institutions (USP, 1998; PUCAMP, 2007; IPO-Porto, 2014). Master’s Degree inSocial Psychology of Organizations from the Methodist University of Sao Bernardo doCampo (1984). Degree in Psychology from the University of Brasilia (UnB, 1974). Retired
from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Dr. Zanelli has been the Director of the Zanelli
Institute - Health and Productivity for more than 10 years.
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9763879073138485

Antonio Virgílio Bittencourt Bastos
Ph.D. in Psychology (UnB, 1994). Retired professor of Organizational Social Psychology
at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). Currently, Dr. Bastos is the Superintendentof Institutional Appraisal and Development of the UFBA. Research 1-A of the Brazilian
National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Coordinator of the
Research Group: Individual, Work and Organizations: psychosocial aspects. Coordinatorof the Area of Psychology at Higher Education Improvement Coordination - Capes (20112018) Currently member of the Federal Council of Psychology.
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/3264748971027585

André de Carvalho-Barreto
Doctoral student in Public Health from the Federal University of Ceará (started in 2017);
Master’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Fortaleza (2008); undergraduate in
Psychology (Bachelor’s and Licentiate degrees) from the University of Fortaleza (2003),
and in Philosophy (Licentiate degree) from the State University of Ceará (2003). Current
Secretary of Educational Policies of the National Federation of Psychology and General
Coordinator of the Trade Union of Psychologists in Ceará.
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/2060075431463591

REFERENCES
1. Antunes, R. (1995). Adeus ao trabalho? Ensaio sobre as metamorfoses e a centralidade
do mundo do trabalho. Sao Paulo ; Campinas. Cortez ; Ed. da UNICAMP, 1995. 155 p.
2. Borges, Thais. A quarta onda da pandemia: como a saúde mental virou outra crise docoronavírus. O CORREIO. Retrieved on June/02/2020 https://www.correio24horas.
com.br/noticia/nid/a-quarta-onda-da-pandemia-como-a-saude-mental-virou-outracrise-do-coronavirus/

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25

3. Buhr, D. (2017). What about Welfare 4.0?. In CESifo Forum (Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 15-24).
München: ifo Institut-Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München.
4. De Witte, H. (2005). Job insecurity: Review of the international literature on definitions,prevalence, antecedents and consequences. Journal of Industrial Psychology, 31(4), 1-6.
5. Dejours, C (2016). Organização do trabalho e saúde mental: quais são as
responsabilidades do manager? In: Macêdo, K. B.; Lima, J. G.; Fleury, A. R. D.; Carneiro,
C. M. S. (Orgs.). Organização do trabalho e adoecimento: uma visão interdisciplinar.
Goiania: PUC Goias publisher. [E-book available for free athttps://site.medicina.ufmg.
br/osat/wp-content/uploads/sites/72/2017/06/Livro-organiza%C3%A7%C3%A3o-dotrabalho-e-adoecimento-mpt21-06-2017.pdf]
6. Katz, D., & Kahn, R. (1978). Psicologia Social das Organizações. Sao Paulo: Atlas.
7. Lee, C. E Huang, G-H. & Ashford, S. (2018). Job Insecurity and the Changing Workplace:
Recent Developments and the Future Trends in Job Insecurity Research. Annual Review
of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior. 5. 10.1146/annurevorgpsych-032117-104651.
8. United Nations Brazil (2015) Transformando Nosso Mundo: A Agenda 2030 parao Desenvolvimento Sustentável. Agenda 2030. Retrieved on June/01/2020 https://
nacoesunidas.org/pos2015/agenda2030/
9. Schön, D. A. (2000). Educando o Profissional Reflexivo: um novo design para o ensino
e a aprendizagem. Porto Alegre: Artmed.
10. Shanafelt, T., Ripp, J., & Trockel, M. (2020). Understanding and Addressing Sources ofAnxiety Among Health Care Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of
The American Medical Association. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5893
11. Spreitzer, G. M.; Cameron, L. & Garrett, L. (2017). Alternative work arrangements: Twoimages of the new world of work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology andOrganizational. Behaviour, 4, 473–99
12. Tseng, V. (2020, mar. 30). As our friends and colleagues brave the font lines, we mustalso get ready for a series of aftershocks. It’s very hard to plan this far ahead while
we’re in survival mode. We must prepare early and strategize our response to thecollateral damage of #COVID19 [Twitter @VectorSting]. Recuperado de: https://twitter.
com/vectorsting/status/1244671755781898241
13. Turner, P. (2020) The Organisation of Work and Employee Engagement. In: P. Turner,
Employee Engagement in Contemporary Organizations. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan
14. Weham, C., Smith, J. & Morgan, R. (2020). COVID-19: the gendered impacts of theoutbreak. The Lancet, 395(10227), 846-848.
15. Zanelli, J. C. & Silva, N. (2008). Interação humana e gestão: a construção psicossocial
das organizações de trabalho. Sao Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo.
16. Zanelli, J. C. (e Col.) (2010). Estresse nas organizações de trabalho: compreensão eintervenção baseadas em evidências. Porto Alegre: Artmed.

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17. Zanelli, J. C. & Kanan, L. A. (e / y Col.) (2019). Fatores de risco, proteção psicossocial e
trabalho: organizações que emancipam ou que matam = Factores de riesgo, protección
psicossocial y trabajo: organizaciones que emancipan o que matan. 2. Ed. Lages:
EDUNIPLAC. [E-book available for free athttp://zanellijc.com.br/ebook/]
18. Zanelli, J. C. & Tostes, A. C. (2019). Prática reflexiva das ações gerenciais: um modo depromover a saúde e o bem-estar sem perder de vista a produtividade. Curitiba: Maxi /Florianópolis: Instituto Zanelli.

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3Professional training and knowledge production in
psychology in the face of the pandemic
Roberto Moraes Cruz
SBPOT-rPOT
Maria Claudia Oliveira
Psychology Postgraduate and Research National Association (ANPEPP)
Rute Bicalho
Psychology Postgraduate and Research National Association (ANPEPP)The production and dissemination of knowledge in the different areas of science constitutepermanent challenges to the civilizational process, innovation, and generation of scientificproducts. To produce knowledge is to build processes of reflection and argument, andtherefore reflects tensions, consensus, dissent, particularities, and generalizations, guided
by theories and methods that contribute to the very process of knowing reality (Cruz, 2016).
To widely disseminate this knowledge is an ethical and scientific commitment: scientists
and professionals who are part of a networked community must ensure the quality of theinformation produced and made available to society.
In psychology, it is no different. In critical and challenging moments such as the one that
abruptly appeared due to the Sars-Covid-2019 pandemic, psychologists embrace thecommitment and put themselves at the service of society in different ways to collaborate
in order to cope with the problem, and its effects.
Understanding human reality in its different psychological manifestations and intervening
whenever it is professionally possible, ethically desirable, and based on the best scientificresources and arguments, are basic commitments of a science and a profession that aims
to collaborate effectively in solving problems and improving psychological knowledge abouthuman reality. In this sense, when it is stated that psychology is a science and profession,
the intention is to emphasize in a forceful way that producing scientific knowledge anddisseminating it in society is a paradigm under which the training and professional
development of psychologists and of all journals in psychology is guided.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario28

In this chapter, we focus on professional training and the production of knowledge in
psychology, considering the educational problems and challenges raised by the pandemic.

Training of psychologists in the context of the pandemic
The processes of professional training and development in psychology are primarily
carried out in undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and complemented by othertraining opportunities in technical and scientific events, inside and outside the spaces ofthe profession.
Such processes start from the premise that these are privileged spaces and situations fordeveloping the skills of knowing (which is generally called the process of reflection andcriticism) and the skills of professional intervention (when attending, in a qualified andspecialized way, the different demands of the population) (Cruz, 2016b; Cruz, 2016c).
The main objective of training and professional development in psychology is to promote
the development of scientific and professional skills among learners, which implies
the improvement of critical and scientific reflection, based on prior and contemporary
knowledge of the facts (Iñesta, 2006). It is a process that involves immersion in reality; theintegration of values, feelings, personal verbal communication skills, and writing; the useof technical resources; and especially identification with the profession, its demands, andits challenges (Sadykova, et al., 2019).
The civil and professional responsibility of psychologists is accentuated as the interaction
between the training process and the demands of meeting the needs of the populationand social institutions increases. The expectation is that this process of interaction willproduce the greatest possible benefits for those involved, as well as enable professional
performance committed to ethical and scientific values spelled out in the principles on
which the profession is based (Dueñas Becerra, 2003). Training people to act professionally,
considering the educational basis, cultural diversity, and economic problems in a country is
a complex task and an accentuated social responsibility. Thus, it is possible to affirm thatthe quality of training of generations of Brazilian psychologists is a fundamental aspect tothe integration between science and profession (Cruz, 2016A).
The current context of the SARS-Covid-2019 pandemic, a public health crisis, has produced
relevant effects on the dynamics of society in terms of social mobility, employability, andeconomic losses, as well as on the physical and mental health of populations, especiallythe most vulnerable (Brooks et al., 2020). The need for scientists and professionals fromThe state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario29different areas to contribute to the assistance, safety, and provision of resources necessary
to slow the spread of the disease and to mitigate its results on people’s health has been
observed. This is especially relevant if we consider that policies and actions to prevent
contamination and reduce damage can not reach the peripheral communities of cities, due
to poor sanitary conditions.
In this context, there is a recent increase in scientific production in psychology that discusses
the relationship between fear of exposure to contamination, the situation of isolation andconfinement of the population, and the accentuation of mental health problems (BarrosDelben et al., 2020; Cruz et al., 2020). Additionally, studies have been expanded in populations
infected with coronavirus and among professionals directly exposed to the risks ofcontamination. This is especially the case for those who work in hospitals and health centers
due to reports of exhaustion, reduction of empathy, anxiety, irritability, and insomnia, as well
as deterioration of cognitive functions, and social and professional performance (Brooks,
2020; Schmidt et al., 2020). There is also recent work about the pandemic’s effects on theincrease in social and domestic violence, cases of suicide, and the process of mourningand loss, in addition to the manifestation of symptoms of acute stress a few days after the
implementation of quarantine (Crepaldi et al., 2020; Enumo, 2020).

Education and professional training in psychology: reflections on remoteschooling
The ongoing social, economic, technological, and behavioral transformations intensified
by Sars-Covid-2019 have accentuated the need for knowledge production. This is inaddition to the need for improvement of intervention in crisis and emergency situations,guidance, psychological care and treatment mediated by information and communication
technologies, as well as the promotion of new professional training processes based ontheory-practice integration.
In a way, these transformations, provoked and/or intensified by the pandemic, have had
effects on public policies and health management, and more specifically on people’s
personal, family, and professional lives. They are already influencing the production of
psychological knowledge about the pandemic’s impacts in society on mental health, life, andwork. Similarly, it is also possible to visibly perceive greater participation of psychologists
in coping with psychological problems which have been exacerbated by the context of thepandemic. All these aspects certainly impose challenges to updating the teaching andprofessional practice of Brazilian psychologists.
The suspension of face-to-face pedagogical activities, starting in March 2020, aimed

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

30

to enable the social distance necessary to prevent contamination and extensive
dissemination of the virus among people. The need to continue to ensure the provision ofschooling led to the emergency replacement of face-to-face teaching in the classroom bya new educational reality called remote education. This is based on the distance mode
legal device, already provided for in Brazilian legislation, as we will highlight below. Thissolution led to several problems and raised different questions, of which we will focus on
two from the perspective of psychology: transposing a model of distance education into
basic education, originally thought for adult education, demanding skills and creativity fromteachers; and, the challenges inherent to carrying out practical disciplines and professional
internships, as part of the training of psychologists, in the context of remote education.
The pandemic was challenging, requiring the rapid suspension of face-to-face educational
activities and demanding the search for alternative solutions, which resulted in the useof remote education. According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO, 2020), the suspension of classes due to the closure of educational
institutions affected more than 1.5 billion students worldwide. The social, economic, anddevelopmental costs of this measure are high, especially in relation to basic education,
and when we refer to children and young people who are socially vulnerable. We know that
schools are not only spaces for formal learning, but for socialization, the development of
ethical awareness, and in an unequal country, the guarantee of food security for students,
especially in a situation of increasing unemployment and economic crisis resulting fromthe pandemic such as in Brazil.
Faced with the worsening of socioeconomic disparities, it is possible to observe thereduction of opportunities for healthy development and learning of the child-youth
population, the increase in the chances of school dropout, and the fragility in the protection
networks for this public (INEE, 2016). The longer they are away from the school system, themore likely they are to drop out of formal education (Hodges, Moore, Lockee, Trust, & Bond,2020), because they are required to contribute financially to family income.
Remote education—almost always mediated by information and communication
technologies (ICT)—is the possible alternative when it comes to mitigating the effects ofabsence from school, maintaining children and young people’s contact with the school
system, and maintaining the bonds of trust between peers and teachers. At the sametime, this alternative carries challenges, many of which are not being faced, and muchless solved. Firstly, remote education has been thought of as a transposition of the sameclassroom conditions, with the exception of physical presence in the same space, without
often considering the particularities of the students’ study context, their material resources,
and family support.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

31

In this sense, one aspect to be emphasized is the difference between distance education andremote education. Distance education is provided for in the Brazilian educational legislation(Law of Guidelines and Bases of National Education—LDB, 1996) as an educational action
in response to emergency situations that may affect basic education. However, by definition(decree 9.057, of 2017), distance education provides a didactic-pedagogical mediation
appropriate to the characteristics of the virtual world, the use of ICT, the presence of qualified
professionals, and should comply with legal requirements and regulatory frameworks whilst
doing so (Brazil, 2017). Due to the need for abrupt changes when adapting to the healthemergency of COVID, there was neither time nor opportunity to extract the best benefit fromthe existing educational experiences, within the framework of distance education.
Secondly, although it can be done without ICT by using print and audio-visual resourcesof another nature, such as TV and radio, in the present context of the pandemic, remoteeducation, with exceptions, was designed to have access to digital technologies byteachers and students as the norm—which is not true even for higher education students.
Also, the proposals are based on a professional image of teachers, supposedly competentand autonomous in didactic planning and conducting classes, interesting and motivating,with access to such resources; something that research shows that does not always occur(Schuhmacher & Filho, 2017; Tenório & Tenório, 2016).
Promoting teaching and learning dynamics remotely is not something simple, andthe complexity involved can produce stress and dissatisfaction in educational actors.
Teachers and students do not always have support for planning and learning in such
peculiar circumstances, produced in such a short time. Above all, carrying out inclusive
remote education is a complex challenge, considering the development and learning needsof the child-youth public, and of each child and adolescent in particular. In this scenario,
critical school psychology, for example, which has been working for decades to redefineschool grievances and promote the quality of basic education, is challenged to contributeto reducing the negative impacts of the pandemic on the quality of education, so that nostudent is left behind.
According to research data (Cetic.br/NIC.br/The United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF,
2020), there are 4.8 million children and adolescents aged 9 to 17 years living in households
without internet access in Brazil. Therefore, if the process of remote schooling is prolonged,
and continues to be exclusively mediated by digital technologies, about 17% of the childyouth segment may remain excluded from the social right to education. The National
Council of Education (CNE/MEC), in issuing professional opinion no. 05/2020, recognized
the difficulties of many children and young people, exposed for the time being to remoteeducation, in accessing digital technologies. According to the professional opinion:

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

32In order to ensure essential school care, it is exceptionally proposed that the
adoption of non-in-person pedagogical activities be developed with students aslong as sanitary restrictions persist for the complete presence of students inschool environments. These activities may or may not be mediated by digital
information and communication technologies, especially when the use of thesetechnologies is not possible (CNE/MEC, 2020).
A worrying aspect is the high expertise required of parents and family members to
support their children’s learning processes in the domestic environment. Learning canbe compromised when the student does not find a family environment conducive andmotivating to carry out their studies and develop some autonomy. Research conductedwith basic education students who study remotely indicates that when there is no
minimally favorable environment, the probability of the student giving up their studies ishigher (CREDO, 2015; Zhou, Wu & Zhou, 2020), as it starts a cycle of low grades, low selfconfidence to learn, and absence of mentors to offer emotional support in emergency
situations (INEE, 2016). All this affects the quality of the family-school relationship andleads to distance between school and the concrete reality of the students.
In addition, we emphasize as simplistic the idea that producing didactic materials by video
or in print could guarantee the quality of pedagogical processes for children and young
people. If these alternatives contribute to compensating for the lack of technologicalresources in the domestic environment in one way, in another it does not solve the questionof qualified pedagogical mediation, since this refers to the social role of teachers that
dispenses with the technology used.
The current circumstances require rapid educational responses. Some movementsof educational institutions, perhaps hurried, that may have uncritically adapted fromclassroom activities to non-classroom situations, must be monitored. Such an attitude
may be collaborating, or legitimizing decisions that may contribute to the aggravation ofexisting educational problems. As the historical-cultural approach in psychology helps
to understand, the development of higher psychological processes—such as meaningfullearning—depends on at least two complementary processes: the semiotic mediation of
the psyche (construction of new meanings and senses), and the instrumental mediationof activity (when new instruments convert into cultural resources for development andlearning). Educational experiences lacking these forms of mediation do not promotelearning or even development, besides weakening the teacher-student bond.
Finally, it is possible to understand that historically, many of the criticisms directed at the(lack of) quality of education end up falling back on the role of teachers, as if they alone

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

33

could solve systemic and lasting problems that impact public education, raising its quality.
Once again, we see a new source of pressure on them in remote education, being expected
to plan coherent, consistent, and creative activities that enable learning in the absence ofthe figure of the teacher and peers.
We noticed, in relation to remote teaching, that in the absence of models for practice, manyteachers have sought to build references for didactic-pedagogical action and mediation
forms that take as a basis their own experiences and previous knowledge, imported from theclassroom context (face-to-face/physical). There are so many uncertainties, that teachers
continue rehearsing and experimenting. But even in this unknown scenario, attempts todeal with the new, in the light of traditional pedagogical principles, can contribute to thesaturation of these principles and the emergence of new meanings related to the teaching
function and its teaching practices, in a creative and innovative way with more lasting
effects, which extend even to the post-pandemic future, provided that support is given by
governmental actions and public policies.
What contribution can psychology make in this whole process? Educational contexts havealways constituted an important space for the development of psychology as a scienceand as a profession. In the historical process, this contributed a lot so that education could
identify its problems and face them, in the search for solutions to qualify and strengthenschool education. How can reflections on school and educational psychology contributeto facing the challenges of the moment, and what lessons should we draw from what is
new in the dynamics of teaching and learning for training in psychology which is sociallycommitted to contemporary problems?
When dealing with sociogenetic phenomena, in constant historical transformation mediatedby sociocultural processes, one of the greatest challenges faced by psychological scienceis the investigation of psychological processes at the moment they are transformed. In theabrupt social transformations caused by the pandemic, we visualize an interesting social
experiment to encourage the elaboration of new interpretative models and psychologicalresearch of great value. Questions related to remote schooling are part of this scope of
possibilities.
At the same time, it is important to be clear that in the face of new phenomena, in most cases,
the existing formulas are not good enough and must be co-constructed. Psychologists canbuild alternatives with different educational actors, to deal with the feelings and frustrations
that emerge as part of a process which is still unknown and confusing. They can learn
from these actors about the educational possibilities and potentials of new technologies.
They can contribute to families and students not only in the organization of new study

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

34

routines in a domestic environment, but also in relation to emotional and interpersonal
issues related to physical distance, movement restrictions, and the lack of space andsocial exchanges provided by the school environment, which are so missed by all. They
can support teachers in the construction of new symbolic references for themselves andtheir teaching performance, in a lasting and consistent way with the increasing challengesof the future.

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coronavírus (COVID-19). Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas), 37, e200063. http://dx.doi.
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22. Tenório, A., Oliveira, R., & Tenório, T. (2016). Mapeamento da inserção das tecnologias
de informação e comunicação na prática de ensino de professores de matemática.
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4
Psychological Interventions in Healthcare and Hospital
Settings During the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
Maria Geralda Viana Heleno
Brazilian Association of Health Psychology (ABPSA)
Miria Benincasa Gomes
Methodist University of São Paulo
Suzana da Rosa Tolfo
Federal University of Santa Catarina
Priscila Gasperin Pellegrini
Federal University of Santa Catarina
This chapter begins with a brief introduction to the regulation and standardization of
professions, which are defined by laws that govern labor relationships and duties related
to a given profession. Professions are established in accordance with social needs, andprofessionals should acquire specialized knowledge and follow appropriate procedures.
These should be consistent with the ethical and moral precepts that underpin the services
provided to a community.
Psychologists are trained in accordance with the competencies stipulated for higher-levelprofessionals and defined in the National Curricular Guidelines by the National Education
Council (Brazil, 2004; Brazil, 2011). In this context, the focus of professional performanceis psychological phenomena and processes, and the aim is to understand individuals in an
holistic approach and interact with related fields of knowledge.
The role of psychologists has received increasing attention in recent years, largely becauseof psychology influence in various domains of the Public Health System (SUS). The
principle of public healthcare is as follows: “care for the health of the citizen, including
basic and specialized care, and actions and services of promotion, prevention, treatment
and rehabilitation” (Ministry of Health, 2020). This is in accordance with the principles
of health psychology. Their inclusion in the SUS allowed psychologists to understandThe state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

38

community needs. This helped them provide evidence-based interventions and improvetheir effectiveness (Campos, 1999). However, despite the pool of available interventions,the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has posed new challenges
to healthcare professionals, including psychologists.
To understand the professional role of psychologists, it is necessary to examine the fields
of clinical, health, and hospital psychology to establish and differentiate this praxis within
the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic. These fields have been sequentially describedin the following paragraphs.
Since its conception, clinical psychology has been practiced and has gained prominencein psychiatric hospitals, and psychologists have been providing mental health care in
hospitals, specialized care centers, and primary care institutions. However, their skills weresoon required in general hospitals, and they had to manage the challenges of diagnosis,
the problems caused by diseases, and other related issues. Although this claim is notuniversally accepted, it will be used to outline the differences between clinical, health, andhospital psychology (Ribeiro, 2011).
Health psychology is defined as an area of professional, scientific, and educational
psychology that aims to promote and maintain health. Thus, it aims to prevent and manage
the health-disease process and identify the factors that are related to the development
of diseases (Matarazzo, 1980). In addition, it facilitates the analysis and improvementof health service systems and elaboration of health policies (Calvetti, Muller, & Nunes,2007). Clinical psychology has retained its space, specifically with regard to the treatmentof mental health problems. It is provided in private and public institutions, and individual,family, and group care services are provided.
The premise of health psychology is derived from the methodology of disease prevention
and health promotion. It is based on intervention techniques that are fundamental to
psychology, and they are used to enhance the health and well-being of individuals andcommunities (Teixeira, 2004).
Health psychologists teach, research, and develop interventions that promote health.
However, the most important interventions are those that reduce the risky behaviors thatlead to the development of diseases (Odgen, 2007). In addition, in Brazil, health psychology
has largely evolved in hospitals, where intervention models based on health psychology
concepts have been created for hospital psychologists (Almeida & Malagris, 2011).
Hospital psychology has emerged as a specialty in Brazil. From a technical perspective,
health and hospital psychology are poorly defined and often confused with each otherThe state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

39

(Miyazaki, Domingos, Valerio, Santos, & Rosa, 2002). In accordance with Gorayeb’s (2010)
observation, hospital psychology has been included within the framework of healthpsychology in this chapter.
Health psychology is intertwined with hospital and clinical psychology. Therefore, they havebeen defined as follows in this chapter: 1) clinical psychology pertains to the care provided toindividuals, families, and groups in clinical environments (specialties); 2) health psychology
pertains to action plans and interventions implemented in accordance with public policies
regarding health promotion and disease prevention outside hospitals (primary care); and3) hospital psychology pertains to strategies and action plans developed and implemented
within hospitals (including those of high and medium complexity). Emergencies such as
the COVID-19 pandemic pose challenges to all healthcare professionals. With regard to
psychologists, new types of interventions that can be provided in different therapeutic
settings are required.
These changes have been emerging rather abruptly, and there is an immediate need for
professionals to respond to the new demands of practice (e.g., online therapy; Schmidt,
Crepaldi, Bolze, Neiva-Silva, & Demenech, 2020).
In addition, it should be recognized that the severity and ease of transmission of this disease(especially within this field of work) have resulted in fear, stress, and anxiety. Furthermore,
it is very important to promote risk-reduction strategies. This applies to healthy individuals,
patients, and healthcare professionals. In this regard, psychologists are professionals who
possess the competence required to manage this emerging and urgent crisis, because it
involves different psychological aspects that determine positive and negative behaviors.
The approach of health psychology and role of psychologists within the context of thepandemic pertain to the following: the identification of risk and protective factors related
to the spread of COVID-19 within the community, the development of effective strategies
to disseminate scientifically valid information, the training of facilitators to promote healthand hygiene within the population, and the implementation of assistance models thatassess mental health and (if necessary) refer to specialists (among others, in accordancewith primary healthcare practices ).
With regard to the role of the psychologist, attention is paid to the reception of patients, theirfamilies, and healthcare professionals. The number of deaths, admission to intensive careunits, and family members’ inability to be with patients negatively affect the psychologicalwell-being of individuals.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

40

Psychologists treat individuals with attention and respect. This allows them to share theirinner experiences with others, which in turn provides relief and makes them feel understood.
This process helps individuals cope with their situations and challenges, and this in turnenhances psychological well-being. This is a welcome intervention to patients who receive
emergency care. The hospital is a propitious space, especially during a pandemic. Anothernecessary strategy is to train healthcare professionals to manage the information that istransmitted to family members. They should be informed that, when relatives are debriefed,
they should consider other dimensions of the interlocutor in addition to examining theimpact of how the information is conveyed. A third strategy is to include mental healthpromotion protocols in the routine practice of healthcare professionals. This role ofpsychologists is established within the relationship between professionals, patients, andtheir family members (Grincenkov, 2020; Serafim, Do Bú, & Lima-Nunes, 2020; Regional
Council of Psychology - Pernambuco - Brazil, 2020).
Negative psychosocial events that occur during a pandemic adversely affect professionals,
patients, and their family members. In this regard, the shelter and mediation played by thepsychologist are important. These negative factors (real or imagined) adversely affect healthand well-being and lead to psychological suffering, dissatisfaction, and limited productivity.
On a daily basis, healthcare professionals, patients, and their family members experienceloneliness in intensive care units and the fear of transmission and possible death.
To mobilize the technical resources needed to face and cope with the pandemic,
professionals (AMB, 2020), universities (IP-USP, 2020; UFPA, 2020; UFF, 2020) and theFederal Council (CFP, 2020, SBPH, 2020) were immediately deployed. Clinical psychologists
who espouse diverse approaches have learned to use new information and communication
technologies to maintain old therapeutic contacts and respond to the increase in mental
health problems within the general population and among healthcare professionals (Brazil,
2020; Fiocruz, 2020; CRP-PE, 2020).
Psychologists from all over the country have volunteered to work with healthcare
professionals who are involved in the fight against COVID-19. During psychotherapy
sessions, they provided responses such as “Will I be next?” The most common symptoms
were related to anxiety, insomnia, and changes in appetite. In addition, they reported feelingpressured to be more productive (working more hours per day and more shifts per week)and experiencing physical and mental overload and even moral harassment. These areexamples of work-related psychosocial risk factors and this indicated that exposure to thevirus was a major fear among these individuals. Even though psychologists are willing toprovide care, it has been reported that the demand is less than expected.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

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Reflections on this issue have generated some questions. For example, are professionals
carrying a heavy workload, tired, and lacking the time needed to seek specialized care?
Are they temporarily denying their vulnerability as human beings to continue fulfilling theirprofessional responsibilities? What care does the healthcare professional take with his or
her own mental health? Do healthcare professionals believe in being a “superhero”?
These reflections play a fundamental role in planning and developing interventions forhealthcare professionals during and after the pandemic. Indeed, mental illnesses canbecome severe, and some may temporarily (or even permanently) be unable to work in
hospitals. Professional psychologists who work in healthcare settings, clinics, and hospitals
can develop and implement interventions that focus on the mental health of health workers
to ensure that we do not end up with an army of decorated but sick soldiers.
Within the context of this pandemic, this would be a very appropriate intervention toaddress the psychological issues experienced by healthcare professionals and service
users. Through mediation, we can broaden our understanding of the conflict processes
that occur in clinical and hospital environments (Sangy & Oliveira, 2013). This strategy
aims to contribute to the humanization of healthcare services. The regulation of emotions
is a practice that aims to enhance mental health in a humanizing manner (Arruda &Arruda, 2010). During a pandemic, the risks that professionals face (especially those who
are on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19) should be identified and mitigatedor eliminated. In this context, risks are those aspects of work that render an individual
vulnerable (high or low) to harm due to danger (ESENER2, 2015). Within the occupational
context, they include different aspects of the planning, organization, and management ofwork and the social context that can harm a worker both physically and psychologically(Tolfo, 2018). Therefore, during the pandemic, psychosocial risk factors in the workplaceshould be effectively managed to enhance the well-being and quality of life of healthcare
professionals and psychological service users, irrespective of where they are provided.
Maria Geralda Viana Heleno
Psychologist, Master in Health Psychology from Methodist University and PhD in ClinicalPsychology from the University of São Paulo. President of the Brazilian Association of
Health Psychology. She has conducted research studies and taught papers on pregnancy,
childbirth and puerperium, and health psychology.
For more information, visit http://lattes.cnpq.br/2588193891382847

Miria Benincasa Gomes
Psychologist, Master in Health Psychology and PhD in School and Developmental
Psychology from the University of São Paulo. Professor of the Post-Graduate Program

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario42

in Health Psychology at Methodist University of São Paulo. Her main research areas
are pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, infant and child developmental
psychology, and health psychology.
For more information, visit http://lattes.cnpq.br/1600352232046792

Suzana da Rosa Tolfo
Psychologist, PhD in Administration - Human Resources Management at University Federalof Rio Grande do Sul, and Professor of the Post-Graduate Program in Psychology at Federal
University of Santa Catarina. Her research areas are as follows: psychosocial processes
at work, meaning and sense of work, moral harassment, and transformations in work andhuman resources management.
For more information, visit http://lattes.cnpq.br/2639021733757849

Priscila Gasperin Pellegrini
Psychologist, PhD in Psychology from Federal University of Santa Catarina, clinicalpsychologist, and the director of Human Group. Her main research areas and intervention
themes pertain to work and family, the mental health of workers, individual and marital
stress and coping, moral harassment at work, and psychotherapy.
For more information, visit http://lattes.cnpq.br/0850619866708578

References
1. Almeida, R. A., & Malagris, L. E. N. (2011) A prática da psicologia da saúde. Revista
da SBPH .14(2). AMB. (2020). Suporte Psicológico para profissionais da saúde na
COVID-19.

Disponível em: https://amb.org.br/noticias/suporte-psicologico-para-

profissionais-da-saude-na-covid-19/
2. Arruda, M. P., & Arruda, L. P. O profissional da saúde como um mediador de emoções.
Revista Eletrônica de Enfermagem. UFG. Disponível em: <http://www.revistas.
ufg.br/index.php/fen/article/view/1226>. Acesso em: 18 jun. 2020.
3. Brasil (2020). Ministério da saúde garante suporte psicológico a profissionais dasaúde.

Disponívelem:

https://www.saude.gov.br/noticias/agencia-saude/46767-

ministerio-da-saude-garante-suporte-psicologico-a-profissionais-do-sus
4. Brasil. Ministério da Educação (2004). Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os Cursos
de Graduação em Psicologia. Resolução nº 8, de 7 de maio de 2004. Diário Oficial daUnião. Brasília.
5. Brasil. Ministério da Educação (2011). Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais para os Cursos
de Graduação em Psicologia. Resolução nº 15 de 15 de março de 2011. Diário Oficial
da União. Brasília.

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6. Calvetti, P. U., Muller, M. C., & Nunes, M. L. T. (2007). Psicologia da Saúde e Psicologia
Positiva – Perspectivas e Desafios. Psicologia Ciência e Profissão. 27 (4), 706-717.
7. Campos, G. W. S. (1999). Equipes de referência e apoio especializado matricial: um ensaio
sobre a reorganização do trabalho em saúde. Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, 4 (2), 393-403.
8. CFP (2020). Conselho Federal de Psicologia. Psicólogos (as) cadastrados para
atendimento online. Disponível em: https://e-psi.cfp.org.br/.
9. CRP-PE (2020). Conselho Regional de Psicologia – Pernambuco.

Recomendações

do CRP-02 para Profissionais de Psicologia diante da Pandemia do Coronavírus(COVID-19).

Disponívelem:

http://www.simples.serdigital.com.br/clientes/crp/

arquivos/557.pdf .
10. ESENER-2. (2015) Encuesta Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos Laborales en las Empresas.
– España. INSHT. Madri: Kenaf, 2015.
11. Fiocruz (2020). COVID-19: profissionais de saúde terão atendimento psicológico online.
Disponível em: https://portal.fiocruz.br/noticia/covid-19-profissionais-de-saude-teraoatendimento-psicologico-online
12. Gorayeb, R. (2010). Psicologia da saúde no Brasil. Psic.: Teor. e Pesq. (online) 26. 115122. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0102-37722010000500010
13. Grincenkov, F. (2020). A Psicologia Hospitalar e da Saúde no enfrentamento
do coronavírus: necessidade e proposta de atuação. HU Rev. 2020; 46:1-2.
DOI:10.34019/1982-8047.2020.v46.30050.

https://periodicos.ufjf.br/index.php/

hurevista/article/download/30050/20360
14. IP-USP (2020). Instituto de Psicologia da USP. COVID-19 – Apoio Psicológico Online.
Disponível em: http://www.ip.usp.br/site/covid-19-apoio-psicologico-online/
15. Matarazzo, J. Behavioural health’s challenge to academic, scientific and professional
Psychology. American Psychologist, New York, v. 37, 1980.
16. Ministério da Saúde (2020). Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS): Estrutura, princípios ecomo funciona. Disponível em: http://www.saude.gov.br/sistema-unico-de-saude.
17. Miyazaki, M. C., Domingos, N., Valerio N., Santos A. R., & Rosa, L. T. (2002). Psicologia
da Saúde: Extensão de serviços à comunidade, ensino e pesquisa. Psicologia USP 13(1). P. 29-53.
18. Ogden, J. (2007). An Introduction to Health Psychology. In J. Ogden. Health Psychology:
a textbook, (pp. 01-12). (4. ed.). New York: Open University Press.
19. Teixeira, J. A. C. (2004). Psicologia da Saúde. Análise Psicológica [online], 3 (XXII),
441-448.
20. Ribeiro, J. L. P. (2011). A Psicologia da Saúde. Psicologia da saúde: teoria, intervenção
e pesquisa [online]. Campina Grande: EDUEPB, 2011. pp. 23-64. ISBN 978-85-7879192-6. Available from SciELO Books.
21. Sangy, M, & Oliveira, J. A (2013). Mediação de Conflitos: possibilidades de humanização
para a promoção da saúde. Revista Tecer. Vol. 6 nº 11. Belo Horizonte. DOI. Disponível
em: 10.15601/1983-7631/rt.v6n11p177-189

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4422. SBPH (2020). Sociedade Brasileira de Psicologia Hospitalar. Recomendações aos
Psicólogos Hospitalares frente à Pandemia do COVID-19. Disponível em: http://
www.sbph.org.br/site/images/2020/2020_coronavirus/Recomendacao%20aos%20
Psicologos%20Hospitalares%20frente%20a%20Pandemia%20do%20Covid.pdf.pdf
23. Schmidt, B., Crepaldi, M. A., Bolze, S. D. A., Neiva-Silva, L., & Demenech, L. M. (2020).
Saúde mental e intervenções psicológicas diante da pandemia do novo coronavírus(COVID-19). Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas), 37, e200063. Epub May 18. Disponível
em: https://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1982-0275202037e200063
24. Serafim, R.C.N.; Do Bú, E., & Lima-Nunes, A. (2020) Manual de Diretrizes para Atenção
Psicológica nos Hospitais em Tempos de Combate ao Covid-19. Revista Saúde eCiência online, 8(2), Suplemento n° 2 (março de 2020). 24p.
25. UFF. (2020). Hospital Universitário Antônio Pedro oferece acolhimento humanizado
aos profissionais de saúde, pacientes e familiares. Disponível em: http://www.uff.
br/?q=noticias/07-04-2020/huap-oferece-acolhimento-humanizado-aos-profissionaisde-saude-pacientes-e
26. UFPA (2020). Complexo Hospitalar da Universidade Federal do Pará oferece apoio
psicológico durante pandemia da Covid-19. Disponível em: https://portal.ufpa.br/
index.php/ultimas-noticias2/11503-complexo-hospitalar-da-ufpa-oferece-apoiopsicologico-durante-pandemia-da-covid-19

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5
Psychology’s Contributions to Integral Risk and Disaster
Management, Sports, Traffic, and Person-Environment
Relations in a Pandemic Scenario
Marly Terezinha Perrelli
Labor Union of Psychologists of the State of Paraná1
Thabata Castelo Branco Telles
Brazilian Association of Sports Psychology (ABRAPESP)2
Juliana de Barros Guimarães
Brazilian Association of Traffic Psychology (ABRAPSIT)3
Fábio de Cristo
Brazilian Association of Environmental Psychology and the
Person-Environment Relations (ABRAPA)4In December 2019 we were surprised with the news of the spreading new Coronavirus,
SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 disease, originated in China. The global impact of
the COVID-19’s made the World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes its transmission
as a pandemic, declaring it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
Given the increasing number of cases, in January of 2020, Brazil published Measure No.
1885 in the Federal Register, this being the starting point for official health strategies forthe prevention of and coping with of COVID-19.
It is an atypical situation in the world that has brought to society a series of challenges toengage with a collective conscience, especially in joint actions aimed to minimize losses
and ensure the population’s health and well-being. Such actions can be consolidated in theperspective of social isolation, for those who are able to physically stay away from otherindividuals, as well as they can be specific actions, depending on the activity area. Regarding

1
2
3
4
5

Sindicato dos Psicólogos do Paraná.
Associação Brasileira de Psicologia do Esporte – ABRAPESP.
Associação Brasileira de Psicologia de Tráfego – ABRAPSIT.
Associação Brasileira de Psicologia Ambiental e Relações Pessoa-Ambiente – ABRAPA.
http://www.in.gov.br/en/web/dou/-/portaria-n-188-de-3-de-fevereiro-de-2020-241408388

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

46

Psychology, we often see people facing difficulties that they do not know how to deal with,which has aroused the most different feelings and reactions.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the present text presents possibilities ofpsychologists’ actions, in the fields of psychological risk and disaster management, sports
psychology, traffic psychology and environmental psychology, indicating possible actions
and relevant recommendations.

The work of the Psychology professional in Integral Risk and Disaster Management
Given the crisis, emergencies, and disasters caused by COVID-19, the involvement of
psychology in this context has been constantly demanded, in order to give psychosocial
support and propose interventions capable of emotionally stabilize the affected people
due to the extreme suffering situation. The context of a pandemic and the intense
emotional reaction to a threatening critical incident, generating a state of imbalance andpsychic disorganization, can be understood as a crisis (Everly & Lating, 2012; Sa, Werlang,& Paranhos, 2008). Therefore, the crisis onset is related to the previously existing balance
breakdown. Emergencies are linked to situations of sudden and unexpected origin thatcause a threat or danger, requiring rapid interventions; and disasters are events that can beoriginated from natural or technological causes. Both bring material destruction and loss oflife, in addition to causing psychological distress. They are complex and multidimensional
phenomena that affect not only a country economy and infrastructure, but also compromise
the social structure of affected populations (Valencio, 2017).
The damage caused by COVID-19 does not only affect the individual’s physical health andthe health system, but also the population mental health, generated by changes in theroutine originated from social distance. Most evident emotional reactions are frustration,
anguish, anxiety, boredom, changes in appetite, intra and interpersonal conflicts (Khan etal., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020). In the psychological aspects, it is evident that “infodemia”,
excessive information and the fake news spread, create fear and panic, generating a great
impact on population’s mental health (Khan et al., 2020).
The Psychology in the integral risk and disaster management, nomenclature defined by
the Technical Note issued by the Federal Council of Psychology (Conselho Federal dePsicologia - CFP, 2016) deals with the psychologist’s attributions in critical scenarios
reaching the National Civil Defense Policy. This note comprises five phases in disaster

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

47

risk reduction: i) prevention (mitigating and avoiding disaster); ii) mitigation (reducing or
limiting impacts); iii) preparation (knowledge and ability to manage crisis); iv) response(set of actions to decrease damages); and v) recovery (restoration of living conditions)6.
Within the psychologists scope of work, there are several intervention strategies used tomitigate human suffering from pandemic such as virtual psychological shifts, support
groups, psychological support for frontline professionals, among other actions, mediatedby technology (Arriaga , 2011). One of the specific interventions for acute stress is
psychological first aid (PFA), which aims to reduce the emotional damage caused by
unexpected situations that generate an imbalance and trigger anguish and anxiety (Bruck,
2007; Everly & Lating, 2017). In view of the occurrence of crises such as the pandemic thatcause suffering in multiple victims, interventions in those cases include vast methodologies
and techniques that are focused on providing psychosocial support (Zwielewski, 2020).
According to the Pan American Health Organization (2015), PFAs are responses given to
individuals who are in situations of suffering and who need support, seeking to reduce theemotional damage caused by traumatic events, minimizing stress and seeking to adopt coping7
strategies. Thus, intervention in crisis situations aims to help victims to reorganize their psychic
and social life, in order to minimize possible health, physical and emotional harms.

The work of the Sports Psychology professional during COVID-19
In relation to sports, the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games, scheduled to beplaced in Tokyo (Japan), has generated major debates in the sector. Due to isolation
policies, there’s also a suspension not only of other competitions, but of all types ofsports, exercise or free time activities, with exception of practices performed at home.
Several sports organizations, such as the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) and theBrazilian Association of Sports Psychology (ABRAPESP), in connection with Psychology,
have disclosed strategies towards mental health care. Regarding the ABRAPESP, as it isa specific association in sport psychology, we will detail the recommendations that havebeen released during the pandemic period related to COVID-19.
ABRAPESP has been a catalyst for actions that offer psychological support to audiences
related to professional and amateur sport, and professionals in the field of sport psychology
and related areas. In this context, the organization launched a campaign for actions on the
67

http://www0.rio.rj.gov.br/defesacivil/defesa.htm
Coping are cognitive and behavioral efforts to deal with situations of harm, threat or challenge, when aroutine or automatic response is not available (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988).

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

48

psychological impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the sports environment, which
consists of two moments: the first is separated in two groups, (1) sports psychologist
and (2) athlete (professional athlete, amateur, free time practice) or sports professionalfrom related areas (non-psychologist). This action aims to understand the needs of theseaudiences, promote psychological support services, and also have updated data on theimpact of the pandemic in this sector.
Secondly, the campaign has specific recommendations to the above groups, constantly
published on the social networks of that society, based on information and recommendations
on COVID-19 provided by WHO and competent sports organizations. For the athletes,
the importance of constant contact with the technical team was emphasized, seeking
assistance especially from the coach, physical trainer, nutritionist, and psychologist to
readapt physical training and psychological monitoring according to the goals of each one
during the isolation period.
According to the traditional literature on Sports Psychology, the goals are usually set
in short, medium and long terms (Conde, Filgueiras, Ângelo, Pereira & Carvalho, 2019;
Weinberg & Gould, 2008), however it is suggested that, at this moment, priority should
be given to those of short term. As it is a period full of uncertainties, this conduct allows
the athlete to remain motivated in his/her training. There is still no concrete forecast of
return for regular training and competitive events and, with the postponement of somecompetitions, such as the Olympics and Paralympics, it is important to revisit the goals
established before the pandemic, so they can be properly (re)adapted.
In addition to prioritizing short-term goals, we emphasize the need to establish a daily
routine, get enough sleep, maintain adequate food and pursue pleasurable activities. These
actions can help to restore feelings of control and comfort, and also assist in health andwell-being. We stress the importance of keeping updated, looking for reliable sources,
checking the veracity of what has been passed on and avoid looking for information at
various times a day. Dedicating a lot of time to this activity can bring mental health harm,
which can generate anxiety and affect daily goals.
With a shorter experience of space (isolation) and time (short-term goals), we emphasize
the need for a greater focus on the “here-and-now”, in the concreteness of what can bedone at the time and place where we are. Thus, we suggest using meditation strategies- including through mobile applications -, mindfulness practices, and other body andmovement activities that focus on this perspective, such as yoga.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario49

To sport psychologists, we stress the need to continue offering support to athletes andteams, following the recommendations made by the Federal Council of Psychology(Conselho Federal de Psicologia - CFP), which recommends the removal of face-to-faceactivities, by making available the psychologists register for online care without the need forplatform confirmation to start remote work (CFP Resolution N. 18/11). It is important that
this professional helps athletes in managing their experiences and feelings in face of these
events and, in case of using specific techniques of sport psychology, resorting primarily
to those the professional is familiar with, preferably already used with the athlete before.
We emphasize the need to work together and to constantly contact the other technicalteam members, aiming to align the psychological work with the goals established by otherprofessionals during the isolation period.
It should be also noted that previously mentioned self-care strategies for athletes are equallyimportant to other professionals, including sport psychologists, such as: establishinga daily routine, with attention to sleep, food, and doing pleasurable activities (physicaland mental); keep updated (without dedicating much time of the day to this), gathering
information from reliable sources and agencies; seek to return to the “here-and-now” andsearch appropriate professional psychological support.
To coaches and other technical team members, special attention is suggested to how eachathlete has experienced the period of social isolation, in order to offer activities that are
possible for each one. Instructions should be given clearly and, if possible, at individuallevel. Keep constant contact with the athlete is essential, including for possible referrals,
such as psychological counseling or assessment, if the team or the athlete does not havea sport psychologist as a staff member.
For individuals who are engaged in sporting or physical activity, the need to remain physically
active during the period of social isolation is emphasized, as a way of relieving stressand anxiety arising from the situation, maintaining good conditioning during a rest period
and improving immunity. Therefore, it is suggested to search for qualified professionals,
through available technological resources, to carry out exercises indicated to each one’s
profile and the right way to execute the movements. A list of qualified professionals isavailable on the Federal Council of Physical Education (CONFEF) website. Emphasis isplaced on self-knowledge and attention to limits, avoiding exercises that individuals are notused to, and reducing injuries risks resulted from these practices.
To summarize, Sports Psychology may offer a wide range of care in terms of physicaland mental health that is not limited to athletes and other professionals who deal directlywith the sporting context. Sport is a form of encounter and an important way of relating to

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

50each other and the world, and it only exists in a given situation, society and culture (Camilo& Rubio, 2019; Rubio, 2019). It is about understanding the sport in all physically active
individuals, on contexts of diverse corporal, cultural, and movement practices.
It is also necessary to have a critical reading of the moment we are living, assuming thathuman movements are a result of the intertwining between processes of perception andaction. Therefore, one acts in what is perceived from the relations with the world and thesituation (Telles, 2018). Any change in the environment may be able to demand bodychallenges and new movement forms, whether we are conscious of these processes or not.

Professional activities of Traffic Psychology dealing with COVID-19
In times of the global pandemic of COVID-19, which is giving new meanings not only to healthissues, but, above all, to interpersonal relationships, it has become essential to concern
about the direct impacts in our operational areas. With regard to the displacement systemof people in cities, when we look at this new reality, we perceive the immediate effect on
people and goods’ displacement, whether local, between municipalities, states or countries.
The author Reinier Rozestraten (1998) defines traffic as “the set of displacements of people
and vehicles on public roads, within a conventional rule system, which aims to ensure theintegrity of its participants” (p. 05). In face of the current scenario, a question arises: At thisspecific moment, how will these displacements assure the integrity of its participants?
Thus, it is necessary to take a look at urban and, above all, human mobility, as results ofthis moment and its consequences. While urban mobility creates conditions so that people
can easily come and go using public or private transports and roads, human mobility isbased on the concept of the human being at the center of each and every coming andgoing movement. It is a paradigm, therefore, that seeks solutions for healthy, intelligent,sustainable, inclusive and safe displacements, analyzing historical, social, political,
geographic, structural, cultural situations, among others. In this way, these concepts
together broaden the understanding about the individual’s displacement, and also about
everything that may impact their coming and going, including being isolated or in remote
work (home office).
From now on we can point out the particularity of transit space, especially in this current
context, on the (new) relations of identity and belonging it brings. According to Augè
(1994), places are identity, relational, historical and also symbolic, where individuals
are represented in relation to themselves and to the group. The author also points out
ephemeral occupation places and transit, as being non-places, because they are places

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

51

where a relationship with another person is limited, where individuals are only passing
through, being depersonalized spaces, in opposition to the concept of place. Expanding
this concept, the same author affirms that mobility does not create spaces, but non-places,
because it makes them places of transit, of mere passage where to move is simply to crossspaces and their borders (Augè, 1994).
The notion of transit space as a non-place, where the involved actors are anonymous,with the impossibility of affective and identifying landmarks, makes this non-place aspace of solitude. Belonging to any group is not established without identity, and makes
the individual temporarily free from group and social ties, norms and demands. In thiscondition of anonymity, without the group’s coercive power, the individual feels free frompossible punishments (Bauman, 2001).
Statistics place Brazil among the five countries in the world with the highest fatal numberof traffic accidents. WHO data show that land transport accidents are responsible for1.35 million deaths (12% of the total in the world) and 50 million injuries worldwide, in
addition to addressing severe implications for families, communities and society in general(PAHO, 2018). Looking at traffic as dissociated from human behavior and emotions thatact and interact in it is an error that makes our population sick every minute. The population
keep getting sick due to the physical marks and sequels, emotional scars, pain, loss, themourning for themselves and their own, in short, for each of us’ humanity that is expressedin various ways. Psychology needs to claim its human suffering care knowledge and show
our country the fundamental role it can play in favor of a future with inclusive, democratic,sustainable, healthy and happy human mobility.
Understanding the traffic psychology role in public policies field, especially in compulsory
psychological assessments for obtaining or renewing the national driver’s license (NDL)
purpose, the Brazilian Association of Traffic Psychology (ABRAPSIT) elaborated a documentwith recommendations and guidance to the category and to the states executive traffic
entities8. The document was designed to guide psychologists who carry out psychologicalassessment for motor vehicles drivers and candidates on the practices that must be followed,
regardless of state peculiarities, considering each carrying out psychological expertise placecharacteristics. The recommendations served of models for the State Traffic Departments(DETRANs) to use as reference of accredited psychologists and psychologists practice during
the epidemiological scenario. This professional’s guidelines and recommended practices andspecificities were also discussed with the Federal Council of Psychology (CFP), regarding
technological resources, online performance, and remote psychological assessment.
8

Published in https://site.cfp.org.br/abrapsit-e-abramet-recomendam-suspensao-de-exames-nos-departamentos-estaduais-de-transito/.

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

52According to the publication organized by the United Nations (UN) entitled “COVID-19 andthe Need for Action on Mental Health” (United Nations, 2020), COVID-19 pandemic is not
only attacking physical health, but, above all, the population mental health and, therefore,
psychology action field as a science. The publication defends the mental health services
importance and expansion, within world public policies. In view of all these observed
impacts and the need for the entire category action to reduce these harmful effects inmedium and long terms, ABRAPSIT sought to develop actions in favor of the mental healthof professional drivers. This is how the “Routes of Health - your well-being passes throughhere”9 Project was created, as a joint action of ABRAPSIT with partner organizations, suchas National Traffic Department (DENATRAN), the National Road Safety Observatory (ONSV)and with the support of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
The project focuses on welcoming professional drivers (truckers, motorcyclists, taxi drivers,
application drivers and bus drivers) who are working at essential services and facing all
this work difficulties in times of isolation. Its main focus is to observe signs or symptoms
of: anxiety, depression, stress, burnout, distress, panic, use and abuse of psychoactive
substances, and basic health conditions, in order to underscore the importance of mental
health and to stimulate social connection and interpersonal relationships with appropriatedsecurity measures.
It is with projects like these that we understand that every field of psychology can make asignificant contribution to the mental health of the population with which it works and thus
reduce the future harmful effects of this calamitous situation we are experiencing, and towhich traffic psychology professionals have a lot to contribute.

Activities of psychological professionals from the perspective of person-environment relations: Living the present with an eye on the future10
Thinking about the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which were describedin the previous sections, the first reaction is one of profound sadness in the face of deaths,
losses and uncertainties about the future. After all, how many changes did we have (andstill have) to face in order to adapt our daily life on very short notice? In this pandemic, weare confronted with the task to develop strategies that go beyond avoiding contamination
9

The project received scientific support from traffic psychology researchers at the federal and private universities in Brazil, such as the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), the Federal University of Rio Grande
do Norte (UFRN) and the Catholic University Don Bosco.
10 This text resulted from a collaborative effort, at the invitation of ABRAPA, by Daniele Rosa (Federal University of Roraima), Fábio de Cristo (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, campus Trairi), Hartmut Günther(University of Brasília), and Zenith Delabrida (Federal University of Sergipe).

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

53

in ourselves and others. It includes (re)thinking about how the presence of this new context
affects humanity: our daily actions and the spaces we frequent. From this perspective,
the Brazilian Association of Environmental Psychology and Person-Environment Relations(ABRAPA) has developed several activities regarding the pandemic, supporting society
in general as well as psychologists and other professionals, such as architects andurban planners, geographers, biologists among others. For example, in addition to notes
repudiating actions by the Ministry of the Environment, ABRAPA sponsored newsletters,
member publications, podcasts and lives that address environmental psychology andpandemic dealing with the following contexts and topics: rural environments, transportation,indigenous people, public space, the elderly, and children (c.f. https://abrapa-rpa.org). Allof this to contribute to our understanding and ways of dealing with the present moment.
But, what will life be after this pandemic – our relationship with ourselves and others, ourinteractions with natural or built spaces? It will be highlighted below (among several possible
approaches to the theme) from the perspective of environmental psychology, with an eye
on the reciprocal influence between person and environment. In this way, it is intended tosubsidize the reflections and work of both environmental psychologists and other areas of
psychology whose themes can be related, considering the city as an example.
Most people’s lives occur in urban settings that (should) provide the four basic dimensionsof rational urban planning of which the 1943 Athens Charter speaks (cf. Gold, 1998):
housing, work, leisure and circulation / transportation. Each of these dimensions of ourdaily life has been, and continues to be, impacted in an unimaginable way. The first, housing,is the place that constitutes, in the classic term “my home is my castle” a sacrosanct
space, of restoration, and now became restricted and invaded by the demands of workand leisure. More restricted, as the confinements did not allow the ‘escape valves’ in theform of going to work, shopping etc. The pandemic transformed the traditional activitiesof the home, rapidly incorporating, for example, work activities in the same “behavioral
setting” (c.f., Wicker, 1979). This profoundly influenced the already prescribed sequence ofinteractions between people and objects in this scenario. Furthermore, privacy has been
reduced significantly, causing emotional problems in part of the population. Once social
distance ends, we hope to also note a number of positive changes in everyday life, such as
the redefinition of life’s priorities and the greater sharing of tasks and space.
The second dimension is work. Depending on its nature, it was transformed into homeoffice (evident example of the overlapping of the spaces of everyday life). Consequently,
the amount of work to be dealt with simultaneously (domestic and professional) increased,
often, at the same time, with fewer people (e.g., when household help was dismissed) andwith less social support (e.g., daycare, school, extended family). This overlapping of activities

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54

in the same environment, added to the absence / reduction of the support structure, hasbeen producing psychological consequences, such as the negative interference in family
relationships (e.g., difficulty in separating time dedicated to work and playing with thechild) and the appearance of symptoms and mental illness associated with anxiety, stressand aggression. But what is the potential for work to become something more humanin the post-pandemic? For those who can work from home, the experience can present
important gains, but will need adjustments. For this, from the environmental point of view, it
is necessary to analyze and redo / adapt both the new set of activities and the environment,in order to maximize the new programming within the domestic scenario. This may imply,
for example, defining essential and secondary activities, the need to change (constantly)
the space and to acquire / reorder objects within the home.
The third dimension is leisure, which often takes place outside one’s home or by receiving
visitors at one’s home, implying agglomerations and physical contacts that are currently
inadequate from the health point of view. Furthermore, artistic and musical events arebeing enjoyed virtually. It is through virtual environments (social networks) that people try
to replace, to some extent, the sharing of their lives, leaving the line between the public andthe private blurred. However, it appears difficult for people to endure long periods of social
distancing. Consider, for example, the disrespect as far as the renewed agglomerations go
in parks and other urban areas in Brazil and around the world. Hence important questions
considering the current moment: Does the virtual leisure space (or distance leisure)bring the expected dimension of exchanges and social interactions? To what extent do
we miss the perceptual integration of smells, flavors and invitations present in the leisureenvironment? Some possible legacies of the confronting the pandemic are the care forpublic spaces, preferably green ones that allow free interactions, the promotion culturaland sports activities to reduce stress and reinforce immunity. Fewer mechanical andelectronic toys that do not stimulate creativity and more options for children’s interactionand encounters with each other and with nature. In that manner, we are creating new
options and shared meanings.
Finally, the fourth dimension, is transportation. Whether or not using vehicles, it enables
interaction between different urban and rural spaces, contributes to our own psychologicalconstitution (e.g., children who drive by car represent the city in a different way fromthose who walk) and influences the ideas we have of streets, neighborhoods and cities(safe or unsafe), as well as of its inhabitants (stressed or calm). On the one hand, thedecrease / absence of mobility can reduce the spread of COVID-19 between spaces; onthe other hand, it can also have a negative impact on our mental health, due to social
distancing / isolation, and, in some cases, the temporary closure of a region (lockdown). In
the post-pandemic world, the way we move between housing, work and leisure may have

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55

a potentially positive impact. As the first three dimensions of everyday urban life change,
as shown above, mobility between them, will change, which, in turn, will impact these three
dimensions. Instead of using a private car, at the individual level we may just continue to
use such healthier alternatives, such as walking or cycling or simply continue use lessindividual transportation, thus, at the collective level, contribute with less pollution, lessnoise and less stress during the pandemic.
The pandemic allowed for the person-environment relationship to be placed at the centerof the debate regarding the lives of ordinary people, since human relations and activities
occur in a socio-environmental context. Thus, it is obvious that this moment presents a
unique opportunity for understanding this relationship in its transversal relationship within
psychology, with ABRAPA being one of the catalysts of this process. Finally, is there apotential for the COVID-19 pandemic to make our lives better? Afterall, the pandemic
forces us to rethink the way we live, work, rest, circulate and, thus, offers us a chance toreflect on what was missing in our pre-pandemic life in order to arrive at a more humane
post-pandemic life.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the intention of this text was to show the diversity of knowledge provided
by different fields of Psychology, demonstrating the important contributions by fields of
Psychological Risk and Disaster Management, Sports Psychology, Traffic Psychology
and Environmental Psychology in dealing with the crisis. The fields converge in caring forpeople’s mental health, making it possible to understand what challenges are imposed andhow to deal with them.
Affirmative actions are necessary as special measures throughout the pandemic to copein extreme situations, such as psychological distress increase, predicted by the World
Health Organization. Therefore, psychosocial support during COVID – 19 circumstances isessential for mental health care, to mitigate the psychological consequences linked to thecrisis and triggered by the contamination.
Marly Terezinha Perrelli
Psychologist, PhD in Psychology (UFSC - SC), President of the Psychologists Union of
Paraná, founding member of the Psychosocial Support Network. She works in clinicalpsychology, organizational and work psychology and situations of crisis, emergencies anddisaster (Haiti, Africa, accident of Chapecoense and Brumadinho).
Additional information: http://lattes.cnpq.br/0185716713351130

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56

Thabata Castelo Branco Telles
Psychologist, PhD in Psychology (FFCLRP-USP) and postdoctoral researcher in Physical
Education and Sports at the University of São Paulo (EEFERP / FFCLRP / GEO-FE) and at
the University of Paris (URP 3625 / I3SP). President of the Brazilian Association of Sport
Psychology - ABRAPESP (2020-2021). Her works centers on sport psychology, mental
health, phenomenology, embodiment, martial arts & combat sports.
Additional information: http://lattes.cnpq.br/7306332701033811

Juliana de Barros Guimarães
Psychologist, Psychoanalyst, and Specialist in Traffic Psychology, Psychological
Assessment and Public Management. Scientific Director of the Brazilian Associationof Traffic Psychology - ABRAPSIT and President of the Brazilian Association of Traffic
Psychology of Pernambuco. Member of the National Traffic Council, section Educationand Health. Experience in the areas of clinical evaluation, with emphasis on treatment andpsychological prevention and health.
Additional information: http://lattes.cnpq.br/1928016772577682

Fábio de Cristo
Psychologist, PhD in Social, Work and Organizational Psychology (UnB). Founding memberof the Brazilian Association of Environmental Psychology and Person-Environment
Relations - ABRAPA (abrapa-rpa.org). Adjunct professor at the Federal University of Rio
Grande do Norte, Faculty of Health Sciences of Trairi (FACISA).
Additional information: http://lattes.cnpq.br/5538481123174916

Translated by Liz Martinez
Psychologist, Master’s Degree student at Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA) – Instituteof Psychology - Brazil.
http://lattes.cnpq.br/5717334076668528

Article “Activities of psychological professionals from the perspective of personenvironment relations: Living the present with an eye on the future” translated by Hartmut
Günther (University of Brasília).

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de emergência, crise e catástrofe (pp. 67 – 74). Portimão: ISMAT.

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57

2. Augé, M. (1994). Não-lugares: introdução a uma antropologia da modernidade.
Campinas: Papirus.
3. Bauman, Z. (2001). Modernidade líquida. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editor.
4. Bruck, N. R. V. (2007). A psicologia das emergências: Um estudo sobre angústia públicae o dramático cotidiano do trauma. Porto Alegre, 195 f. Tese (Doutorado em Psicologia).
Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul.
5. Camilo, J. & Rubio, K. (Orgs.) (2019). Psicologia Social do Esporte. 1ed. São Paulo:
Képos.
6. Conde, E., Filgueiras, A., Ângelo, L., Pereira, A. & Carvalho, C. (Orgs.) (2019). Psicologia
do esporte e do exercício: modelos teóricos, pesquisa e intervenção. 1ª ed. Rio deJaneiro: Editora Reformatório.
7. Conselho Federal de Psicologia. (2016). Nota técnica sobre atuação da psicologia nagestão integral de riscos e de desastres, relacionadas com a política de proteção e defesa
civil.

https://site.cfp.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Nota-T%C3%A9cnica-

Psicologia-Gestao-de-Riscos-Versao-para-pdf-13-12.pdf
8. Everly, G. S., Jr. & Lating, J. M. (2012). A clinical guide to the treatment of the humanstress response. NY: Springer.
9. Everly, G. S., Jr. & Lating, J. M. (2017). The Johns Hopkins Guide to Psychological First
Aid. Johns Hopkins University Press.
10. Folkman, S. & Lazarus, R. (1988). Coping as a Mediator of Emotion. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 54, pp. 466-475.
11. Gold, J. R. (1998). Creating the Charter of Athens: CIAM and the functional city, 19331943. The Town Planning Review, 69, 225-247.
12. Khan, S., Siddique, R., Li, H., Ali, A., Shereen, M.A., Bashir, N., & Xue, M. (2020). Impact ofCoronavirus Outbreak on Psychological Health. J Global Health. Jun, 10(1):010331 doi:
10.7189/jogh.10.010331
13. Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde (OPAS). (2015). Organização Mundial da
Saúde (OMS). Implementação do Programa Mais Médicos em Curitiba. Experiências
inovadoras e lições aprendidas. Brasília: OPAS.
14. Organização Pan-Americana da Saúde (OPAS). (2018). Trânsito: um olhar da saúde
para o tema. Brasília: OPAS.
15. Rozestraten, R. J. A. (1988). Psicologia do trânsito: conceitos e processos básicos. São
Paulo: EPU.
16. Rubio, K. (Org.) (2019). Do pós ao neo olimpismo: esporte e movimento olímpico no
século XXI. 1ª ed. São Paulo: Képos.
17. Sa, S. D.; Werlang, B. S. G. & Paranhos, M. E. (2008). Intervenção em crise. Rev. bras. ter.
cogn. [online]. vol.4, n.1, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1808-5687.
18. Telles, T. C. B. (2018). Corpo a corpo: um estudo fenomenológico no karate, na capoeira
e no MMA. Tese (doutorado). Universidade de São Paulo, [s. l.]

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5819. United Nations. (2020) Policy brief: Covid-19 and the need for action on mental health.
https://unsdg.un.org/sites/default/files/2020-05/UN-Policy-Brief-COVID-19-andmental-health.pdf.
20. Valencio, N. et al. (2017). Sociologia dos desastres: construção, interfaces e perspectivas
no Brasil. São Carlos: Rima, v. 3.
21. Weinberg, R. & Gould, D. (2008). Fundamentos da psicologia do esporte e do exercício.
Porto Alegre: Artmed.
22. Wicker, A. W. (1979). An introduction to ecological psychology. Monterey, CA: Brooks /Cole.
23. Zhang, J., Wu, W., Zhao, X., & Zhang, W. (2020). Recommended psychological crisis
intervention response to the 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in China: amodel of West China Hospital. Precision Clinical Medicine. 3 (1) 3–8.
24. Zwielewski, G., Oltramari, G., Santos, A. R. S., Nicolazzi, E. M. da S., de Moura, J. A.,
Sant’Ana, V. L. P., Schlindwein-Zanini, R., & Cruz, R. M. (2020). Protocolos para tratamento
psicológico em pandemias: as demandas em saúde mental produzidas pela COVID-19.
Revista Debates em Psychiatry. Ahead of Print.

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6
Adaptation of Psychodiagnostic Practice,
Psychotherapeutic and Career Guidance in the midst of
Pandemic
Ana Claudia Souza Vazquez
Positive Psychology Brazilian Association (ABP+)
Angela Hiluey
Psychotherapy Brazilian Association (ABRAP)
Thatiana Helena de Lima
Psychological Assessment Brazilian Institute (IBAP)
Sonia Regina PasianRorschach and Projective Methods Brazilian Association (ASBRo)
Manoela Ziebell de Oliveira
Professional Guidance Brazilian Association (ABOP)
Alyane Audibert
Professional Guidance Brazilian Association (ABOP)The distinctive character of the COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges forpsychologists in their most diverse fields of activity. In Brazil and in the world, several online
professional services emerged as an urgent response to the crisis that was imposed. Such
recent practices are based, in general, on the knowledge already developed by psychology inthe context of emergencies and disasters or on the First Psychological Aid (PAP) approach,whose main focus is on psychosocial care, care with social support and psychologicalpractices adapted to the emergency (Malloy-Diniz et al., 2020; Schimdt et al., 2020). In thefield of Positive Psychology, national and international researchers have drawn attention to
the importance of promoting care and psychological practices through positive emotions
that act as factors of psychosocial protection, such as courage, compassion, forgivenessand engagement at work (Salanova et al., 2018; Vazquez et al., 2019). This chapter provides
information on adaptations in psychological practice whose professional competence

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60

needs to focus on meeting the needs arising from this emergency context in psychologicaland diagnostic assessment, clinical psychotherapies and professional guidance.

Psychological and psychodiagnostic assessment process in the context ofthe pandemic
There is an undeniable need for psychology professionals to reflect and review their technicalscientific strategies at times when reality demands it, such as the current pandemic context
that forces us to distance or social isolation as essential health care. This process cannot
represent just an individual adjustment, based on flexibility of technical strategies, personal
decisions. Human creativity is a wealth to be enhanced at these times, but with respect toaccumulated scientific knowledge, a mandatory source for professionals, requiring us torespect the scientific, institutional and legal guidelines and evidence of the profession.
In this context, we are all over-stimulated by multiple and new demands, including an
absurd amount of information conveyed by various sources, with guidelines that are
sometimes contradictory and that can exert undue pressure and even confusion about
the psychologist’s actions in his work. In a modest, didactic and simple way, we seek
to outline parameters for psychologists in the field of psychological assessment in theface of the pandemic by COVID-19, in the hope of offering strengthening guidelines forpsychology as a science and profession. As a starting point and a highly recommended
reading, we highlight the recent considerations of Marasca et al. (2020) when discussing
the feasibility of online psychological assessment processes and pointing out directions
for their improvement, presenting possibilities for distance teaching and supervision.
As necessary points for special care of psychologists in psychological assessment
processes in the pandemic, it is necessary to consider several variables, necessarily
involving: a) real process goals and needs at this point; b) technical-scientific quality of theselected psychological assessment instruments; c) client’s socio-cultural and demographic
characteristics; d) material resources available for the safe, valid and reliable process (fromthe technical-scientific and material point of view of the technologies involved); e) conditionsof technical security and confidentiality of data and information; f) guarantee that the activity
respondent is effectively the client designated in the evaluation process; g) informative
losses involved in the process by the mandatory social distance measures and their impacts
on data; h) quality of the link established between psychologist and client, especially in thecase of compulsory assessment situations; i) need for participation of a customer support
figure (tutor in psychological assessment) and its impact on information, especially in thecase of children, adolescents and people with some sensory, logical or technical limitations

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61to guarantee the full performance of the proposed activities; j) preference for a multi-method
approach, combined with clinical experience (Bornstein, 2017).
It is essential to remember that the psychological assessment process consists of thecomplex integration of the relationship between the psychologist and the client, theobservation of their posture together with their speech, clinical listening, inferences madefrom psychological instruments considered fundamental and complementary sources, andof the client’s relationship with the social, cultural and historical context, to then elaboratea final conclusion of the clinical diagnosis. The same technical indicator may have a
different meaning depending on the context of the assessment, the client’s history and theother variables that interfere in its production, requiring from the professional the science,
the technical-scientific domain and the reflection on this complex network of variables.
It is noteworthy that the psychological assessment and diagnosis process unfolds in the
production of knowledge based on a demand presented to the psychologist, who must be
informed to the applicants in a written or verbal feedback, being essential that they pay
attention to the impact of the communication of relevant information for the life of theevaluated and for the resulting decision making, specifically considering the context of thepandemic. In its final report, it is necessary to mention, necessarily, the technical conditions
in which the same occurred, emphasizing the information that it was carried out during the
pandemic period, known to correspond to a context of great socio-emotional mobilization.
Specifically with regard to projective methods of psychological assessment or psychologicalinstruments that require a specific relational environment and often involve visual
stimuli, it is understood that more research should be developed to assess what these
instruments would allow to assess in conditions of distance, even that some adaptations
are necessary. It is known that changes in the mode of application of these resources forclinical diagnostics produce a new format of the psychological test in question, so thatnew scientific evidence of its validity, accuracy and normative references will be necessary
before its use in professional practice.
Even, with regard to measurement instruments, it is worth mentioning that it is essential tobe guided by Technical Note 05/2019 of the Federal Council of Psychology (CFP), which
deals with the use of psychological tests in services carried out through information andcommunication technologies. This note emphasizes the importance that the psychologicaltest has a favorable opinion from the Psychological Test Evaluation System (Satepsi) for
its use, with specific standardization and regulations for this purpose.
In summary, in a world full of uncertainties and insecurities about the “new normal”, thepsychologist must preserve his / her sensibility and promote the continuity of scientifically

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62based psychological practices, without incurring ethical faults, maintaining the quality ofprofessional practice in this scenario. Only with collective efforts of scientific investigation
and with respect to human dignity in clear suffering, can the processes of psychologicalassessment and care for people be improved to the extent necessary for the current
environmental requirements of the 21st century.

Performance in psychotherapy in times of pandemic
Psychotherapeutic activities in COVID-19 times face us with the necessary continuing
training in psychotherapy. It is essential for psychotherapists that any adaptation of theirtechniques is scientifically justified and aligned with the standards of ethical exercise of
the professional psychologist1. We emphasize that training in psychotherapy is not justknowing the theory and having a practical recommendation, as can be well observed in thisemergency situation in public health due to the pandemic. In this unique and challenging
context, difficulties are observed that require the psychologist to realize that it is necessary
to seek knowledge in supervisions with more experienced colleagues and / or in scientificcontent arranged in webinars or lives, whose debates help to reflect on how to explore newand efficient paths in psychotherapeutic care.
The growing elaboration of protocols based on scientific evidence and for reception, social
support and psychotherapeutic assistance adapted to the period of the pandemic has been
an effective response to guide the psychological action and its development in the midstof the crisis we are experiencing. We suggest consulting the reception, social support andpsychological assistance protocols provided by organizations linked to the area, such as abp+
and Fiocruz. On the other hand, it is important to note that the protocols, being clear and precise
documents, are standard operating procedures. And, when faced with people who sought
psychological assistance, we need to be prepared to manage them in the online context sothat anguish is not mobilized. Therefore, clinical adaptation requires the psychotherapist toplan his strategy in advance to exercise clinical reasoning about care situations. And clinicalsupervision is a fundamental resource, which is part of the training process.
In the COVID-19 pandemic, we face abruptly with online psychotherapy, a modality thatwas often not even considered as an option by the psychologist, but that in social distancepresents itself as the viable one. Studies by the Centro di Studi and di Applicazione dellaPsicologia Relazionale de Prato (Manfrida et al., 2017) shed light on technological resourcesin online psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic communication regarding:1

justified and aligned with the standards of ethical exercise of the professional psychologist

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63

a. Proper use of technological resources: tools such as SMS, WhatsApp, telephone ande-mail can be combined to strengthen the therapeutic relationship in the service insideand outside the consultation room. If properly used, they can guarantee the consultant
the security of not being abandoned and also provide the therapist with useful
information and signs in psychotherapy.
b. Remote environmental contexts: whose contents mobilized in these therapeutic
processes generate meanings to be explored, which may not be accessible in face-toface care. Here attention must be paid to the whole and not just the verbal.
Online sessions in the pandemic are no longer restricted to specific situations brought by
COVID-19, but have now been applied as a viable action for the moment. The research by
Manfrida et al. (2020)2 conducted with 290 Italian psychotherapists in the first month and ahalf of online psychotherapeutic practice in the COVID-19 pandemic identified strong signsof fatigue and a tendency to be distracted, with an effort of concentration greater thana face-to-face session. The authors reiterate that there are many ways in which the web
can assist psychotherapy and not just through online synchronous sessions, since these
represent only a fraction of the interactions between therapists and patients. We use cell
phone, WhatsApp and email. And many consultants use location apps, audio messages
or bring videos to show in session. Thus, recent studies encourage us to be concernedwith learning how to postulate more effective psychotherapeutic interventions using thetechnological resources that are already part of psychotherapeutic communication tobuild psychotherapeutic practice and not just online sessions, with more availability. The
COVID-19 pandemic can be seen as a stimulus for us to take flight.

Performance in times of insecurity at work and career due to the pandemic
Several authors are unanimous in highlighting, as characteristics of the contemporary world,
the unpredictability and the need that, in order to deal with it, individuals develop autonomy,
the ability to reflect on themselves and to adapt actively to the challenges presented by thelabor market, in constantly changing (Baruch et al., 2015; Oliveira & Gomes, 2014; Savickas& Porfeli, 2012). Considering this context, the career has been understood as a trajectorythat can be thought as a script in which individuals progressively design and build their own
2

More information at Albertini V.; Manfrida, G.; Eisenberg, E. In mezzo al guado. Il passaggio al setting online
durante l’emergenza Covid-19. https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/CSAPRPrato/il-passaggio-allonline-una-svolta-importante-per-la-psicoterapia-ecco-i-primi-risultati-della-nostra-indagine-sul-cambio-di-setting-terapeutico-a-un-mese-e-mezzo-dal-lockdown. Free translation into Portuguese: http://abrap.org/artigos.
php?NuNot=274

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64

lives in different roles that they occupy, in the domains they belong to, which they include.
However, those related to their professional career are not restricted (Duarte et al., 2010).
The COVID-19 pandemic heightens the challenge of career management today. For thisreason, understanding them as complex trajectories and marked by significant events indifferent areas of life, stresses the relevance of reflecting on the impacts of this crisis thattoday plagues the world. One of its consequences for society and the economy was therecord increase of unemployed in a short period of time. Projections suggest that manybusinesses will be permanently affected, with longer periods of unemployment causing
significant losses for workers (Rudolph et al., 2020). The withdrawal from work activities
can compromise resources critical to your professional career, related to human capital(experience and training), social capital (support and social networks) and psychologicalcapital (hope, self-efficacy, resilience). Such resources are essential to achieve objective
success (hierarchical level, salary and promotions) and subjective (satisfaction andbalance between roles) in the career (Audibert et al., 2020). This set of factors confronts
people with the need to stop living their individual trajectories on “autopilot”, without being
aware of their choices and the impacts for themselves and their community.
In the pandemic, professionals are experiencing what may be called a ‘career shock’ forhaving lost their jobs, suddenly having to work in a teleworking or home office regime, oreven continuing to carry out their work activities within some normality. The term shockrefers to events that occur unexpectedly, singularly and impactfully and that are capableof triggering reflections on possible career transitions, which can significantly change
individual trajectories (Akkermans et al., 2018). Considering the context, there is room
for professionals in professional and career guidance to assist individuals in developing
resources and acquiring assertive habits, such as:a. Developing Adaptability: metacompetence and the ability to present adaptive andflexible responses to expected development tasks, transitions and professional
traumas, such as a Pandemic event. It involves taking care of thinking about the future(concern), understanding that the future belongs to those who think about it (control),identifying and exploring possibilities (curiosity) and developing the confidence that it
will be possible to achieve such reflections although there may be difficulties.
b. Reflect on yourself: awareness of the life trajectory, from the past to the present, how
the individual articulates the different roles and domains of life today and in important
future expectations. This exercise allows us to understand what resources the individual
has developed throughout his career and which he has today to make projects that
contemplate different aspects of his life in relation to the future, consistent with his life
script.

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65

c. Plan for uncertainty: career sustainability depends not only on entering (and, as far as
possible, staying in) a work environment compatible with the resources that individuals
have at present, but also on preparing for the changes that can be anticipated and for
those who cannot. An analogy that helps to clarify this point is that the career is much
more like a marathon (long distances require continued effort and pace) than a speed
test (short distances that require intense effort, but for a short time).
d. Qualify to act remotely and digitally: the pandemic has opened up a multitude ofopportunities for digital and remote action in areas such as health and entrepreneurship.
Remote advice and guidance, as well as webinars, conferences and online learning, arejust some of the many possibilities for action that will continue to expand. Qualifying
digitally allows you to take control over your own career, a need to be competitive andviable in the current and post-pandemic job market.
e. Carry out voluntary activities: in addition to allowing curiosity to be exercised, voluntary
activities in the field or in other areas of interest contribute to increasing career resources,
especially for those professionals whose workload has been reduced and those whohave been dismissed. It can also expand the meaning attributed by professionals to thework they do.
f. Collaborate and contribute: the ability to cooperate with others allows us to establish
useful positive interactions to facilitate reflections and develop solutions to the
problems of the future, in addition to creating social support networks. It refers tosimple, everyday actions taken by everyone, such as wearing masks to protect life,
sharing reliable information and identifying opportunities to contribute to collectives.
In times of uncertainty, it is not possible to prepare for a career and work using strategies
that are based on the stability of the world and individuals. The challenge that the
pandemic poses to us is to find comfort in the discomfort of constant change, to enable
the development of autonomy, the ability to reflect on oneself and to actively adapt to thechallenges presented by the job market.

Final considerations
Different aspects and relevant suggestions were presented for necessary adaptations to
the processes of psychological assessment, psychotherapies and career guidance in the
pandemic. In this context, we conclude by highlighting the psychosocial protection factorsthat are determinant for people’s health throughout life. The work of psychologists, in any

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66

field of action, must consider the protection of the health aspects preserved in people
who act as buffers of risks or losses or boosters of motivation and well-being. The author
Vazquez (2018) points out four essential elements for this analysis and intervention:(1) the reduction or mitigation of the impact of potential risks, (2) the effect of possible
negative contagion or positive spiral in the chain of reactions to the possible risk, (3) the
positive development strategy based on positive emotions and mental states for building
well-being routes, and (4) opening up to opportunities that enable challenges rather thancontinuing dilemmas or vulnerabilities. Adapting our professional performance strategies
to maximize psychosocial protection and preservation of the factors that drive people towell-being, even in complex pandemic times, is an important guideline for professional
training and practice at this time.
Ana Claudia Souza Vazquez is a psychologist, Master in Public Health (UERJ) and PhD
in Administration (UFRGS). Professor in the Department of Psychology and Pro-Dean of
People Management at the Federal University of Health Sciences in Porto Alegre, where
she coordinates the Study Group on Organizational and Work Psychology (NEPOT). She is
the current president of the Brazilian Association of Positive Psychology (abp+).
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/4802561480762409

Angela Hiluey is a psychologist, psychotherapist, Master in Developmental Disorders(UPM); PhD in Education (FEUSP); post-doctorate in family therapy (UAB-Spain); founderand director of CEF - Center for Family Studies Itupeva (school associated with RELATES)
where she coordinates, teaches and supervises the Specialization and Improvement
Courses in Family Therapy; Psychotherapist accredited by FLAPSI. She is the current
president of ABRAP (Brazilian Psychotherapy Association).
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/0312303585136907

Thatiana Helena de Lima is a psychologist, Master and PhD in Psychology by the Graduate
Program in Psychology at São Francisco University. Adjunct Professor at the Institute of
Psychology at the Federal University of Bahia. Vice-president of the Brazilian Institute of
Psychological Assessment in management 2019-2021 (IBAP).
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/8893474219361074

Sonia Regina Pasian is a psychologist, Master in Philosophy (UFSCar), PhD in Mental Health(FMRP-USP), Full Professor in the Department of Psychology of Faculty of Philosophy,
Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto of the University of São Paulo. Former President andMember of the Advisory Board of the Brazilian Association of Rorschach and Projective
Methods (ASBRo).
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6176372094603202

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67

Alyane Audibert is a Psychologist and Master in Psychology (UFRGS), PhD in Social
Psychology by the Study Group on Career Development (GEDC - PUCRS). Member of thecurrent board of the Brazilian Association for Professional Guidance (ABOP). University
professor and career counselor at ESPM-Sul. Currently works as a senior technician at
NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS) at University Nova of Lisbon.
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9118623941983044

Manoela Ziebell de Oliveira is a Psychologist, Master and PhD in Psychology (UFRGS).
She works as a professor of undergraduate and graduate courses in Psychology at thePontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), where she coordinates the
Career Development Studies Group (GEDC). She was vice president of the Brazilian
Professional Guidance Association (ABOP) from 2017 to 2019 and is the president of
ABOP in the current management.
More information at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/9584107783216465

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7
Psychosocial and psychopolitical aspects of the COVID-19
pandemic
Frederico Alves Costa
Political Psychology Brazilian Association (ABPP)
Deivis Perez
Social Psychology Brazilian Association (ABRAPSO)
Fabiana Queiroga
Brazilian Association of Organizational and Work Psychology (SBPOT)João Gabriel Modesto
Psychology Brazilian Society (SBP)

Context
Just like other pandemics and outbreaks of emerging diseases, the COVID-19 is giving
rise to a wide range of changes in social relationships. The media publicizes efforts
carried out by healthcare professionals to support the population, and the work by
academics pursuing for medicines and vaccines to cope with the disease. In addition topharmaceutical and medical interventions, fighting the COVID-19 demands changes onsocial arrangements, such as social isolation. These changes deeply affect the everyday
habits, social interactions and economic exchanges (Schoch-Spana, 2020). Therefore, thepandemic engenders a set of thorough social phenomena (Bavel et al., 2020), such asincreased social inequalities (Dorn et al., 2020), domestic violence (Marques et al., 2020),
prejudice/stigmatization (Peuker & Modesto, 2020), among others.
Also worthy of notice in the wake of the pandemic’s psychosocial dimension is that it has
been on the spotlight in a country that is politically divided. A study developed in Brazil foundthat political standing has influenced how Brazilians view the social isolation measures(Modesto et al., 2020). This can be explained by the speeches of the federal government
about the pandemic and social isolation. These speeches have even been subject of an

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

70article in The Lancet (The Lancet, 2020) medical journal about the impacts of the actions
adopted by the current administration to cope with the pandemic.
In this context, it is also worthy reviewing how the political conditions shape modes ofsubjectivization, and social organization. Therefore, considering the pandemic fallouts
on the society, this text aims to discuss the role of psychology in its social and politicaldimensions. This debate intends to contribute with the analysis of the complex social andpolitical effects of the pandemic, and to point out some possible ways to cope with it.

Social Psychology in face of the challenges posed by the pandemic in theBrazilian context
Currently in Brazil, both the social psychology and the society as a whole face theinextricable challenges of addressing on the one side the risks imposed by a pandemic
process (COVID-19) that threaten the physical and psychosocial integrity of all, and on theother hand, respond to the adversities ensuing from the exceptional experience of living
under the so-called brasilense fascism, fostered by the rightist extremist social movements
since 2013, and consolidated by the inauguration of the president of the republic in 2019.
It is worth mentioning that fascism is understood as a movement that favors radical
exploitation of workers, and accumulation of wealth by the capitalists “[...] of conservativesocial content, disguised by a “modernizing” mask and in the shadow of the ideology ofradical pragmatism, resourcing to irrationalist myths, combined with rationalist-formal
manipulative-like procedures.
Fascism is [...] “chauvinist, antiliberal, antidemocratic, anti-socialist, antiworker” (freetranslation, Konder, 1977/2009, p. 56). The brasilense fascist movement fits this definition,
despite some distinctive aspects such as: alignment with economic liberalism in addition
to the weakening of the State; and selective chauvinism targeted at the Latin-American,
Chinese and African peoples, associated to pleasurable subservience in relation to the big
capitalist powers.
The blend of these two threats, mutually orchestrated in Brazil, is expressed through thesubmission of the country to the unnecessary loss of thousands, maybe million lives due
to a thorny political action by the federal government. Such action can come to produce
the highest impact on impoverished population segments, such as black people, native
Brazilians, LGBTQI+ individuals, women, and other groups historically oppressed by thecapitalism, and clearly harassed by the current federal government. Furthermore, thebrasilense fascist movement has taken advantage of the pandemic crisis to move forward

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in the elimination of social and civil rights, to relax and abolish laws that advocate for theworking class, and to expand the State’s waiver of social and scientific responsibilities by
sharply reducing investments in areas such as health, education and social assistance.
Considering the foregoing context, it is imperative for the social psychology to strike thesociopolitical and economic complexity of this stage, and the risks for life preservation
posed by the pandemic. Yet, the area must find new ways to express its commitment withthe segments that are vilified and ravaged by fascism. Special attention should be attachedto the actions aimed to curb the epidemic advancement, and the unreasonable and/or
fallacious emergency public policies enforced by the federal government. It is imperative
for the social psychology to mobilize a theoretical and methodological framework capableof materializing its engagement with the joint activity by workers and dispossessed people,
in professional and academic practices targeted at collective struggles against fascism,as a movement intrinsically bound to capitalism, and the discriminatory traits inherent to it(sexism, racism, intolerance, chauvinism) that are contrary to otherness.
The core repertoire of investigation and efforts to produce academic-scientific knowledge
in social psychology, as well as of the work world of psychologists in the area, is the social
being, understood in its substance, historicity and dialectic moves in face of the Brazilian
capitalism. To be substantiated, this social psychology should strive for methodologicaltools and practices simultaneously devoted to produce and mediate: 1) individuals andgroups in the process of identification, understanding and critical awareness-raisingregarding their material and concrete, historical, political, social, cultural and symbolic
conditionalities; and, 2) the organization of impoverished collectives and collectives ofworkers to allow them to lead the changes in their own reality.
Briefly speaking, in the context of Brazil ruled by an autocrat, and affected by the pandemic,
social psychology is compelled to focus on the fight for the survival of people, and against
fascism. Furthermore, it should steadfastly elucidate labor theories and strategies capableof assisting people to appropriate the historicity, the materiality, the dialectic moves, andthe totality of the society, and the path of each human being and each group, in order toexpand the power of individual acting, and of the collective activities devoted to suppress
the oppressions and exploitations stemming from capitalism. In the wake of this concern,
the political psychology supplements the review of the political-social scene imposed by the
pandemic.

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72

Social demands and the work of Political Psychology in the context of thepandemic
The political psychology is an interdisciplinary field of human and social sciences establishedin Brazil since the 1980s, upon the institution of the Work Group “Psychology of Social
Movements” in the then-new National Association of Research and Graduate Course in
Psychology (Associação Nacional de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Psicologia, ANPEPP).
The group gathered academics who also participated in the Brazilian Association of Social
Psychology (Associação Brasileira de Psicologia Social, ABRAPSO), established in 1980
to strengthen the social psychology’s critical perspective in Brazil. The Brazilian political
psychology was consolidated with the establishment of the Brazilian Association of Political
Psychology (Associação Brasileira de Psicologia Política, ABPP) in 2000, and of the Political
Psychology Journal (Revista Psicologia Política, RPP), in 2001 (Camino, 2001).
Therefore, it is crucial to consider that the Brazilian political psychology got organized in acontext characterized by: a) political mobilizations fighting for the end of the civil-military
Brazilian dictatorship, and for the democratization of Brazil; and, b) academic-scientificcooperation that contested the social relevance of the scientific production in the country,
advocated for the need to develop research and interventions focused on problems related
to the Brazilian and Latin-American historical context, and that could contribute to expand
the democratic rights (Sandoval, 2002).
By virtue of the interdisciplinary nature of the political psychology, and of the historical andcontextual aspects concerning its establishment and development in several countries,
we find different definitions about the area (Costa, 2018; Costa & Machado, 2018; Costa& Machado, 2019; Costa & Machado, 2020). Nonetheless, in general we can consider thepolitical phenomenon as the subject of study of political psychology. This phenomenon ischaracterized by the concern towards coordinating subjective aspects (beliefs, ideologies,
emotions) and structural aspects (relationships of power, configurations of the State,organization of the society) pertinent to the phenomenon being surveyed.
In this sense the COVID-19 pandemic is a subject of investigation and intervention by thepolitical psychology. This is so because, as aforementioned, it caused significant changes tosocial relationships, made inequalities in society even more visible, and has evidenced the needfor critically reflecting over the State performance in coping with the pandemic, formulating
public policies, and advocating for democracy. All these aspects are directly related to the
production of subjectivity, since the construction and replication of society are grounded onprinciples and beliefs that legitimate specific ways of being and living. For Brazil, the pandemic
phenomenon is bound to the context of political polarization we have been experiencing in the

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73

country since the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. This polarization waseven worsened by the 2018 presidential elections, and the strengthening of conservative andanti-democratic discourses, as above mentioned. In this context of pandemic, we clearly see
the rise of antagonist discourses about the ways we organize life in society and, therefore, theshaping of conflicting political identities in the public arena.
Hence, actions identified with the field of political psychology in the context of thepandemic can be linked to a wide range of social demands, and political disputes about
the fundamentals that organize social relationships at different levels of the society.
Furthermore, this action can take place in a wide range of environments, such as theuniversity, social movements, and public policies. Despite the plurality, these actions
are generally characterized by understanding the structuring of discourses about life
organization (the social demand linked around these discourses, and the principles andbeliefs that ground them) to understand its effects on the fight against the disease, and thepromotion of democracy. On the one hand, this understanding is crucial to build strategies
to confront discourses that go against scientific recommendations on the prevention andtreatment of the disease, and that favor inequalities. On the other hand, it is crucial to thedesigning, dissemination and implementation of strategies that converge upon discourses
capable of preventing the highest number of deaths possible, and of keeping and expanding
democratic rights towards the plurality of social groups existing in the society.
A way of acting in line with the field of political psychology in the current context is that offormulating, implementing, and reviewing governmental actions to cope with the pandemic.
For example, if we consider the emergency financial aid implemented by the Brazilian
federal government for individuals socially and economically curtailed by the pandemic or
who, even before the pandemic, already lived in conditions of denial of social rights, some
important psychopolitical questions to be raised would be as follows:a. How beneficiary subjects are discursively constituted in this action? As potentiallyfraudulent individuals? As individuals made vulnerable by the denial of rights thatshould be ensured by the State (right to health, housing, food)? Understanding this
discourse construction is crucial to reflect over the position the government assigns tothese people in the social organization and, therefore, in the field of the debate about
citizenship, social justice, democracy.
b. How the government accesses potential beneficiaries? Through digital applications,even aware of the huge digital exclusion in Brazil? Through the Sistema Único deAssistência Social (Unified Social Assistance System) aimed at organizing the social
assistance services in Brazil? Understanding this aspect allows us to consider the

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario

74number of individuals targeted by the government, and the strategy’s effectiveness tomeet the social demand that led to its construction.
c. How the governmental action was designed, and is being implemented? Based on a
management model controlled by the federal government members? Based on thegovernmental dialog with a multitude of social actors that work with social groups that
could potentially benefit from the action? Pondering over the social actors participatingin the action design contributes to understand how the government devises therelationship between State and civil society and, therefore, the principles that rule thegovernmental intelligibility over the public sphere.
d. What other actions different social actors have been developing to meet the samesocial demands targeted by the governmental emergency financial aid? How theseactions converge or diverge in terms of baseline fundamentals to their design andimplementation? Understanding these actions allows us to understand the otherdiscourses existing in the society regarding the same social demands, and the structureof these discourses in the field of discussion about how social order is established.
These issues allow us to establish a psychopolitical reading of the political phenomenon.
That means understanding the phenomenon as a social and historical construction thatdemands the integrated review of: a) the social demands existing in the specific context;b) the beliefs and principles that ground these demands, and the actions aimed to meetthem; c) how these beliefs and principles build subjectivities and the ways of managing life
in society; d) the strategies to replicate or dispute the hegemonic practices produced in thesocial order.

Final remarks
Considering all data, information and news we can conclude that the crisis resulting fromthe COVID-19 pandemic goes far beyond a health crisis. The pandemic affects all levelsof the social life; involves many people; implies institutions; problematizes values; and hasrepercussions in the cultural, religious, political and economic planes, besides naturally
affecting the work world (Schoch-Spana, 2020). Therefore, it demands coordinated anddiverse actions to meet the countless emerging demands.
However, while many countries fight to flatten the curve of infected individuals, and reduce
the possibility of significant volume of deaths and extended economic shrinking, the current
administration of Brazil builds a speech of denying science and legitimating a ultra-liberal

The state of Brazilian psychology in the COVID-19 scenario75policy aimed to sustain the reduction of State social expenditures, despite the context thatdemands enhancing State policies devoted to universalize basic income, and free andhigh-quality healthcare, education and social assistance. It is about the overestimation ofcapital to the detriment of science, and of the principles of equality and social fairness.
Rejecting the epidemiological guidelines concerning the COVID-19 is another example of
the antagonism of the Brazilian president regarding scientific knowledge, except that thistime he clashes with a global concern towards saving lives (Barbosa-Pinto, 2020). It is
crucial to strengthen the fight against authoritarian, negationist, and neo-liberal policies ofthe federal government to fight social inequalities, save lives, and revoke bills that destroy
the social achievements ensured by the State, and the rights of workers and the different
minorities, and to prevent the implementation of new projects of this nature. Gatheringscientific societies that advocate for the production of critical knowledge and democracy
as strategic mainstays to build the social order, is part of the process of shaping this fightin these days of COVID-19 pandemic, and whenever necessary.
Frederico Alves Costa
Professor at the Institute and Graduate Program of the Federal University of Alagoas(UFAL). Coordinator of the Núcleo de Psicologia Política - UFAL (Political Psychology
Center) - UFAL. President of the Brazilian Association of Political Psychology (ABPP).
Further information available at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/4598238107622933

Deivis Perez
Professor at the Department of Social Psychology and Graduate Program in Psychology of
the UNESP. President of the Brazilian Association of Social Psychology (ABRAPSO).
Further information available at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6409892014093401

Fabiana Queiroga
Professor at the College of Education and Health Sciences of the University Center ofBrasilia - UniCEUB. Coordinator of the Nucleus of Psychosocial Research in Sustainable
Work Processes - ProLab Sustentável.
Further information available at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6027671429906809

João Gabriel Modesto
Professor at the State University of Goais (UEG) and of the Graduate Program of Psychology
at the University Center of Brasilia - UniCEUB. Director of the Brazilian Association of
Psychology (SBP).
Further information available at: http://lattes.cnpq.br/8750845075473465

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