Department of Clinical Psychology (PSC)

Department of Clinical Psychology

Vera Stela Telles

IPUSP Community – Docentes – Vera Stela Telles
ippsc@usp.br

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology
  • Master’s Degree in Psychology and Philosophy – USP
  • One of the professionals responsible (up to 2005) for the former Clinical Psychology Discipline: Teorias Projetivas (specifically TAT)

For the past 35 years of academic/clinical work in diagnosis and psychotherapy I have used my background in Psychology (USP) and Philosophy (USP) to try and find the path to a more unified vision of the different theories in Clinical Psychology. We believe there is a gap within the students ‘qualification in which there should be a discipline offering observational training for of our object of study; Thus, resulting in a more unitarian view. Such an integrated vision will broaden the possibilities of establishing correlations between different theories. Furthermore, it will allow a richer and more profound dialogue between correlated disciplines.

Upon starting his/her clinical practice, a student does not have enough experience to make an objective and scientifically-based choice. The student has to “choose” amongst several theories, most of which contradict one another and carry heavy ideological weight. Thus, a student can only make such a choice based on a subjective and ideological basis and cannot rely on any epistemological grounds.

We believe that revisiting our compilation of well developed observations (derived from these same theories or choices) could allow a more epistemologically correct and objective scientific foundation that would result in a more holistic approximation of our object under new perspectives (in our particular case centered in Piaget’s cognitive psychology and psychoanalytic observations).

Practical experience has allowed us to make such an approximation in relation to the analysis of TAT ever since we switched our focus (disregarding the interpretation of the psychoanalytic concept of projection) to a formal structural analysis of the subjects ‘text. We have applied this very methodology to the psychotherapy material, with auspicious results. Our supervision work thoroughly complies with this training orientation in a formal structural analysis of the material.