Transexualidade e famílias: diálogos a partir de contextos grupais

Abstract

Health care for trans people has expanded, including group interventions for both the trans population and their families. This study aimed to understand the development of group practices as a form of care for trans people and analyze the constructions of meanings produced in a session of a support group for families of trans people. Therefore, two studies were conducted, the first was an integrative review of the literature, which indicated that the groups for trans people are usually based on cognitive/behavioral approaches and performed in hospitals, in order to provide peer support and discuss topics such as self-care and self-esteem but with little focus on ensuring equity, access, autonomy and social transformation of trans people, pointing to the need for practices that offer affirmative gender care, adequately trained coordinators and attention to social justice issues. The second study involved a group intervention with families of trans people, whose research corpus involved a group session with the participation of five people and the therapist. The analysis of group moments revealed that the group functions as a relational and discursive practice; pointing out how social discourses on transsexuality produce meanings and positions that contribute to the possibility or impossibility of support. The negotiation and expansion of the senses happened through the differences and questions in the group, allowing support among the participants. These understandings favored a reflection on the identity implications and the complexity of building support in groups with families of trans people. The studies complement each other by offering an understanding, from different perspectives, of how to provide care to trans people and their families through group practices.