Weaving networks, building bridges: attending a family of migrants in the clinic of Noos Institute

Abstract

In this article, we share the challenges of the experience in attending a family of migrants at the Social Clinic of Instituto Noos, in São Paulo. The family, of Bolivian origin, consisted of a mother and her three children aged between 7 and 11 years. At the beginning of the process, the four lived in a secretive shelter, since the mother suffered aggression and violent threats from her ex-husband, father of the kids. To host in our clinic a family of migrants who, at that time, lived in a secret shelter, was an unprecedented experience for us, which generated many questions and required a lot of creativity and flexibility to be able to be together and promote a conversation in such a special context. Throughout the process, we were able to reflect on how much of our beliefs and our posture, inspired by Social Constructionism and collaborative practices, provided us with the tools to develop this work in such a new and challenging situation. We can highlight our willingness to put ourselves in the position of not knowing, at the same time expanding listening and our disposition to acknowledge their pains and dilemmas, so unique and so strange to us.