The present article analyzes how children and adolescents are receveid by professionals at a Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Healthcare Center (CAPsi) in the municipality of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. In an ethnographic study, institutional and clinical aspects were analyzed, starting with the arrival of first time users to the center and including referrals given to their cases. The following categories emerged from data analysis: the organization of the work environment, interdisciplinary work processes, psychosocial assessment strategies, and continuity of care. The manner in which the first meeting between users and professionals is organized and experienced is an important indication of how the patient-professional relationship will develop and of the responsibility taken by professionals for the cases that arrive at the center. Furthermore, the data show the specific need to invest in the education of mental health workers and the reorganization of work processes in the CAPSi.
Key words:
Child and adolescent mental health; Embracement; Work processes