This paper describes the results of a study about the practice of psychologists in primary care units in the city of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil. It was a qualitative research and 17 semi-structured interviews were performed with psychologists who work in those services. Collected data were analyzed through Theme-based Content Analysis, and the theoretical framework was Institutional Analysis, health work studies and the history of Psychology as a profession. Two connected points were focused: the social status changes that the regulation of the profession brought to Psychology in Brazil and the public mental health policies in the State and city of São Paulo from the 1970s onwards. Results revealed changes, tensions and contradictions between traditional clinical psychology and institutional clinical psychology and also revealed new challenges when psychologists started to work with clinical and sanitary practices, and had to accept political-institutional impositions.
Public Health; Clinical Psychology; Health Personnel; Public Health Policies; Mental Health