Few spaces are available for listening how patients diagnosed with eating disorders understand the discourse of a need for an emotional distance between professional and patient. We seek to understand how the request made by patients for greater emotional bonding with the health professional can participate in building a good relationship with doctors, nutritionists and psychologists. Patients from a service of assistance in eating disorders were interviewed. The theoretical and methodological proposal of discursive practices and meanings production, underpinned by a social constructionist discourse, guided the analysis of the material. Discourses, meanings and positioning games involved in these discursive productions were highlighted. Participants constructed their proximity to the professional as a key ingredient for overcoming the disorder. The arguments in favor of a more intimate contact with the professionals and the use of the discourse of neutrality by the professional were discussed in its context of production.
Health professionals; anorexia nervosa; bulimia