The constructionist definition of group therapy as a discursive practice emphasizes the character of negotiation in the process of group preparation and composition. Considering this perspective, the objective of this study is to comprehend how certain ways of talking contribute to the process of preparing and composing a support group for people living with HIV. The group that was studied had 10 sessions with 4 participants. The sessions were tape recorded and transcribed. By using discursive analysis on the transcripts of the group sessions, it was possible to describe the preparation for the group as involving three conversational processes: initial construction of demand and the participant's co-responsibility; renegotiation of the contract and the therapist's co-responsibility; and the 'discursive approach' of participant's descriptions. In relation to group composition, the inclusion of the participant in the group a priori was not based on the individual's characteristics but it implied an exercise of 'relational engagement' between therapist and participants.
Social constructionism; group therapy; group composition