This article consists of a theoretical reflection on ethical guidelines for clinical practice in substitutive mental health services. Concepts from Freudian and Winnicottian psychoanalysis are also described and discussed in the light of statements made by individuals diagnosed with psychosis. The authors highlight the need for professionals to sustain a paradoxical position marked by implicit presence in the relationship with their patients and the suspension of their own desires. This position calls for the existence of spaces at clinics that foster support and analysis of intersubjective relationships.
Mental health; ethics; psychoanalysis; Winnicott