An Integrative-Relational Framework of Intervention at Casa de Alba: therapeutic community for severe mental health problems

Abstract

Casa de Alba, founded by Romão de Sousa Foundation is a Therapeutic Community for Severe Mental Health Problems in Rural Portugal which is now celebrating the first year of existence. In this article, I will start by contextualizing the beginning of the project and my state of mind when I joined it; I will then give a brief glance through the theoretical and practical inspirations behing the project as well as some difficulties faced in the materialization of my original ideas; I finish with an overview of Mentalization Based Therapies and how Casa de Alba is slowly introducing and integrating a mentalizing frame in the day to day running of the communitty.