Clinical intervention with young unemployed

Abstract

Unemployment is associated to a worse mental health state, because being unemployed generates not only a financial instability, but also a process of individual devaluing. In 2008, a clinical outreach work was elaborated with four unemployed young adults at a NSE (National System of Employment), in Paranhana Valley – Rio Grande do Sul State. Initially, it was developed a research project whose objective was to investigate the social skills and the level of these young adults’ psychological well-being. In this research it was used an interview, a socio-demographic questionnaire, the Social Skills Inventory (SSI) and the General Health Questionnaire – 12. Afterwards, an outreach work was developed, which included the returning of results to and psychological interviews that approached issues such as self-knowledge, social skill and occupational project. The results, second interpretation of SSI, indicate that the young adults need to train their social skills to control anxiety, positive affect expression and affirmation of self-esteem. Those that had wider family support demonstrated to have better psychological well-being. In the psychological outreach work the narratives discussed complaints of personal disappointment, weakness and fear of not getting another job. These young adults frequently blamed themselves for not being able to find another job. After the intervention, two young people found jobs and one was referred for psychological counseling. It is important to highlight the relevance of promoting clinical interventions with this group, as a way to support and in order to overcome the difficulties encountered in this period.

Key words: clinical intervention, young, unemployment.