The intersection between being a nurse and being a therapist in Mental Health

Objective: to discuss the intersection between being a nurse/being a therapist in the mental health field. Method: exploratory, qualitative study based on a self-report interview conducted with ten nurses from a psychiatric hospital in Rio de Janeiro between June and July 2017. Data were analyzed in the light of Travelbee’s theory. Results: Nurses consider themselves therapists because of actions performed in mental health care practice, despite the theoretical fragmentation of interpersonal relationships identified in the distance from the promotion of self-knowledge, which is an essential element in the psychotherapeutic process. Final considerations: the strong relationship between being and doing in nursing stands out and favors the development of satisfactory therapeutic relationships with the hospitalized person.