This paper presents a study aimed at analysing the professional and service models by which paediatricians and general practitioners represent the collaboration with the psychologist within a primary care service. The research is grounded on a psychodynamic-cultural approach which acknowledges the main role of the socio-symbolic process in the way of interpreting one’s own function within a health service and the professional collaboration. A semi-structured interview was administered to 13 general practitioners and 17 paediatricians. Multidimensional analysis was applied to the transcripts: a Lexical Correspondence Analysis aimed at detecting the main dimensions of symbolization which characterize the discursive productions and a Cluster Analysis aimed at identifying the main thematic nucleus. Results allows to highlight the physicians and paediatrics commitment on an integrated primary care service and to identify what professional and service models grounds the demand of collaboration with the psychologist. Whereas the function ascribed to the service is identified with the medical one (to care the illness), psychologist is called to "contain" psychic dimensions which disturb the expected medical procedures. Whereas the function ascribed to the service is that of taking care of the user’s biopsychic- social unity, psychologist is recognized as a practitioner to whom putting in the hands the emotional component. Constraints and resources for the development of a psychological function within the integrated primary care service, as emerging by the results, are discussed.
Keywords: Psychological function, medical function, integrated service, service’s models, symbolic dimensions, thematic nucleus