APOIO PSICOLÓGICO NA TERMINALIDADE: REFLEXÕES ACERCA DA ELABORAÇÃO DO LUTO EM UMA UNIDADE DE TERAPIA INTENSIVA DE UM HOSPITAL GERAL

The bereavement process in the face of a terminal diagnosis encompasses multiple layers of meaning, which may vary according to local culture and context. Since antiquity, death has provoked anxiety and remains a feared, often avoided subject. In a hospital setting where finitude is manifest the role of the psychologist has become essential; within an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), fears, anxieties, and fantasies are intensified. This article aims to reflect on the ICU as a workspace for psychologists, focusing particularly on intervention with patients and families in situations of grief. Commonly, both patients and relatives experience considerable emotional disorganization within the ICU; thus, the psychologist acts with specific objectives assisting in processing terminality, exercising active, empathetic listening, and intervening in the service of patients. This study is grounded in an Experience Report in Clinical Psychology conducted in an adult ICU of a general hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Findings reveal frequent use of defense mechanisms in this environment, primarily denial and rationalization. For the psychologist, understanding these mechanisms is essential to plan proper interventions aimed at supporting adaptive bereavement processing and thus facilitating better coping with terminal situations that are often difficult to manage.