From neutrality to implication: notes on the creation of a psychoanalytic group listening space

Abstract

This article examines the concepts of neutrality and implication in psychoanalysis through the experience of the extension project Tá na Roda: clinical-political interventions in educational settings, developed at the Institute of Psychology, UFRJ. The project creates psychoanalytically oriented group listening spaces aimed at elaborating suffering rooted in social inequalities. Since 2021, its activities have taken place in a community-based preparatory course in Rio de Janeiro’s South Zone, attended mainly by young people aged 17 to 25, residents of nearby favelas. The proposal seeks to articulate research, intervention, and clinical practice, questioning the emphasis on neutrality and objectivity characteristic of modern science. Intervention-research offers a framework for acknowledging the researcher’s involvement and valuing knowledge construction in dialogue with young participants. Considering the dual position of the author as both researcher and psychoanalytically oriented psychologist, the work reflects on listening practices and on the ethical-political responsibility inherent to research, fostering a situated and implicated approach. The article defends an ethics of reserve and implication: while the analyst places aspects of their personal life in reserve, they also allow themselves to be affected and implicated in the encounter with others. Such a perspective challenges traditional notions of neutrality and highlights the relational dimension of knowledge production. It is concluded that discussing neutrality and implication in psychoanalytic research and clinical practice contributes to building a situated epistemology, attentive to its context of action and open to addressing the ethical responsibilities of the researcher’s presence.