Abstract

FREIDIN, Betina  and  BORDA, Pablo. Heterodox Professional Identities: The Case of Medical Doctors and Psychologists Who Integrate Alternative Medicines and Therapies in Argentina. Trab. soc. [online]. 2015, n.25, pp.75-98. ISSN 1514-6871.

Western societies experiment mutations in the processes of socialization and the job market, which have ramifications in professional identity-building. We understand identity as a continual process of inter-subjective productions in multiple spaces of socialization and of interpersonal interaction, taking into account the larger context of the growing singularization of personal trajectories. In order to address different dimensions of identification with professional work, we conducted in-depth interviews with medical doctors and psychologists who integrated alternative medicines and therapies in their clinical work in Metropolitan Buenos Aires. We focus the analysis on personal and work experiences that lead them to give new meanings to their professional practice and redirect their careers, and in this way depart from the hegemonic paradigm in their respective disciplines. We frame their interpretations and career decisions into intra-professional movements that put into question orthodox training and practice, and larger socio-cultural trends that widen the horizon for professional projects and identity work.

Keywords : Professional identity; Medical doctors; Psychologists; Heterodoxies; Life stories; Argentina.

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