How do students configure the school psychologist? Ethnopsychology of the Italian school post-COVID and implications on well-being and health

Introduction The research project aims to explore the discourses and beliefs that students have towards the school psychologist. Recent historical and cultural events have brought to light existing difficulties and needs, due to the lack and inadequacy of resources, revealing a clear separation between the school context and that of daily life. The urgency and necessity of a coordinated psychological intervention that moves between the various levels of the school have been highlighted.Method The research involved 70 high school students from various institutions. Through Harr & eacute;'s discursive positioning analysis, it was possible to detect the configuration that students have regarding themselves and the school psychologist, and, above all, to understand the dynamics of the school community, which are reflected in the interaction between actors, creating particular scenarios of reality.Results As a common background to the narratives, the image of the school psychologist emerged as a fundamental and necessary professional figure, whose constant presence in the school context is required. At the same time, various representations of the functions that the psychologist can assume emerged. The psychologist's intervention proves useful not only in emergency situations and difficulties where moments of impasse and suffering manifest, but especially in the moments and events of daily life that take place at school through the promotion of well-being and support for adolescents.Discussion This study is particularly important in the current context because by giving voice to students' experiences and needs, it is possible for the school system to address and manage them. The research directs its usefulness to professionals who intend to carry out their work in the school context, offering important information on how to build an adequate psychological service at school.