DIMENSIONS OF THE FRAMEWORK IN THERAPEUTIC ACCOMPANIMENT:CONTEXTUAL DIMENSION

Federico Adolfo Gómez 1 y Lucas Nicolás Emmanuel Barrios 2

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical and clinical update on the notion of the therapeutic frame within the field of Therapeutic Accompaniment (AT), focusing on its contextual dimension. Drawing from a historical reconstruction of the profession in the province of Entre Ríos —from the creation of the University Degree in Therapeutic Accompaniment at the Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos (UADER) to the establishment of the Professional College of Therapeutic Companions (CATER)—, the text explores the material, symbolic, and political conditions that shape professional practice. The contextual dimension is defined as the set of material conditions of existence in which therapeutic accompaniment occurs: geopolitical space, temporality, economic and logistical resources, family and social conditions, and jurisdictional frameworks. From a perspective that intertwines psychoanalysis, historical materialism, and professional ethics, it is argued that every AT intervention takes place within a network of concrete determinations that affect both the accompanied
subject and the professional. The article introduces the concept of materiality of the frame as an analytical and diagnostic tool that helps define clinical strategies and ethical positioning. It also develops the notion of intervention potential, understood as the transformative power of the companion’s presence in the daily life of the subject. Ultimately, acknowledging the contextual dimension implies adopting an ethical-political stance toward the real conditions of clinical and social work, fostering practices of professional unionization, regulation, and recognition that uphold both the dignity of the worker and the autonomy of the accompanied subject.