Caracterización psicosocial y de motivos de consulta de la población asistente a 28 Centros de Atención Psicológica Universitarios en Colombia

Colombian University Centers for Psychological Care offer psychotherapy service. The increase in the demand of this service and the diversity of the population attending those centers, show the necessity of having a more accurate approach to the characteristics of the consulting population and their psychological requests. The above with the aim of producing relevant information that can guide the design of strategies of evaluation and intervention in both clinical and psychosocial attention. Therefore, the objective of this study was to stablish a psychosocial characterization of the consulting population and their reasons for consultation. For this purpose, a survey of 1525 people was conducted, in which all of the consultants attended for the first time one of the 28 Centers located in seven regions of the country: Bogota, Antioquia, Costa Caribe, Eje Cafetero, Tolima, Huila, and Valle del Cauca, between March and July 2018. The results showed three main reasons for consulting: emotional difficulties and mood state, problems in their relation to their primary support group and loss and grief. In addition, the study indicates that the three main psychosocial risk factors are domestic violence, directly and indirectly affectation by armed conflict and insecurity conditions in their close environment. As a general conclusion, it is recommended the implementation of psychological and psychosocial interventions in accordance with the specific characteristics of consultants on one hand, and on the other, the conformation of interdisciplinary teams working in the recovery and welfare of the population.