In Brazil, authors of reference in the field of Mental Health and Labour have been working to demarcate the object of Psychology based on historical materialism, according to a series of theoretical shortcomings detected in psychological science. This paper examines the theoretical functions of the definition of psychic used by Codo and collaborators, based on historical materialism in their studies about psychic suffering and work, and mean to identify its theoretical shortcomings, and show the reasons why the authors failed to overcome the notion of psychic psychotherapy as proposed. Finally, indicates a theoretical hypothesis based on the definition of praxis for a breakthrough in the understanding of the relationship between psychic suffering and work that does not carry the metaphysical positions as did the authors analyzed.
historical materialism; definition of psychic; praxis