THE (IN)DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGICAL URGENCY AND ITS CLINICAL DEVELOPMENTS: A SCOPE REVIEW (2016-2025)

This article aimed to map and analyze the (in)definition of psychological urgency in recent scientific literature, identifying its clinical implications in the field of mental health. It is a scoping review conducted according to the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines and the PRISMA-ScR extension, with registration on the Open Science Framework platform. Searches were carried out in the PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and LILACS databases, considering publications from 2016 to 2025 in four languages. Screening and data extraction were performed using Rayyan and Covidence, resulting in 11 included studies. Textual and lexicographic analyses were conducted using the IRAMUTEQ software (word cloud and similarity analysis). The results show that the literature prioritizes clinical and institutional practices focused on crisis management, with little conceptual precision regarding psychological urgency. National and international studies were identified emphasizing community-based care models, brief interventions, therapeutic settings, and qualified listening, as well as the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on care dynamics and team distress. Conceptual and methodological gaps remain, particularly in qualitative and comparative research that integrates subjective dimensions and institutional indicators. It is concluded that psychological urgency constitutes a field in formation, marked by ethical and organizational tensions. More than a technical category, it expresses the need for a sensitive and situated response to acute suffering, reaffirming itself as a space for the reinvention of mental health care.