Abstract

Given the relevance of the bonds established between intervention agent and participant during the implementation of programmes with a psychosocial component, we studied an emblematic Chilean programme to overcome poverty based on psychosocial and community support: the Families Program. The participants were 21 people: 10 dyads composed of the program participants and their respective intervention agents, plus the head of the intervention team. We employed a qualitative methodology, conducted semi-structured interviews, and performed descriptive and relational analysis following grounded theory guidelines. This process resulted in a comprehensive model of the strengthening of the bond established between intervention agent and participant. This model delimits three relevant dimensions of the agent–participant bond—technical, affective, and interactional—and we describe how they are articulated during the transition from an administrative relationship to a technical-affective bond. Lastly, we discuss the processual and temporal construction of the bond as well as the relevance of considering its three dimensions. Likewise, we reflect on bonds as a way of humanizing psychosocial interventions and ponder the challenge of generating a progressive de-bonding that fosters participants' autonomy.