Mafia, psychopathology and psychotherapy: insights from a research

<p>The article discusses the issues related to psychotherapeutic work with people belonging to mafia families from a reasearch of a sample of psychotherapists of the three regions in which the criminal organization is historically strong and deeply rooted (Sicily, Campania, Calabria).<br />After the massacres of '92, in fact, the entire organization Cosa Nostra is in a state of crisis. From those years, the mental suffering of these people began to leak out of these realities through an explicit request for help to the psychotherapists working in mental health services or private.<br />What does really mean for a therapist helping a patient to reveal their history deeply marked by murder, betrayal, white deads and men known to the judicial reporting?<br />In this sense, this current contribution aims to highlight, through the analysis of counter transference dynamics which are activated in the therapist, the pecularities and difficulties characterizing the relationship in the clinical work with people belonging to mafia families.