Mafia and psychotherapy

Abstract

The work is built on Girolamo Lo Verso’s work "The mafia in psychotherapy," a book which includes nearly two decades of studies on the psychology of Mafia and allows the reader to shed light on a little known field, both nationally and internationally, such as that relating to the therapeutic relationship with patients belonging to Mafia families, and under-stand the serious psychic consequences Mafia causes both in its members and those who get in touch with it for various reasons (citizens, victims, community ...).

In addition to the presentation of the research carried out over the years, the description of numerous clinical cases which show the enormous pain and mental suffering in and out of cosa nostra appears to be particularly significant.
Mafia in Psychotherapy appears to be an important tool for those involved in caring rela-tionships, since besides providing useful information for the understanding of these pa-tients’ inner world, it also highlights the possible "relational traps" a therapist may encoun-ter, and this especially thanks to the presentation in the text of the results of a research on countertransference dynamics that are activated in the therapist, a specific countertransfer-ence which is different from those experienced by therapists who cope with similar psy-chopathological configurations, but not connected to Mafia. A journey through the maze of the "dark pain" inflicted by Mafia. An important contribution, the one offered by Lo Verso, not only for understanding and scientific investigation, but also to concretely contrast the phenomenon.

Key word: Mafia, psychotherapy, psychopathology