Psychoanalysis as a valuable model of care in contaminated sites: The experience of Casale Monferrato (Piedmont, Italy)

Pollution from industrial production is one of the global crises that is attracting increasing attention on the international agenda. In Italy, the most extensive Site of National Interest needing remediation is Casale Monferrato, where the process for producing asbestos concrete in the premises of the Eternit plant has led to long–term environmental contamination. I have written this paper starting from my experience as a psychoanalyst working in Casale Monferrato in my capacity as a professor of clinical psychology. My aim is to describe the meaning of bringing psychoanalysis to a contaminated site, and to outline the preconditions and peculiarities of a psychoanalytic intervention in such a context, together with the model of community care that I have developed. The application of psychoanalysis in a contaminated site can help to develop a shared view between policymakers, oncologists, epidemiologists and mental health professionals, enabling the development of authentic interdisciplinary interventions. The brief psychoanalytic groups and the multifamily groups conducted in Casale Monferrato have proven suitable for creating a space in which the participants can think and share their experiences in the face of helplessness, vulnerability, illness and death – but also the vital aspects that are still present and animate the relationships.