The acrobatics of dying: A psychodynamic framework for palliative care

This article aims at summing up the reflections of a small group of psychologistswho work in the domain of palliative treatment. The theory and methodologysupporting it are borrowed by a group analysis approach; the group’s purposeis a research based on the workers’ experience elaboration, which aims at findingout both the specificities of the work apparatus with the people accompaniedto the conclusion of their lives, and the main thematic areas of the relationshipbetween healthcare team, patients, and families. The work we present aims atintroducing the most meaningful themes that emerged during group meetings:first of all, some service criticalities examined in the area of terminal healthcareand the workers’ possible saturation and psycho-social discomfort quotas, generatingin some cases a common sense of professional precariousness.