Migration as a risk and opportunity

Terrenuove's experience

Abstract

The authors examine migration as an experience of breaking ties and as a loss of emotional, geographical and contextual points of reference. Displacement, particularly when it is involuntary, is a severing of the existing balance between individuals and their environment and involves seeking a new balance. The transition from one culture to another, from one reference group to another, can be an opportunity for a renewal and expansion of one's capabilities; yet, can also contain the risk of losing a sense of self, orientation, and freedoms and choices. This article delves into the impact of migration and paths of care and integration in Italy, in the context of the work of social cooperative Terrenuove. The authors examine the assumptions of ethno-psychiatry (Nathan, Sironi) and various influential authors (De Martino, Mellina, Papadopoulos) and connect them to Eric Berne's transactional analysis. The history of Terrenuove and the services that it has offered migrants over 20 years is described.