Re-releasing violence: good practices in welcoming the perpetrator of abusive behaviour in intimate relationships

In the light of his experience as psychologist, psychotherapist, psychotherapist and founding member of the Centro Ascolto Uomini Maltrattanti in Florence, in this contribution the author presents some reflections on the need to adopt new guidelines that guide the professionals of the relationships of help in welcoming the author of abusive behavior and in a systematic detection of violence in the context of the interview. The violence acted by men occurs not only in specialized centres for the treatment of the perpetrators but also in the professional reality of many of us, assuming various "covering symptoms" not always easily recognizable without an adequate training sensitive to violence. Once identified some theoretical-methodological reference points useful to distinguish violence from other clinical manifestations and to develop some hypotheses about the possible mechanisms that can lead a man to act abusive behaviours during his life, some functional indications will be exposed to set up an interview with the perpetrators focused on violence and to facilitate the start of a path of change in the assumption of their responsibilities.