Group analytic psychotherapy conducted in a Catholic institution has allowed for reflection on the epistemological distinction between psychology and religion, on the structure of religious relationships and on rules for their therapeutic implication. These include the function of homogeneity, enhanced by the typical content of Catholic religiousness. On one hand, from an evolutionary point of view, the content has provided a breeding ground both for therapeutic factors and for the founding values in the system of group analytic therapy (e.g. the centrality of relationships). On the other hand, it has emphasized "anti-evolutionary" risks (e.g. therapist dependence). In addition to the therapist’s role in fostering a productive dialectic between these two extremes, the universal characteristics of the pre-religious need to believe have been analyzed as the foundation of communion and solidarity in all their facets.
Keywords: Psychology of religion, need to believe, homogeneity, procedural code of conduct, institutional context, group analytic values.

Paola Pedrotti, Ingrid Hugnet, Gemma Bolognini, Daniela Marcucci, Bruno Chipi, The beginning and evolution of group analytic psychotherapy in a religious institution in "GRUPPI" 3/2012, pp. 93-114, DOI:10.3280/GRU2012-003007