> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Laura Fraser > Reference:: Fraser, L. (2022, September 1). _The healing power of “Bello.”_ Craftsmanship Magazine. https://craftsmanship.net/the-healing-power-of-bello/ > Date:: 2019 > Tags:: #Italy > WeftLinks:: [[Psychological value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft improves well-being]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > The Italian SanPa residency program rehabilitates drug and alcohol addicts through the discipline of craft labour such as weaving and baking. ### Highlights “The dough teaches you,” says Massimo Bertoglia, the head chef, as he shapes a piece into a round. “You have to have constancy, and you have to have care.” He pauses to survey his results and seems pleased. “If you don’t care for it, it will die.” According to SanPa’s philosophy of rehabilitation, fine craftsmanship is essential to building self-esteem, and that ensures not only the residents’ success but also the program’s sustainability. “Gradually, they learn that satisfaction isn’t immediate, but longer, more beautiful and profound. It comes from sacrifice and discipline, and the *ragazzi* have a sense of filling the emptiness inside, and of discovering a passion for life and quality.” The women tell me that working in the all-female weaving sector helps the young women, most of whom have been raped or have prostituted themselves in order to get money for drugs.  At SanPa meals, residents take turns being servers. Following the Italian custom, each meal has a *primi* (a pasta or soup course), followed by a *secondi* (the main dish). “It’s considered disrespectful to the cooks and to the community not to eat everything on your plate,” says Lucia Rughi, SanPa’s communications director. Not surprisingly, this sin is rarely committed. *photo courtesy of San Patrignano* San Patrignano has now spread to three satellite centers, one in London and two in Italy, and it participates in world conferences on rehabilitation, partnering with other like-minded programs in Europe. Given that more than 72,000 people died of drug-related deaths in the U.S. in 2018, and more than 8,000 in Europe, many people have studied SanPa to determine if the model could work elsewhere. “Our philosophy,” she says, “is the education of *bello*.” Within that philosophy, the process of understanding and working toward beauty is the only means to combat the ugliest expression of self-loathing: addiction.