The aim or this paper is to show that the private working through or political trauma is only possible within the context of a supportive psychosocial environment. Based on the chronicle of his own personal history as a prisoner during the Pinochet dictatorship, the author revises the different actions of reparation that the State of Chile has undertaken since democracy was re-established in 1990, and the impact of these actions in the elaboration processes. The psychotherapeutic experience with victims of the dictatorship confirms the relevance of psychosocial reparation actions coming form the State, as representative of the whole society.