摘要：The paper deals with the psychological distress as a reality in the world of work. The study examines the perception of the leaders of a family organization concerning the experience of pleasure and pain at work. We conducted a descriptive case study of qualitative nature, using the interview as a technique for data collection. It was identified through the speeches of the surveyed subjects, situations of distress related to the categories: Context of work organization; Training and qualification of leaders; Leadership: activity of liability; Suffering or pleasure and defensive strategies. Furthermore, it was found that there is a perceived relation between suffering and specific organization of work in the family company, evidencing certain situations that mean for their leaders, the experience of pleasure in daily working life associated to pain, corroborating with what is proclaimed in work psychodynamic on the binomial pleasure and suffering in leadership positions, in the present specific case, also because of the features of family organization.
