The New Jersey psychotherapist wanted revenge, and, as luck would have it, one of her patients had revealed in his therapy sessions that he was a former member of an organized criminal gang, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Monday.

And that’s how the therapist, Diane Sylvia, ended up giving orders to an F.B.I. agent posing as a hit man to beat up someone who was blackmailing her, according to the complaint.

“He needs his pretty little face bashed in, that’s what I really want.”

“A broken arm would help, too.”

“Something so he can’t do push-ups, so he can’t work out.”

A licensed social worker who counsels individuals, couples and children in her office in Linwood, N.J., Ms. Sylvia, 58, was charged on Monday in federal court in Camden with one count of solicitation to commit a crime of violence. She was released on $50,000 bail. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.