As a Psychologist and Psychotherapist EN | Psicologo-Psicoterapeuta

EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Degree in Psychology with a specialisation in clinical psychology, obtained from the University of Padua. Dissertation: ‘The Cognitive Unconscious’ (Prof. A. Umiltà). Psychotherapy training: S.I.A.B. (Italian Society) for Bioenergetic Analysis; Specialisation in Psychosomatic Psychotherapy, Riza Institute (with a dissertation on the use of humour in individual psychotherapy). Registered with the Lombardy Register of Psychologists and Psychotherapists (no. 4808). Practises as a psychologist and psychotherapist with adults, children and adolescents.
He has attended courses in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Cognitive Psychology organised by the ASP (Psychology Students’ Association)
He has attended courses on the use of diagnostic tests (Rorschach; MMPI-2; TAT; WAIS; 16 PF)
He has collaborated with the Ser.T. (Drug Addiction Service), the N.O.A. (Alcoholism Treatment Unit) and the Vimercate (MI) Counselling Centre. For the N.O.A., she devised and implemented a project aimed at lower secondary schools (“Sgurz”) concerning the prevention of psychoactive substance use, specifically designed to provide pupils with cognitive strategies to improve social skills, self-esteem, perception of self and others, aggression management and critical thinking; she also developed a number of assessment questionnaires.
She worked as a child psychotherapist at the “Centro” in Via Pisino (an accredited centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of minors).
He has collaborated with various organisations, including: ‘Il gioco della vita’, answering users’ questions on the forum: ‘The Semi-Serious Psychotherapist’.
For the “A77” association (the “Cascina S. Marco” community for drug addicts) in Milan, he ran experimental courses on musical creativity and the acquisition of new social skills through role-play.
He developed a project (“Superman Doesn’t Exist”) addressing the difficulties adolescents face in communicating their distress, working with pupils at the “Italo Calvino” lower secondary school in Vimercate.
As a lecturer, he taught a six-month course on Interpersonal Communication (for public relations professionals), funded by the European Social Fund.
He designed and delivered a course on Humour Techniques in Business Communication (T.U.C.A.), which was subsequently implemented in various companies, with which he occasionally collaborates as a consultant.
He was president of the “Seriamente Comico” Association, through which he gave several lectures on the effects of humour in communication and therapy. He has also organised courses on developing metacognitive (or rather ‘meta-humorous’) skills for the use of humour in interpersonal relationships.
He has led several workshops at conferences organised by the ‘Riza’ Institute of Psychosomatic Medicine. In particular, he spoke at the conference on the effects of humour: ‘Laughter that Heals’; and at the conference
In particular, he spoke at the conference on the effects of humour: ‘Laughter as a Cure’; at the Naturopathy conference, specifically on the section concerning eating disorders in adults and adolescents; and at the conference: ‘Anxiety and Panic Attacks’; all delivered with a touch of humour. He works as a lecturer at the institute of the same name.
He works for ‘Nuova Artec’ (a training organisation) as a lecturer on courses covering communication, self-esteem in adolescents and teaching techniques.
He was President of the ‘Psicoterapia&altro’ and ‘Vitadromedaria’ associations, for which he organised courses on the psychological wellbeing of adults and adolescents, delivered with a humorous twist.
He has contributed to various magazines (“Tu”, “Oggi”, “Oltre” and “Riza Scienze”), writing articles or answering questions from the public, applying psychology in a humorous way.
For some time, he wrote a regular column on the association’s website entitled ‘The Game of Life’, dedicated to finding ways to put certain issues into perspective.
He has worked with the Catholic University of Milan as an external lecturer.
He wrote and directed nine short films on the doctor-patient relationship involving patients with Alzheimer’s and epilepsy, casting doctors and senior consultants from various hospitals across Italy, as part of the ‘Medicinema’ (Narrative Medicine) project, aimed at neurologists and promoted by Jansen Farmaceutica. The short films were subsequently screened at the Cinema del Lido in Venice.
Through the “PsychoHumorMusicTour” project, he combines his passions by taking his comedy show “Was Freud a Fool?” on tour around the world which, combined with his songs about DSM disorders (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) – where the symptoms are described and interpreted in a humorous way – helps with recognition, raises awareness and, above all, takes the edge off the issues, allowing people to step back from their own problems and manage them more effectively.
He continues to practise as a psychologist and psychotherapist for children, adolescents and adults, alternating this with training and teaching.
BOOKS
‘Healing the Mind by Learning to Bark Again’ Nuova Ipsia Editore (print and e-book versions).
“Primitive Psychotherapy” (also available in English), which sets out his “concept” of psychotherapy, beginning with his break from Bioenergetics back in 1993, moving through experiences and studies of various schools of thought, and finding a “balance” in this approach, which could be described as “a form of psychotherapy that follows the laws of nature”