Why the cat?
It’s a pun really. In contemporary physics, the dualism of particles and waves - that is the discovery that any particle in the universe can behave like a space-defined mass moving through space or as a wave of energy (therefore having no specific position in space at any given time) - is referred to as Schrödinger. Schrödinger (1987-1961) himself was a physicist who, in an attempt to explain the premises of quantum physics, came up with the famous paradox of the cat in a box. The cat could be either alive or dead, however since we can’t know for sure, for the purposes of our enquires it should be considered both alive AND dead.
I love this because in the same way as we cannot define a phenomenon as particle or wave unless we “meet” it (through targeting it with another particle), in psychology there can be no Self unless there’s someone with an intention to truly meet it.
Matter is the product of a relational meeting. The Self follows the same rules.
One could say that we are an unresolvable tension between our need for connection and form: our being energy merging into one another on one side, and on the other our coming into being and being able to truly meet the other only if we can define ourselves within a form, ever-evolving and multiplicitous, but still ours, and ours only. And that frame or membrane, that surface that defines our boundaries - our psychic skin so to speak - is the only place where true meeting may happen. Creatures of symbiosis and of difference, of sameness and diversity, of connection and freedom, forever striving to hold the balance of our dual nature as both energy and form - just like any other particle in the universe, apparently!
More about me
After a first BA in Theatre Studies and a few years working in that field and as a photographer, I moved to London to train in Attachment-based psychotherapy. My choice stemmed from a recognition that Attachment theory was the only approach that had historically recognised the exquisitely relational and prosocial nature of our species - a view in open opposition to a Western culture that had traditionally seen human beings as avid, selfish, opportunist, violent monads. Having been a patient before I trained, I was also looking for a framework that, differently from some experiences of mine as a client, was informed by an attitude of openness and relatedness, marked by warmth and cooperation rather than authoritarianism, silence and distance.
Upon my come back to Italy in 2015 I achieved an MSc in Clinical Psychology and continued my professional development coming to an integrative approach grounded in a firm appreciation of the choral quality of the Self, with each part beholding experiences, emotions, goals and functions key to the functioning of the person. Internal Family System theory, object relations, trauma-based psychodynamic psychotherapy, neurobiology, perinatal and developmental psychology are all important parts of my work.
I strongly believe that all psychology is founded on perinatal psychology as only from the premises of an in-depth knowledge of how each and everyone of us evolves starting from the maternal womb and through multiplicitous “relational incubators” (the mother baby dyad, the paternal constellation, the school environment, relationships with peers, romantic attachments, the world of work and society in general), it may be possible, when something has gone amiss and a part may be stuck in the past, to help it heal and grow.
I work and live in Bruneck since 2023, where I combine my passion for clinical work, both in person and online with people from all over the world, with a strong vocation towards spreading the knowledge of the biological basis of attachments and what human beings truly need to grow healthy, creative and secure. I thereby teach at a Master’s Degree in Perinatal Psychology (Sperling), supervise groups of midwives and perinatal workers, volunteer with the local Caritas to support parents in fostering their children’s emotional wellbeing. I believe that only if ensuring a secure base to the new generation it may be possible to create a more just and healthy society for human beings to flourish and thrive within and between themselves, and nature.
An authentic and scientific approach
I work from the premises of authenticity, respect, resonance, participation, and my approach is grounded on a scientific understanding of the biological basis of attachment and affectivity. My aim is to provide a concrete and tailored support.
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Passion and wonder in my work
My work enchants me. First of all I consider a high privilege encountering and exploring the unique and unspeakable complexity of another human being's affective universe. And then helping the other to hold, respect, hear and care for each part of their Self, is for a me a source of inextinguishable wonder, honour and restitution. As I believe that every time an emotional need is heard rather than judged, shamed and repressed, a little revolution takes place vindicating our humanity.