Who is the psychotherapist?

The psychotherapist is a professional psychologist (or a physician specialized in psychiatry or psychotherapy) who completed a specific post-graduate four-year- training at university or private schools (recognized by the competent Ministry).

Psychotherapists work on psychopathology through a specific methodology, starting from a theoretical-clinical point of view (clear and shared, as for instance psychoanalysis, systemic theory, behaviorism, etc.). The psychotherapist plans and accomplishes a therapeutic treatment for the patient, on the basis of his/her own resources, potentials, conflicts.

Psychotherapists (psychologists or physicians) must be members of their specific professional association: in Italy, psychologists and psychotherapists are -just as physicians are- sanitary professionals, differently from the situation all over the world, where psychotherapy is matter and activity apart from any other.