RISULTATI RICERCA

Clinical psychology within the Italian National Health Service (NHS) is undergoing a structural transition, increasingly required to align with governance principles such as appropriateness and accountability. Yet, these constructs - central to international health policy - have not been systematically articulated within psychological practice. This paper develops a conceptual framework that redefines appropriateness and accountability as intrinsic disciplinary dimensions rather than external administrative requirements. Appropriateness is framed as the alignment of psychological intervention with clinical need, psychosocial context, care pathway positioning, and proportional use of public resources. Accountability is defined as the ability of psychologists to justify decisions, demonstrate outcomes, and contribute to the governance and sustainability of public health services across individual, organisational, and participatory levels.

The framework is situated within current developments in the Italian NHS, including the experimental introduction of the primary care psychologist (psicologo di base), the formal integration of psychologists within multidisciplinary care pathways (PDTA), and the increasing relevance of digital data systems and outcome monitoring. A conceptual matrix of appropriateness and a three-phase model of strategic integration are proposed to guide policy, training, and professional practice.

By positioning clinical psychology as a system-based public health discipline, the paper offers a theoretical foundation for enhancing its institutional role, improving coordination across care levels, and supporting value-based and equitable healthcare delivery.

This article investigates the benefits of expressive writing within an integrated model of group psychological counseling for patients undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) treatments. The research questions focus on the effectiveness of the integrated model, which combines group counseling with expressive writing, in improving emotional regulation, psychological well-being, and quality of life in individuals facing infertility.

A quasi-experimental pre-post design was adopted with 11 participants undergoing ART treatment. Participants completed questionnaires assessing quality of life, emotion regulation, and depression levels before and after a group psychological counseling program integrating expressive writing exercises. Statistical analysis revealed significant improvements in emotional management and quality of life dimensions. No significant changes were found in perception of medical treatment or interpersonal relationships, suggesting the intervention may have greater impact on individual rather than relational dimensions.

Overall, the integrated model of group psychological counseling with expressive writing appears to be a valuable approach in psychological support for ART patients. Further research is necessary to explore its long-term effects and to develop more targeted interventions focusing on couple relationships and perception of medical treatment.

The article comments on the Italian “National Action Plan for Mental Health”, suggesting a truly transdisciplinary approach that enhances all the disciplines and professionals involved, ensuring the methodological, organizational, and financial aspects needed for its concrete implementation.

Applying the transdisciplinary approach, “Project communities” are needed to build and implement a shared project, in which various social actors participate in planning and in integrated operational strategies.

The mental health services should have as their objective “health” in the broadest sense, i.e., a state of psychophysical and social well-being and a good quality of life, to be improved within social contexts.

Overcoming the ancient dualism between the biological and psychosocial approaches, the principle of “One Health” requires adequate support by the psychological profession to promote welfare and well-being, placing “the mind at the centre of life”, both at individual and social levels.

The profession of psychology in Italy is undergoing a period of rapid expansion that simultaneously threatens its very nature as we have known it until quite recently. The main critical issues are: (1) the limited level of professional practice-oriented education provided by university programs; (2) the trivialization of the profession’s public image due to a consumerist use of social media; (3) the proliferation of pseudo-psychological support services offered by unqualified practitioners, such as counselors and coaches; (4) the challenge posed by online psychological counseling, which has opened the market to platforms with largely uncontrollable effects on new and unprecedented modes of service delivery; (5) the challenge of artificial intelligence (AI) applied to psychological services. These critical issues are examined from a historical, legal, and deontological perspective.

The National Action Plan for Mental Health (PANSM) 2025–2030 marks an ambitious effort to reshape Italy’s mental health system in response to new social and clinical challenges. Drawing on a psychological and professional policy perspective, this article critically examines the Plan’s conceptual and operational structure. While the document affirms progressive principles such as a life-course approach, community-based integration, and the biopsychosocial model, its implementation proposals often revert to a traditional, medically dominated logic. This tension between innovation and continuity risks undermining the transformative potential of the Plan and perpetuating long-standing structural imbalances in the mental health system. A stronger recognition of psychology as a key discipline in prevention, early intervention, and community health is essential for achieving the Plan’s stated goals.

The Author analyses the relationship between the philosopher Im-­ manuel Kant and the Austrian noblewoman Maria von Herbert through their brief cor-­ respondence from 1791 to 1794. After reconstructing the history of their exchange and Kant’s responses to her questions, the paper focuses on Kantian considerations about von Herbert as “little visionary” [die kleine Schwärmerin], especially regarding his in-­ terest in mental illnesses, which he explores in depth in “Anthropology from a Prag-­ matic Point of View” (1798). Far from offering only a critical view of Kant’s often elusive responses to the young woman, the essay considers a possible (not solely neg-­ ative) reinterpretation of female knowledge and imagination in their epistemic value.

Roland of Cremona († 1259) was the first Dominican theologian to engage systematically with the newly translated body of philosophical and scientific knowledge. He did so in his theological writings – a Summa in four books (1230--1234) and a still unedited Commentary on Job (1234--1236) – despite the prevailing opposition of his time: in the 30s of the 13th Century both the University of Paris and the Dominican Constitutions condemned the use of philosophical sources in theological genres. Nevertheless, Roland approached this integration with deliberate intent, playing a key role in initiating a philosophical shift that would come to define later generations of Dominicans. This paper examines the strategies Roland employed to incorporate philosophy into his theological project, with particular attention to his Commentary on Job—a work that has received little scholarly attention. It argues that Roland was a pioneering figure of his time by analysing the theological programme outlined in the prologues to his works, his use of philosophy in biblical exegesis, and the ways in which his approach diverged from that of his Dominican contemporaries – especially Hugh of St. Cher. Ultimately, the paper contends that Roland was a pioneering figure in ushering in a “philosophical turn” within the Dominican Order, examining his influence on the thought of Humbert of Romans, the fifth General of the Order.

Il saggio presenta un’analisi dell’attuale stato del dialogo sociale europeo, dopo la battuta d’arresto segnata dal formale revirement della Corte di giustizia sul caso EPSU, con una lettura dell’art. 155 TFUE che non garantisce alle parti sociali firmatarie di un accordo europeo di ottenerne la trasposizione in direttiva. Dopo la pronuncia della Corte, le istituzioni europee hanno cercato di ristabilire il rapporto di fiducia tra Commissione e parti sociali attraverso dichiarazioni solenni in cui è stato riaffermato il valore fondativo del dialogo sociale, comunicazioni e raccomandazioni agli stati membri e il Patto sul dialogo sociale, in cui la Commissione si impegna a consultare le parti sociali anche su materie non rientranti nel capitolo sociale del Trattato, a designare un responsabile del dialogo sociale in ogni direzione generale, a rispettare l’autonomia delle parti sociali e a definire congiuntamente modalità di recepimento di accordi collettivi in atti normativi europei che attribuiscano loro efficacia generale. Nella situazione di grave incertezza determinata dalle molteplici sfide da affrontare, il rilancio del dialogo sociale europeo costituisce un’opportunità e una risorsa per assicurare coesione sociale attraverso forme democratiche di partecipazione a decisioni strategiche di dimensione continentale. Ciò richiede un salto di qualità alle parti sociali, chiamate a rispondere a sfide di dimensione transnazionale con meccanismi più efficaci di espressione di volontà negoziale.