The classroom curriculum includes a study of the social and cultural emotions of both our society and other cultural/social forms (a society, a way of getting sick and treating), in order to understand the course's general theoretical concepts, such as the extended mind, the group mind, the experiences of the family group, and the individual mind in relation to these areas.

The theoretical themes are then exemplified with the perception of the "air we breathe," with the emotions between the individual and society (e.g., globalization disorders, violence, impulsivity), with the histories of contemporary pathologies in Westernized societies, and finally with the encounter with other foreign cultures, with the concept of borders in our mind and in clinical practice.

The concepts of attachment and separation are evaluated in light of both the separative traumas of migratory journeys and what happens in this field in Westernized society.

Starting from the basic concepts, the aim is to identify clinical approaches that can combine traditional approaches with the changes inherent in our current psychosocial transformation and the impact of changes in the collective mind on individuals. This approach, therefore, develops corrective measures that are relevant to the current historical and cultural context, and aims to develop innovative treatment models that are useful for future careers. These include the following areas:

- Analysis of cultural contexts and their influence on mental illness: innovative models of care in contemporary psychological and social contexts; multi-setting field, variable-arrangement settings.

- Integration of diverse beliefs between neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and non-Western cultures;

- Diagnostic skills in the family setting.

- Orientation within communities and interaction with institutions to understand mental phenomena within groups and the transpersonal dimension, using group work as a classroom experience.

During the course, students will learn some elements of group construction, group maintenance, and how to conduct multigroup field analysis.

Acquire a conceptual understanding of the phenomena we treat.

- Treatment of individuals with Western pathologies (anorexia, bulimia, contemporary pathologies); Individual and group therapy for families and adolescents with diagnoses of family distress, psychiatric distress, and cultural distress;

Treatment of individuals from other cultures, therapies specific to other cultures: shamanic and sacred disorders, and the interaction between religions and therapies;

- Projects to reduce destructiveness

- Clinical and therapeutic use of artistic, imaginative, and cultural practices to promote representation and symbolization in family situations with a high level of acting out.

- Ability to integrate arts and culture with traditional therapies.

- Cultural objects belonging to non-Western ethnic groups, contemporary objects, their role and function (e.g., smartphones).

- Young adults, focusing on the category, including through post-lesson experiential groups.

- The role of the body, both as a means of understanding psychopathology and as a form of therapy.

Erasmus Students: directly contact the Professor to have a specific and individual program, as well as certified students (eg DSA).

The course is divided into 4 main sections:

PART ONE – Duration: 8 hours, to be covered in the first 4 lessons.

This area focuses on the Western context and its relationship with contemporary illnesses.

- The experience of emotions in large groups, small groups, families, and the individual mind, both in primary and contemporary globalized societies.

- Relationship with unresolved social emotions, destructive aspects of humanity, and tools for their reduction. Death in the West, death in other cultures, and the relationship with pain as a study element.

- Concept of the extended mind

- Crisis of families, crisis of social containers, and parenting, and consequences for the psyche (transgenerational framework for reading the care of adolescents, families, and patients); The theme of guilt

- Opposition between Mindless Psychiatry and Mindless Psychiatry

Integrated models between Neuroscience and psychotherapy. Ourselves being instruments of psychic work (countertransference, enactment, reverie) or psychotherapeutic work based on the external subject.

Fractures between humanistic and scientific cultures, a crisis of knowledge and clinical practice that prevents an integrated vision of the human (A. Scavolini Coll.).

PART TWO – Duration: 8 hours, spread over 4 days.

The second part of the course will address the context of foreigners:

- cultures and disorders according to Devereux, Moro, and Nathan.

- the migration process and related psychological suffering, the problem of abandoned minors, the problem of integration as a model for the psyche;

- the concept of group and ethnic group, ethnic disorders, group and individual illnesses, and group trauma;

- peoples at war, mass migrations, psychopathology of the migrant condition;

- models of treatment in Italy and abroad for foreign patients;

- survival issues

The Crisis of Nosography and New Forms of Clinical Practice in Relation to How Cultural Contexts Influence Diagnosis and Treatment (A. Scavolini Coll.).

Diagnostic manuals (DSM, ICD) as cultural, historical, and contextual constructs, and the limits of their validity in intercultural contexts. "Nosographic chimeras" as "nosographic disorganizers" (see Rossi Monti, e.g., Major Depressive Disorder with Melancholic Features, with high internal heterogeneity that can be attributed to the same label for more than ten thousand different symptomatic profiles).

- How globalization and exposure to different cultures generate new, often unclassifiable forms of suffering. Demonstration of the importance of understanding psychological suffering within the cultural codes that give it shape and meaning, avoiding epistemologically weak, but also clinically ineffective, or in some cases even harmful, reductionism.

PART THREE – Duration: 12 hours, divided into 4 days.

Destructiveness and Narcissism

- Individual and group care systems, the concept of organizing containers (family, social, cultural) and their relationship with the individual;

- Psycho-sociotherapy and the Extended Basic Group (GAB);

- Multi-family Groups

- Neighborhood experiences: psychology of a difficult neighborhood in the Milanese banlieue: interventions in multicultural areas with psychological and cultural tools;

- Community integration;

- Methods for curbing destructiveness

The existential key points of this part of the course will be:

• birth;

• contact;

• growth;

• separation;

• mourning;

• relationship.

• ways in which different cultures fill these transitions. The various individual, family, and social tools will be examined, as will authority figures and the difference between political and clinical paranoia, starting from the anatomy of human destructiveness.

• Crisis of Rites/Myths (coll. A. Scavolini): The Loss of Artistic Melancholia and the Postmodern Depressive Epidemic: The Cultural and Clinical Transformation of Melancholia, from a Liminal, Creative, and Philosophical Experience to a Disorder to Be Classified, Managed, and Treated (from a Conflictual and Symbolic Model of Suffering to a Deficit Model, in Which the Subject Is Reduced to an Altered Bodily Function).

PART FOUR – Duration: 8 hours, spread over 6 days.

The fourth part of the course will focus on the following topics:

- Art, culture, and therapy;

- Treatment groups and cultural groups;

- Therapies based on cultural objects: Psychic and cultural training: The Unstable Company

- Environment-psyche relationship: the relationship between a mistreated environment, waste, and the mother-child relationship; smartphones and their influence on children.

- Integrating arts and culture into traditional therapies, to develop methods that incorporate both: The I Don't Remember Project (Insula Felix collection), parenting and art.

- Images, objects, and contemporary relationships (A. Turillo coll)

- Contemporary languages and their implications for basic relationships in our present.

- More established habits and their observation with the tools of relational psychology.

Smartphones, selfies, and artificial intelligence are consolidated habits of a human group experiencing the dangers and virtues of this ongoing change, increasingly a source of anxiety, perplexity, experimentation, and questions regarding the consequences that can be hypothesized or verified in the present and immediate future.

Useful tools for aesthetic research, art history, and contemporary philosophy: an analysis of the image from prehistory to the present, a reflection on the theme of "thing" as "object medium" in the relationship with others and ourselves.

1- In relation to teaching the student must show possession : - to have mastered the knowledge of specialized disciplines ; - The understanding of the advanced concepts of the discipline ; - The ability to use knowledge and concepts to think independently on the issues of the discipline .

In relation to teaching, the student must show skills on  Knowledge and understanding, relating to the fundamental themes of the course, eg. the relation between psychopathology and culture. · Applied knowledge and understanding, ie the understanding of clinical applications related to the topics presented in class. · Autonomy of judgment, ie the possibility of supporting one's own work thesis and clinical hypothesis. · Communication skills, realization of a sufficiently managed exposition as a comprehensibility of the speech. · Ability to learn; ability to learn from the experience of lessons and workshops - the mastery of the knowledge of the specialized disciplines; that is, the integration of various specialist disciplines encountered in the course of studies and lessons. - understanding of the advanced concepts of the discipline; these concepts are the group as a working setting, the contemporary discomfort pathologies and cultural manifestations- the ability to use knowledge and concepts to reason independently on the issues of the discipline. Provide examples of clinical reports or clinical opinions , or report independently on authors or topics.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Support provided by class collaborators and intermediate tests

Teaching

Suggestions or cultural and expressive proposals related to the subjects of the course and to any experience or personal talent of the student are welcome.

It is possible to consult the files entered in the personal dashboard of the blended.uniurb.it mobile platform

As mentioned above the relevance of the lessons with the preparation and the exam are connected.

Innovative teaching methods

1- Experiential groups, core extended groups, experimentation with real-world clinical issues, and assignments to students for presentations.

The learning context is linked to the group structure, with theoretical topics covered during Friday classes and applied clinical modules covered during Saturday classes. These will focus on the theoretical theme analyzed in the previous day's class in an experiential context.

Practical experiences will also be presented to support the theoretical content.

2. Experiential writing group

The goal of this activity is to explore and reflect on the mechanisms of loss and separation from objects, loved ones, or parts of ourselves.

The activity on loss and separation can help participants explore the concept of separation, which is central to migration issues, in an experiential and creative way. Indeed, the migration process very often involves separation and feelings of abandonment from family members, places, and so on.

Using creative writing to reflect on significant people and emotionally relevant actions such as being born, dying, or moving closer or further away facilitates an emotional connection that allows us to identify with the experiences of others. I believe it can also be a useful activity for increasing the level of empathy for the suffering of those who have experienced traumatic separations, such as migrants or abandoned minors (A. Scavolini Coll).

Attendance

Attendance at lessons is recommended for the experiential level required by the course.

Furthermore, since part of the program will also be taught in English, knowledge of the language is recommended.

Course books

M.R. Moro et al. Manual of Transcultural Psychiatry, Franco Angeli ed., Milan, 2009

chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

https://www.argo-onlus.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2024edizione10.pdf (edited by Roberta Cardia and Mariaclotilde Colucci)

Integrated Care Devices for Reducing Destructiveness. Evolutions of Clinical Settings in the Crisis of Family and Sociocultural Containers Michele Castelli, Niccolò Chiodini, Francesco Comelli, Federica Galassi, Veronica Quaini, Roberta Sciannamea pages 338\358

G. Devereux, Essays in General Ethnopsychiatry, Armando ed. Rome (chapters 1, 2, 3);

Comelli F. Destructiveness and Narcissism in the Crisis of Containers. 2024 Mimesi ed. Milan.

Optional or recommended readings to supplement your preparation

Tobie Nathan, Isabelle Stengers, Doctors and Sorcerers, Bollati Borignhieri ed. Turin 2000

https://www.funzionegamma.it/bion-e-jung/

https://www.funzionegamma.it/psicoanalisi-di-gruppo-reso-conto-di-50-anni-di-lavoro

https://www.funzionegamma.it/gruppo-e-migrazioni/

Comelli F. The Secret Heart, Telesma ed. chaps. 1 and 2 (if you are considering purchasing the volume, please contact the publisher: https://telesmaedizioni.it/)

Scavolini A. Melancholy, Science and Postmodernity, Ed. del Faro 2022

Assessment

The final exam consists of a written test which will focus on the topics of the course mainly covered in class, with both open and closed questions. References to examples seen in class, monographs, case histories, topics on blended and topics given by the proposed exercises will be positively evaluated.

The opportunities for attendance and intervention in class will help to improve the final evaluation.

In the middle of the semester, an exclusively "educational" mid-term exam will take place, in order to help students verify ongoing their level of learning and the effectiveness of the study methods. The modalities with which the intermediate test will take place will be communicated by the teacher during the semester.

The evaluation is based on the following criteria: a) the appropriateness of the terms and concepts used; b) the level of detail on the topics covered; c) the ability to link the various topics together and to grasp their problematic implications; d) the ability to make use of conceptual and theoretical tools for the analysis of concrete situations.

Evaluation criteria and parameters:

less than 18: insufficient proficiency level. The candidate does not achieve any of the learning outcomes foreseen in the point "knowledge and understanding",

18-20: sufficient level of competence. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the point "knowledge and understanding",

21-23: fully sufficient level of competence. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding" and "applied knowledge and understanding",

24-26: good proficiency level. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding"; "applied knowledge and understanding" and "judgment autonomy",

27-29: very good level of proficiency. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding", "applied knowledge and understanding", "autonomy of judgment" and "communication skills",

30 and 30 cum laude: excellent level of competence. The candidate fully achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding"; "applied knowledge and understanding"; "autonomy of judgement"; "communication skills" and "ability to learn".

Disability and DSA

Students who have registered the disability certification or the DSA certification at the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can ask to use concept maps (for keywords) during the exam.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam session, to the teacher of the course, who will verify their consistency with the indications of the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The significance of the contents and experiences shared in class as arguments and emotions developed by the meetings are the basis of learning from experience. Non-attending students are anyway. invited to communicate their position and choice so as to be able to provide them with adequate training.

This support is to give students and non-attending students the opportunity to compensate for what is done during lessons with independent study. We recommend using all the materials included in the blended platform (slides, exercises, supplementary material) which are particularly useful for full understanding of the program contents.

To give non-attending students the opportunity to compensate for the work covered during lectures with independent study, we recommend using all the materials included in the Blended Learning platform (videos, exercises, supplementary materials, sample exam questions), which are particularly useful for fully understanding the program content.

Attendance

Attendance at lessons is recommended for the experiential level required by the course.

Furthermore, since part of the program will also be taught in English, knowledge of the language is recommended.

As far as course books are concerned, there will be more textbooks to prepare to compensate for the clinical and related theoretical realities of classroom experiences

Course books

M.R. Moro et al. Manual of Transcultural Psychiatry, Franco Angeli ed., Milan, 2009

chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11.

https://www.argo-onlus.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2024edizione10.pdf (edited by Roberta Cardia and Mariaclotilde Colucci)

Integrated Care Devices for Reducing Destructiveness. Evolutions of Clinical Settings in the Crisis of Family and Sociocultural Containers Michele Castelli, Niccolò Chiodini, Francesco Comelli, Federica Galassi, Veronica Quaini, Roberta Sciannamea pages 338\358

G. Devereux, Essays in General Ethnopsychiatry, Armando ed. Rome (chapters 1, 2, 3);

Comelli F. Destructiveness and Narcissism in the Crisis of Containers. 2024 Mimesi ed. Milan.

Tobie Nathan, Isabelle Stengers, Doctors and Sorcerers, Bollati Borignhieri ed. Turin 2000

Scavolini A. Melancholy, Science and Postmodernity, Ed. del Faro 2022

Optional or recommended readings to supplement your preparation

https://www.funzionegamma.it/bion-e-jung/

https://www.funzionegamma.it/psicoanalisi-di-gruppo-reso-conto-di-50-anni-di-lavoro

https://www.funzionegamma.it/gruppo-e-migrazioni/

Comelli F. The Secret Heart, Telesma ed. chaps. 1 and 2 (if you are considering purchasing the volume, please contact the publisher: https://telesmaedizioni.it/)

Assessment

The final exam consists of a written test which will focus on the topics of the course mainly covered in class, with both open and closed questions. References to examples seen in class, monographs, case histories, topics on blended and topics given by the proposed exercises will be positively evaluated.

The opportunities for attendance and intervention in class will help to improve the final evaluation.

The evaluation is based on the following criteria: a) the appropriateness of the terms and concepts used; b) the level of detail on the topics covered; c) the ability to link the various topics together and to grasp their problematic implications; d) the ability to make use of conceptual and theoretical tools for the analysis of concrete situations.

Evaluation criteria and parameters:

less than 18: insufficient proficiency level. The candidate does not achieve any of the learning outcomes foreseen in the point "knowledge and understanding",

18-20: sufficient level of competence. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the point "knowledge and understanding",

21-23: fully sufficient level of competence. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding" and "applied knowledge and understanding",

24-26: good proficiency level. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding"; "applied knowledge and understanding" and "judgment autonomy",

27-29: very good level of proficiency. The candidate achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding", "applied knowledge and understanding", "autonomy of judgment" and "communication skills",

30 and 30 cum laude: excellent level of competence. The candidate fully achieves the learning outcomes foreseen in the points "knowledge and understanding"; "applied knowledge and understanding"; "autonomy of judgement"; "communication skills" and "ability to learn".

Disability and DSA

Students who have registered the disability certification or the DSA certification at the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can ask to use concept maps (for keywords) during the exam.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam session, to the teacher of the course, who will verify their consistency with the indications of the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

participation to common experiences are welcomed, as far as suggestions about issues that you'll consider. important for your life and knowledge