I am an English-speaking art therapist in Bologna. I was born in London in 1977 and moved to Bologna in 2000. I trained as an artist at Winchester School of Art (BA/Hons Fine Art, University of Southampton, 1995-1999) and later studied an MA in Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art (University of the Arts London, 2010-11). Thanks to these studies, I realised that my passion lay in using my artistic sensibility to help people improve the quality of their lives. I returned to Bologna in 2011 and undertook the four-year training course to become an art therapist at Art Therapy Italiana. I am registered in the UK with the Health Care Professions Council as 'Art Psychotherapist' (no. AS 16144) and in Italy, I am a registered Psychologist (no. 10963) after having gained an MSG in Psychology (2022) and completed the state exam (2023).

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I practice privately as an art therapist in my studio in the Savena district of Bologna, where I offer individual therapy in English or Italian for adults, adolescents and children, therapy for couples and group therapy. I also offer online sessions for those who live far from the studio. I specialize in the renegotiation of traumatic experiences thanks to my training in sensorimotor art therapy and somatic experiencing. I integrate these different techniques to create a form of somatic art therapy. Currently, I am working freelance with the Casa delle Donne (Women's Refuge Centre) in Bologna, thanks to funding from Rotary Quartiere Savena and the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna and Ravenna.

 

I have published several articles and books that you can find on this page.

 

For several years I co-led an art therapy group at the women's section of the "Rocca d'Amato" prison in Bologna, together with the art therapist Tiziana Massa. Our work was kindly funded by the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna and Ravenna.

 

I worked as a child art therapist at the International School of Bologna where I led art therapy groups.

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I carried out several years of internship at the Child and Adult mental health centers at San Lazzaro and several of my service users are followed by doctors and/or psychologists at these facilities.

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I was a member of the Coordinamento Clinico sul Adozione e Affido of Art Therapy Italiana for many years and I have a particular interest in research in the field of art therapy with adopted children and foster kids.

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I love working with children and adults of all different ages because every period of life brings different challenges. My youngest clients were 18 months old ... and my oldest... well, that would be telling ;-) !

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I strongly believe in the effectiveness of somatic and sensorimotor art therapy, especially in the field of children with traumatic experiences. To this day, I believe that they do not have the recognition in Italy that I believe they deserve, and as such remain a 'luxury' for those with the economic resources to afford it. If you want to help by donating an art therapy course for a woman who has suffered violence but is unable to pay for her own therapy, write to me for more information on the project. I hold up to two free pro-bono sessions a week for women or children in this situation but the number of people who need them is greater. Thank you :-)