Clinical and health psychology, the new degree course at the Cattolica University

On Saturday 9 May, during the Open Day, the pre-university orientation day dedicated to the educational offer of the Rome campus of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the new Master's Degree Course in Clinical and Health Psychology: from hospital to territory (Polo Universitario Giovanni XXIII - L. go F. Vito, 1) will be presented.

The presentation will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 7 with the participation of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Alessandro Sgambato, and the coordinators of the degree course, Professors Francesco Pagnini, full professor of Clinical Psychology, and Daniela Chieffo, associate professor of General Psychology.

The new inter-faculty degree course between Medicine and Surgery and Psychology - which is concluding its approval process and will start in the next academic year - was created with the aim of training a professional figure with in-depth skills in the assessment, prevention and promotion of well-being, capable of working in clinical, hospital and territorial contexts to support patients, family members, health professionals and caregivers on the basis of a bio-psycho-social model of health and an integral approach to well-being based on a unified vision of the person and specific psychological, emotional and behavioural mechanisms.

The training course combines psychological skills with a medical background that is fundamental for the management of pathologies and critical situations in which psychological treatment is closely integrated with medical treatment. The course integrates cutting-edge methods and technologies that expand the possibilities of traditional diagnostic and intervention protocols: digital therapies, cyberpsychology, tele-rehabilitation, virtual and augmented reality and bio-medical devices such as biofeedback, neurofeedback and neuromodulation, which can be applied in the clinical and neuropsychological field.
Students develop competences, reference models and skills that enable them to carry out assessments, formulate psychological diagnoses and design interventions, both individual and in teams, in the different contexts of public and private healthcare, throughout the entire care pathway, from the acute phase in hospital to the taking charge in the community. The course also pays particular attention to the development of soft skills and patient experience, in order to ensure the effective management of care relationships.

Master's graduates in 'Clinical and health psychology: from the hospital to the territory' can work in various contexts, both public and private, in which specialist training in the field of health and psychological well-being is required: public health companies; accredited private hospital facilities; territorial services for mental health, addictions and rehabilitation; child neuropsychiatry and evolutionary age psychology centres; centres for cognitive disorders and dementia (CDCD), nursing homes (RSA) and hospices; family counselling centres, perinatal services, school and university psychology desks; Third Sector organisations, social cooperatives and NGOs active in the promotion of psychosocial wellbeing.