Giovanna Lodola
Psychologist, Psychotherapist, EMDR Practitioner
Therapy is finding a safe place where you can explore, without judgement, the meaning of your experience, process any past trauma and enhance your resources.
When I chose a major in Clinical Psychology, I had many questions that I thought this study path could answer. The subjects I read about during my university years were fascinating: I studied about the brain, learned what drives human behavior, understood what leads to psychopathology and much more.
But all this information wasn’t enough. A degree in psychology is only the first step to eventually become a therapist. It is indeed a process that takes time and personal growth.
My first experiences on the field happened during my internship, right after obtaining my degree in Clinical Psychology from Universita’ Bicocca in Milano.
At CPBA (a clinic for children and adolescents) I was lucky enough to meet a group of senior professionals who used more than just testing and play therapy to treat their young clients. I was fully immersed in a program of group therapy using a number of expressive techniques including psychodrama, art, movement and other active methods. Here I learned how valuable each tool can be when working with the littles and teens.
Enriched from this experience, I wanted to learn more and I decided to join a post-grad school to become a cognitive psychotherapist. I completed a four-years program in Como at Centro Terapia Cognitiva, based on the importance of attachment style as the foundation of human beings. I later completed a specific training, at the same school, to work with couples.
In the meantime, I started working part-time at the American School of Milan where I am currently a classroom assistant on the elementary side. Through the experience with such a diverse cultural community and having lived abroad myself (United States and Australia), I am constantly challenged to understand the implications of culture in human psychology.
More hours of internship were a must for students to obtain their title of psychotherapist, so I completed my training working with different clinical realities, including a psychiatric inpatients clinic.
I later felt the need to supplement my tools to treat conditions that attachment issues can cause and eventually lead to complex trauma.
I started training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), learning how to treat PTSD and other disturbing memories to help my clients leave their past in the past. I kept engaging in professional development sessions to become an EMDR PRACTITIONER and now, with this powerful treatment, I can also work with clients with dissociation of personality and other symptoms caused by traumatic experiences.
During my sessions with clients, I like to merge all my knowledge and experience to customize therapy for each individual, working towards increasing awareness, processing any type of trauma and finding resources to enhance a state of well-being.