As the topic of my first article of this section, I could only choose one of the peculiarities of my proposal: the possibility to attend therapy sessions not only in Italian. In fact, as also stated on my business card, I offer all my patients, both in Lecco, in Malgrate, and in Calolziocorte, the option to work together in English, Urdu and Punjabi.
Why did I choose these three languages?
As for English, it was obvious: it is a language I have been using in a functional way since the school days. I’ve had the possibility to engage myself in clinical work in English for years, during my experiences as a psycologist at some Reception Centers for migrants in Lecco Province.
These professional experiences, so meaningful for my growth as a psycologist and as an individual, brought me close, with respect and empathy, to the condictions of migrants from South Asia. In fact, Urdu is the official language in Pakistan and it is also spoken in Bangladesh and in India; Punjabi is spoken in Pakistan and India. These were the native languages of so many of the patients I visited in the centers of Lecco, Vercurago, Carenno when I took care of the psychological support to asylum seekers. I have dedicated myself entirely to the destiny of this painful, polyraumatized population, in the vast majority of cases suffering from DPTS Chronic Complex: I have decided that, at the conclusion of my tasks, my commitment would not end.
As time goes by, a lot of guests in the centres regularize their burocratic position and fit harmoniously into our social context: they work, study, make families, vote, pay taxes, partecipate. Paradoxically, once they exit the entry condition, their position regularized, the migrants on the national territory struggle to find useful services to their psychological needs. And even before that, among First Reception Centers and Extraordinary Reception Centers, their possibilities to cure their mental health are really low! So I’ve decided to return to collaborate with the translator and cultural mediator whom I made use of, Hamza Idrees, to ensure a mental health service also to this population segment. It is a possibility at a private level – in the hope that also the public sector can regain attention to these dynamics – and with a controlled price, to meet everyone’s financial means.
One small step, hoping it is useful and meaningful, as well as a further evidence of the strong political and social weight that psychology can exert on the community, which is all in need of listening and care.
