TAGES FOR FOREIGNERS
TAGES FOR FOREIGNERS is a group of mental health professionals dedicated to English-speaking clients. This group is part of Tages Onlus, a charitable organization founded in 2014 by bringing together different professionals with competencies in health care, psychology, social interventions and education. Tages Onlus is part of European networks (Mental Health Europe; Europa Donna Breast Cancer Coalition; European Migration Forum) and collaborates with different national and international institutes. “Tages for foreigners” is formed by a multidisciplinary team offering evidenced-based interventions tailored on client’s requests and needs. All the staff members share a common scientific background focused on recent advances of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), with a specific focus on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and so forth.
“Although several mental health professionals are available, Tages for Foreigners is the only multidisciplinary team in Florence.”
- Individual psychotherapy is a form of therapy in which the client is treated on a one-on-one basis with a therapist using different approaches (CBT, Compassion Focus Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and commitment therapy). Clients access a preliminary assessment so as to define a treatment plan that is consistent with their presenting problems and resources. Our aim is to integrate evidence-based practices with a careful attention to the personal experience. Our therapists have specific experiences in different areas and thanks to the initial assessment we can identify the most suitable intervention for each client.
- Couple therapy is a form of psychotherapy that can help you and your partner improve your relationship. If you are having relationship difficulties, you can seek couples therapy to help rebuild your relationship. We offer cognitive-behavioral couple therapy, as a form of therapy that involves identifying and changing communication and relational patterns that negatively influence partners’ shared experience.
- Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves one or more therapists working with several people at the same time. We offer two forms of group interventions: Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCT) and Compassion Mind Training (CMT). The former is an evidence-based intervention for reducing worry and rumination in dealing with distress through mindfulness meditation, the latter is a recently developed intervention for reduding self-criticism and promoting self-compassion.
- Psychiatric assessment: we have expertise in the treatment of various mental health conditions as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, traumatic disorders, ADHD and personality disorders. The patient’s interests and expectations are always valued and discussed during follow up sessions. Moreover, single consultations on current medications or diagnosis might be a useful way to get a second opinion on your mental health status.
- Medications management: Starting from a first consultation, when the best treatment is explained thoroughly in terms of efficacy, goals and side effects, we keep in contact with the patient to adjust the initial dosage and to address any serious side effect. Moreover, single consultations on current medications or diagnosis might be a useful way to get a second opinion on your mental health status. Finally, it’s very important for clients to pay attention on current availability of medications in Italy (e.g. ADHD medications).
- Psychodiagnostic and psychiatric reports for private insurances: visiting clients in need of a medical report to get reimbursed. Every intervention recommended is tailored to each patient’s needs and issues.
- Forensic assessment: assessment of psychiatric/psychological damages, fitness to stand trial assessment, evaluations for civil or criminal courts for English speaking clients.
- Parenting: Individual support for parents targets those who are concerned about the wellbeing, social and emotional development of their child or teenager as well as parents of a child or teenager with mild or moderate behavioral, emotional or relational difficulties.
- Mindful parenting: mindful parenting training program aims to reduce parenting stress and to improve the parent-child relationship by paying a new way of attention to all experiences involved in parenting. An 8 weeks program, deliverable in an individual or a group setting.
- Yoga for wellbeing: Yoga is used in the clinical setting to help people to relieve stress, manage anxiety or depressive symptoms associated with difficult life situations and to increase the quality of sleep. The yoga practices are open to anyone who wants to slow down and get in contact with their body and their emotions in an accepting way.
We are currently involved in three main projects:
- Living Healthy Living Abroad: In recent times, many professional people have travelled abroad to work or study. Expatriates and immigrant workers experience huge cultural differences between their home countries and host countries. They have to greatly change their lifestyle when adjusting to new countries; consequently, many stressful social adjustment problems occur. Many studies suggest that migrants have less professional support, decreased well-being and experience more mental ill-health compared to native workers. Psychological stress can lead to adjustment disorders, which results in anxious and depressive symptoms and premature return intention. In 2019 we started a new project up with the aim of supporting foreign workers to elucidate the psychological symptoms and stress factors that affect them when working abroad, and so of alleviating them with tailored interventions.
- Personality-Guided Therapy for Gifted Students: Every semester between 3,000 and 5,000 American college students come to study abroad in Florence. Moreover, there are many renewed international PhD programs in the Florence metropolitan area (eg. European University Institute; Scuola Normale Superiore). Those who are reporting high level of IQ or, more broadly, high performance may be defined as gifted students. Such a giftedness may cause difficulties in adjusting to personal, family and social demands. Living in challenging educational environment such as hyperselctive programs may represent a significant stressor. Dimensions such as perfectionism, self-criticism, and overcontrol are recurrently reinforced by the society, albeit they are sources of psychological suffering. In 2019 we started a new project aimed at testing a specifically designed intervention for gifted students. Such an intervention yearns for reducing the students’ distress and supporting them in developing new adaptive strategies.
- Mediterrean Bridges and Drifts: The European Union has defined the recent migrant crisis as the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Access to and equality of healthcare is increasingly becoming a core and dramatic issue in European policy. There is a need for improved data on cancer epidemiology among the migrants and for targeted healthcare resources allocation. We face a progressive increase in growth of a sub-population highly at risk for inequalities in cancer care. Socio-economic data urge European countries to implement an interdisciplinary and cross-national approach to cancer care. In 2016 we started a project together with the the Central Tuscany Department of Oncology and the Middle East Cancer Consortium. The aim was and is twofold: to promote the access of migrants and refugees to cancer care screening together, to reduce the psychological burden of asylum seekers due to post-traumatic experiences.
We report below all the scientific publications referring to Tages for Foreigners projects. If you are interested in our broad scientific activity visit our Publication page.
Cheli, S., & Cavalletti, V. . (2021). The paradox of overcontrol, perfectionism and self-criticism: A cases series on gifted students. Quaderni Di Psicoterapia Cognitiva – Open Access, (48). https://doi.org/10.3280/qpc48-2021oa1214. Download
Cheli, S, Cavalletti, V, Flett, G, Hewitt, PH (2021). Mindful compassion for perfectionism in personality disorders: A pilot acceptability and feasibility study. Applied Psychology Bulletin, 287: 55-65; DOI: 10.26387/bpa.287.5. Download.
Matos M, McEwan K, Kanovský M, Halamová J, Steindl SR, Ferreira N, Linharelhos M, Rijo D, Asano K, Gregório S, Márquez MG, Vilas SP, Brito-Pons G, Lucena-Santos P, Oliveira MDS, de Souza EL, Llobenes L, Gumiy N, Costa MI, Habib N, Hakem R, Khrad H, Alzahrani A, Cheli S, Petrocchi N, Tholouli E, Issari P, Simos G, Lunding-Gregersen V, Elklit A, Kolts R, Kelly AC, Bortolon C, Delamillieure P, Paucsik M, Wahl JE, Zieba M, Zatorski M, Komendziński T, Zhang S, Basran J, Kagialis A, Kirby J, Gilbert P. (2021). Fears of compassion magnify the harmful effects of threat of COVID-19 on mental health and social safeness across 21 countries. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 10.1002/cpp.2601. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2601. Download.
Cheli, S., Soldevilla-Alberti, J.M., Velicogna F. (2019). A Constructivist Glimpse of a (not Necessarily Constructivist) Therapy for Foreigners and Migrants. Rivista Italiana di Costruttivismo, 7(2):19-26.
Cheli, S. (2018) Changing Everything and Changing Nothing. A Process-Based Approach in Managing Complex Cultural Settings. Psicobiettivo, XXXIX(2):21-34., DOI:10.3280/PSOB2018-002002
Silbermann, M. Baider, L., Respini,D., Tralongo, P. Daher, M., Obeidat, Gafer, N. Abdul, S. Fadhil, R. Rassouli, M. Cheli, S. Eniu (2018). An Urgent Human Health Dilemma Facing Refugees and their Host Caregivers?. JOURNAL OF HUMAN HEALTH RESEARCH DOI:10.14302/issn
Silbermann, M. Baider, L., Respini,D., Tralongo, P. Daher, M., Obeidat, Gafer, N. Abdul, S. Fadhil, R. Rassouli, M. Cheli, S. Eniu, Balducci, L. (2018). Palliative Care is a Useful Means to Overcome Intercultural Barriers Faced by Refugees in their New Host Countries. Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine. DOI:10.4172/2165-7386.1000334
Cheli, S (2017). Trauma Entaglement in Migrant Crisis. Tentative Tips to Face the EU Cartesian Anxiety. European Society for Trauma and Dissociation Newsletter 6(3).
Cheli, S., Baider, L. Goldzweig, G., Adritzsch, E., Geny, F. (2016). Mediterrean bridges and drifts. The European migrant crisis and the role of psycho-oncology. Psycho-oncology. DOI 10.1002/pon.4272
Cheli, S., Caligiani, L., Nembrini, M., Fioretto, L. (2016). Cancer Care in the Length of the European Migrant Crisis. Rationale and Feasibility of a Participatory Action Research. Psycho-oncology. doi: 10.1002/pon.4229
