Innovation in Psychotherapy Efficacy Research Lab
Key words:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychotherapeutic processes, Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), Evidence-based procedures, Therapeutic protocols, Italian clinical context, Innovation, Effectiveness, GRETA, Professional development.
Director:
Collaborations:
Stefano De Francesco, PhD student
Alessandro Ocera, PhD student
Research area and primary aims:
The IPER Lab focuses on developing research projects to deepen the understanding of psychotherapeutic processes within the theoretical framework of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The laboratory seeks to implement best practices and procedures defined by the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service of the English National Health Service within the context of private psychotherapeutic practice in Italy.
The mission of the Research Lab is to deepen the understanding of psychotherapeutic processes, promoting excellence in the practice of CBT through the implementation of evidence-based procedures and the use of advanced technologies. The laboratory aims to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of psychotherapy services by adapting internationally validated therapeutic protocols to the Italian clinical context and developing new tools to support therapists and patients. Our core values include innovation, scientific evidence, effectiveness, and efficiency. Another goal involves integrating the best practices of the UK’s National Health Service’s IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) program into the Italian context, using technological platforms like GRETA for therapy monitoring and data collection. Through training and methodological supervision, we support the professional development of therapists, researchers, and students, to enhance the overall quality of psychotherapeutic services offered.
The research activities
- Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy: Based on evidence-based clinical approaches, the laboratory adapts therapeutic intervention protocols for developmental age and adulthood.
- Quality Monitoring: development of tools and models to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of psychotherapy services, through data collection at both individual and aggregate levels via the GRETA platform https://greta.digital/.
- Developing new evidence-based tools: designing and implementing new evidence-based tools to support both the therapist and the patient, improving therapy outcomes and processes.
- Implementation of IAPT procedures: adaptation and implementation of evidence-based guidelines developed by the IAPT service to the context of private psychotherapeutic practice in Italy.
- Use of technology: the laboratory leverages the support of new technologies and telemedicine (such as the GRETA platform) for remote data collection and AI-based models, such as machine learning, to obtain predictions on therapy outcomes.
The main objectives
- Implementing procedures defined by the IAPT service within the network of Italian Psychotherapy Clinics (CIP) and InTherapy, belonging to the Gruppo Studi Cognitivi S.r.l.,
- Developing predictive models on the effectiveness of psychotherapy and quality monitoring tools, through data collected via the GRETA platform.
- Implementing new evidence-based protocols based on interpreting data collected in aggregated form on GRETA.
- Using the evidence collected regarding the effectiveness and efficiency of the therapeutic protocol to develop new models for therapist supervision, thus improving the overall quality of services offered.
- Providing methodological supervision to therapists, doctoral students, research collaborators, psychology students, and psychotherapy trainees who wish to initiate and conduct research projects using the data available on the GRETA platform.
Contacts:
Gabriele Caselli
e-mail: g.caselli@milano-sfu.it
phone: +39 02 83241854
