Alberto Stefana
Biographic Data
| ID | 3592161 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alberto Stefana |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alberto |
| FAMILY NAME | Stefana |
| SIGNATURE | STEFANA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Brescia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4807-7184 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
How recent psychological distress relates to session quality in psychotherapy
The Mini Version of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form (Mini-LPFS)
This study developed and validated a mini (4-item) version of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale–Brief Form 2.0 (LPFS–BF 2.0) to assess personality functioning as defined in the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders. Two samples were used: a U.S. clinical sample (N = 700) and a Dutch mixed clinical sample (N = 298). In the U.S. sample, participants completed the LPFS–BF 2.0, the Big Five Inventory–2-Extra-Short Form, and sever…
The common ground in in-person and telehealth psychoanalysis
Teletherapy – the practice of psychotherapy conducted remotely by telephone or video conferencing – is nowadays widely practiced, also by psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists. However, it is controversial whether it can constitute authentic psychoanalysis or represents a dilution of it, if not something entirely different. Focusing on five elements that jointly determine the essence of psychoanalytic technique (i.e., transference an…
Carl Gustav Jung’s pioneering contributions to the humanization of psychiatry
Probing the impact of psychoanalytic therapy for bipolar disorders
No systematic review has been conducted to provide an overview of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis for treatment outcomes in bipolar depression and mania. The present study undertakes a scoping review of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis for bipolar disorder (BD), provides a summary of the evidence base, and identifies issues for future research in this area. A thorough search of journal articles in MEDLINE, PEP-Web, PsycINFO, Scopus, and th…
The Brief Version of the Mentalization Scale (MentS-12)
Recognizing the need for a concise self-report measure of mentalizing capacity, we developed a 12-item iteration of the well-established Mentalization Scale (MentS). Using college student and community samples of Serbian adults (N = 566), we performed a precise selection of items and then examined the psychometric attributes of the shortened scale (MentS-12). The new scale maintains the original three-dimensional structure: self-related mentaliza…
Assessing the patient’s affective perception of their psychotherapist
The SPARQ proves to be a valuable instrument in clinical, training, and research contexts, adept at capturing patients' session-level affective responses towards their therapist and perceptions of the therapeutic alliance. Comprehensive descriptive statistics and a range of score precision indices have been reported, intended to serve as benchmarks for future research
Making the Best in a Bad Job
Ill children/adolescents who suffer from severe organic diseases have to cope with their inner experiences, therapies, and the global burden of the disease. Although sometimes depression, anger, and death anxiety are openly encountered in medical settings, other times they can be partially hidden by a reactive and defensive path. In these scenarios, psychoanalysis is challenged to contribute the best comprehension of the intimate communication, m…
Clinicians’ Emotional Reactions toward Patients with Depressive Symptoms in Mood Disorders
The purpose of this article is to narratively review the empirical literature on clinicians' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses (i.e., countertransference) to depressive and other symptoms of patients with mood disorders. Therapist subjective responses (countertransference) can negatively affect both diagnostic and therapeutic processes, especially when they are not recognized and managed promptly. However, at the same time, countertr…
Preterm infant contingent communication in the neonatal intensive care unit with mothers versus fathers
Very few studies have assessed infant capacity for bidirectional, contingent communication at birth, and to our knowledge there are none with preterm infants in the neonatal period. Presence versus absence of such interactive contingency makes a difference for our theories of development. We examined whether preterm infants can contingently coordinate behaviors with mothers and fathers in spontaneous communication in the Neonatal Intensive Care U…
Grace Pailthorpe's Writings on Psychoanalysis and Surrealism
Estimating the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Maternal and Perinatal Health Care Services in Italy
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is strongly changing the way most people live their lives, and disrupting specialist healthcare systems. Such public health disruptions have resulted in significant collateral damage with particular implications for vulnerable populations, including the perinatal population. This Study aims to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian maternal and perinatal health care services. A que…
Where is psychoanalysis today? Sixty-two psychoanalysts share their subjective perspectives on the state of the art of psychoanalysis
Today it is still necessary and useful to deal with the empirical foundations and cultural dimensions of a discipline such as psychoanalysis that has played a vital role in shaping the contemporary world, on both sociocultural and clinical levels. This study aimed to describe and summarize the perspectives of experienced psychoanalysts on important aspects of psychoanalysis today. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 62 psychoanalysts. T…
Prevalence of Maternal Postnatal Anxiety and Its Association With Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors
Anxiety is a common perinatal disorder that can cause severe adverse consequences. This study (a) assesses the prevalence of maternal postnatal anxious symptomatology, and (b) analyses its association with demographic and socioeconomic variables as well as obstetric and other psychosocial variables. The assessment included 307 mothers aged ≥18 years with a biological baby aged ≤ 52 weeks and from seven Italian healthcare centres, evaluated using …
Psychological Distress in Healthcare Workers between the First and Second Covid-19 Waves
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) since its outbreak, but little attention has been paid to person-level vulnerability and protective factors. This study aims to determine the prevalence of both general and pandemic-related psychological distress among HCWs between the first and second COVID-19 waves in Italy and analyze associations between psychological distress and personality traits, attachment …
Mental Health States Experienced by Perinatal Healthcare Workers during Covid-19 Pandemic in Italy
High rates of self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as perceived stress, among PHPs were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities should implement and integrate timely and regular evidence-based assessment of psychological distress targeting PHPs in their work plans
Racker and Heimann on Countertransference
Both Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein recognized the existence of countertransference but distrusted its clinical use. This idea was the one that prevailed until the late 1940s, when Heinrich Racker in Buenos Aires and Paula Heimann in London played decisive roles in reinstating countertransference. More specifically, both Racker (in 1948) and Heimann (in 1949), independently of and without contact with each other, claimed the importance of counte…
Revisiting Marion Milner’s work on creativity and art
This article outlines the thinking of the English psychoanalyst and painter Marion Milner (1900-1998) and examines the issues of creativity and art, showing how her theory was influenced by the artistic and psychoanalytic milieu in which she was immersed. Milner, as a result of personal research on the inability to paint, came to believe that the creative artistic process, intended as the creation of new symbols that attribute a personal and subj…
From Die Traumdeutung to The Squiggle Game
From the “squiggle game” to “games of reciprocity” towards a creative co-construction of a space for working with adolescents
The "squiggle game" is, above all, a method for relating and encouraging mutual exchange between the analyst and the patient (no matter if child, adolescent, or adult), enabling him to experience holding and freely explore different communication possibilities. After having explored the "technique" as it has been developed by Winnicott, this study also exposes some theoretical considerations, and some variations in the basic technique, brought to…
Revisiting Marion Milner’s work on creativity and art
This article outlines the thinking of the English psychoanalyst and painter Marion Milner (1900-1998) and examines the issues of creativity and art, showing how her theory was influenced by the artistic and psychoanalytic milieu in which she was immersed. Milner, as a result of personal research on the inability to paint, came to believe that the creative artistic process, intended as the creation of new symbols that attribute a personal and subj…
From the “squiggle game” to “games of reciprocity” towards a creative co-construction of a space for working with adolescents
The "squiggle game" is, above all, a method for relating and encouraging mutual exchange between the analyst and the patient (no matter if child, adolescent, or adult), enabling him to experience holding and freely explore different communication possibilities. After having explored the "technique" as it has been developed by Winnicott, this study also exposes some theoretical considerations, and some variations in the basic technique, brought to…
Preterm infant contingent communication in the neonatal intensive care unit with mothers versus fathers
Very few studies have assessed infant capacity for bidirectional, contingent communication at birth, and to our knowledge there are none with preterm infants in the neonatal period. Presence versus absence of such interactive contingency makes a difference for our theories of development. We examined whether preterm infants can contingently coordinate behaviors with mothers and fathers in spontaneous communication in the Neonatal Intensive Care U…
From Die Traumdeutung to The Squiggle Game
From the “squiggle game” to “games of reciprocity” towards a creative co-construction of a space for working with adolescents
The "squiggle game" is, above all, a method for relating and encouraging mutual exchange between the analyst and the patient (no matter if child, adolescent, or adult), enabling him to experience holding and freely explore different communication possibilities. After having explored the "technique" as it has been developed by Winnicott, this study also exposes some theoretical considerations, and some variations in the basic technique, brought to…
Revisiting Marion Milner’s work on creativity and art
This article outlines the thinking of the English psychoanalyst and painter Marion Milner (1900-1998) and examines the issues of creativity and art, showing how her theory was influenced by the artistic and psychoanalytic milieu in which she was immersed. Milner, as a result of personal research on the inability to paint, came to believe that the creative artistic process, intended as the creation of new symbols that attribute a personal and subj…
Estimating the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Maternal and Perinatal Health Care Services in Italy
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is strongly changing the way most people live their lives, and disrupting specialist healthcare systems. Such public health disruptions have resulted in significant collateral damage with particular implications for vulnerable populations, including the perinatal population. This Study aims to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian maternal and perinatal health care services. A que…
Where is psychoanalysis today? Sixty-two psychoanalysts share their subjective perspectives on the state of the art of psychoanalysis
Today it is still necessary and useful to deal with the empirical foundations and cultural dimensions of a discipline such as psychoanalysis that has played a vital role in shaping the contemporary world, on both sociocultural and clinical levels. This study aimed to describe and summarize the perspectives of experienced psychoanalysts on important aspects of psychoanalysis today. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 62 psychoanalysts. T…
Prevalence of Maternal Postnatal Anxiety and Its Association With Demographic and Socioeconomic Factors
Anxiety is a common perinatal disorder that can cause severe adverse consequences. This study (a) assesses the prevalence of maternal postnatal anxious symptomatology, and (b) analyses its association with demographic and socioeconomic variables as well as obstetric and other psychosocial variables. The assessment included 307 mothers aged ≥18 years with a biological baby aged ≤ 52 weeks and from seven Italian healthcare centres, evaluated using …
Psychological Distress in Healthcare Workers between the First and Second Covid-19 Waves
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) since its outbreak, but little attention has been paid to person-level vulnerability and protective factors. This study aims to determine the prevalence of both general and pandemic-related psychological distress among HCWs between the first and second COVID-19 waves in Italy and analyze associations between psychological distress and personality traits, attachment …
Mental Health States Experienced by Perinatal Healthcare Workers during Covid-19 Pandemic in Italy
High rates of self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as perceived stress, among PHPs were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities should implement and integrate timely and regular evidence-based assessment of psychological distress targeting PHPs in their work plans
Racker and Heimann on Countertransference
Both Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein recognized the existence of countertransference but distrusted its clinical use. This idea was the one that prevailed until the late 1940s, when Heinrich Racker in Buenos Aires and Paula Heimann in London played decisive roles in reinstating countertransference. More specifically, both Racker (in 1948) and Heimann (in 1949), independently of and without contact with each other, claimed the importance of counte…
Clinicians’ Emotional Reactions toward Patients with Depressive Symptoms in Mood Disorders
The purpose of this article is to narratively review the empirical literature on clinicians' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses (i.e., countertransference) to depressive and other symptoms of patients with mood disorders. Therapist subjective responses (countertransference) can negatively affect both diagnostic and therapeutic processes, especially when they are not recognized and managed promptly. However, at the same time, countertr…
Preterm infant contingent communication in the neonatal intensive care unit with mothers versus fathers
Very few studies have assessed infant capacity for bidirectional, contingent communication at birth, and to our knowledge there are none with preterm infants in the neonatal period. Presence versus absence of such interactive contingency makes a difference for our theories of development. We examined whether preterm infants can contingently coordinate behaviors with mothers and fathers in spontaneous communication in the Neonatal Intensive Care U…
Grace Pailthorpe's Writings on Psychoanalysis and Surrealism
Making the Best in a Bad Job
Ill children/adolescents who suffer from severe organic diseases have to cope with their inner experiences, therapies, and the global burden of the disease. Although sometimes depression, anger, and death anxiety are openly encountered in medical settings, other times they can be partially hidden by a reactive and defensive path. In these scenarios, psychoanalysis is challenged to contribute the best comprehension of the intimate communication, m…
Probing the impact of psychoanalytic therapy for bipolar disorders
No systematic review has been conducted to provide an overview of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis for treatment outcomes in bipolar depression and mania. The present study undertakes a scoping review of the effectiveness of psychoanalysis for bipolar disorder (BD), provides a summary of the evidence base, and identifies issues for future research in this area. A thorough search of journal articles in MEDLINE, PEP-Web, PsycINFO, Scopus, and th…
The Brief Version of the Mentalization Scale (MentS-12)
Recognizing the need for a concise self-report measure of mentalizing capacity, we developed a 12-item iteration of the well-established Mentalization Scale (MentS). Using college student and community samples of Serbian adults (N = 566), we performed a precise selection of items and then examined the psychometric attributes of the shortened scale (MentS-12). The new scale maintains the original three-dimensional structure: self-related mentaliza…
Assessing the patient’s affective perception of their psychotherapist
The SPARQ proves to be a valuable instrument in clinical, training, and research contexts, adept at capturing patients' session-level affective responses towards their therapist and perceptions of the therapeutic alliance. Comprehensive descriptive statistics and a range of score precision indices have been reported, intended to serve as benchmarks for future research
The common ground in in-person and telehealth psychoanalysis
Teletherapy – the practice of psychotherapy conducted remotely by telephone or video conferencing – is nowadays widely practiced, also by psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic psychotherapists. However, it is controversial whether it can constitute authentic psychoanalysis or represents a dilution of it, if not something entirely different. Focusing on five elements that jointly determine the essence of psychoanalytic technique (i.e., transference an…
Carl Gustav Jung’s pioneering contributions to the humanization of psychiatry
How recent psychological distress relates to session quality in psychotherapy
The Mini Version of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale-Brief Form (Mini-LPFS)
This study developed and validated a mini (4-item) version of the Level of Personality Functioning Scale–Brief Form 2.0 (LPFS–BF 2.0) to assess personality functioning as defined in the DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders. Two samples were used: a U.S. clinical sample (N = 700) and a Dutch mixed clinical sample (N = 298). In the U.S. sample, participants completed the LPFS–BF 2.0, the Big Five Inventory–2-Extra-Short Form, and sever…
Psychology (13 works) · Psychotherapist (9 works) · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications (9 works) · Psychiatry (7 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Clinical Psychology (6 works) · Psychoanalysis (6 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Psychoanalytic theory (5 works) · Clinical Psychology (4 works)