Dr. Brandice Harris

Dr. Brandice Harris is an English-speaking clinical psychologist in Florence. She receives patients in person in Florence and works online with people living elsewhere in Italy and abroad, in English and Italian, with individuals and couples from 16 years old onwards.

Her work starts from creating a space that is safe, respectful and empathetic, and she is specific about when that matters most: when emotions feel overwhelming, or difficult to put into words at all. Not everyone arrives with a tidy account of what is wrong.

She helps people with anxiety, low mood, stress, emotional regulation, self-criticism and relationship difficulties. Her clinical foundation is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and she integrates work on thought patterns, emotional responses and relational dynamics, aiming at both symptom relief and change that lasts past it. She also draws on ACT, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Schema Therapy and metacognitive approaches.

With couples she practises Emotionally Focused Therapy, which is worth naming because it is not generic couples counselling. EFT is a structured, evidence-based method that works on the emotional bond underneath the argument: not who is right about the dishes, but what each person is afraid of when the conversation starts going wrong.

She is also an expert in addiction, and offers parent training.

She has lived in Canada, Scotland and Italy. For a patient building a life in a country that is not their own, that is a therapist who has done it herself rather than one who has read about it.

She describes therapy with her as beginning with a simple step: a conversation that meets you exactly where you are.

You do not have to pick her yourself. At Therapsy every person is matched by a human being, not by an algorithm: our clinical team reads your request, and if Dr. Harris is the right fit for what you are bringing, they will introduce you. The first call is free, and it is there to check that the fit is real before anything begins.

Fewer than 1 in 100 therapists joins the Therapsy team. Dr. Harris was personally vetted by our Clinical Director, Dr. Francesca A. Boccalari, on three non-negotiable criteria: she shares our values, she speaks at least one language beyond Italian, and she has a physical practice in Florence where you can meet in person, not only online.

Brandice Harris does not work alone. She takes part in Therapsy’s internal clinical supervision, a standing group where therapists bring their most demanding cases, train together and ask for help when a situation calls for it. Every therapist in the network, Case Managers included, can turn to our Clinical Director for clinical questions and further training, and Therapsy runs regular professional training with senior therapists and external trainers. Scheduling, invoicing, payments and the rest of the paperwork are handled by Therapsy, so that her time with you stays clinical work and nothing else. On your side, the same platform gives you one place to see your sessions, invoices, payments and documents.

At Therapsy you do not have to pick your therapist from a list: you start by speaking with Dr. Francesca Boccalari, our Clinical Director, who listens to what you are going through and matches you with the therapist she believes is right for you: Brandice Harris, or one of her colleagues. Then you have a free introductory call with that therapist, and only after that do you decide whether to start.

And if the fit turns out not to be right, you are not back at square one. Dr. Boccalari and her team find you another therapist inside Therapsy, at no cost, without you having to tell your story from the beginning. Choosing a therapist while you are struggling, in a language that is not your own, is a lot to ask of a person. That is the part we take on.

Dr. Harris is registered with the Italian Order of Psychologists. She receives in Florence and works online with patients across Italy and abroad.