Dr. Barbara Fiorani

Dr. Barbara Fiorani is an English-speaking clinical psychologist and neuropsychologist in Piacenza, specialised in Ericksonian hypnosis. She receives patients in person in Piacenza and works online with people living elsewhere in Italy and abroad, in English and Italian, with adolescents, young adults, adults and couples.

She earned her honours degree from City, University of London, worked at the Chelsea Psychology Clinic in London, and is a member of the Italian Society of Hypnosis. She is currently completing postgraduate training in Ericksonian therapy. Her experience also covers psychosocial rehabilitation and psychological support for university students.

Hypnosis deserves a plain explanation, because the word carries a lot of nonsense. In the Ericksonian model it is not a loss of control and nothing is done to you: it is a natural, focused state of awareness, the same one you are in while absorbed in a film, driving a familiar route, or halfway through a long run. What it does is make your own resources easier to reach, and new responses to a difficulty easier to find.

The approach is flexible and client-centred by design: it adapts to the individual rather than applying a fixed protocol, and it works with what a person already has rather than with what they lack.

She works with anxiety, depression, phobias, mood and psychosomatic disorders, chronic pain, insomnia, self-esteem, emotional dependency, and relational and sexual concerns. She also works on performance, including sport and preparing for exams or other high-pressure situations.

She describes psychological support not only as a response to distress but as a chance to reconnect with yourself and navigate what comes next with more clarity. Central to her work is that therapy should be a space for reflection and safety before it is anything else.

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. Fiorani 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. Fiorani 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 Piacenza where you can meet in person, not only online.

Barbara Fiorani 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: Barbara Fiorani, 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. Fiorani is registered with the Italian Order of Psychologists. She receives in Piacenza and works online with patients across Italy and abroad.