Dr. Matilde Gargani

Dr. Matilde Gargani 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. She works with young adults and adults, and has particular experience with the expatriate community in Florence.

She graduated with honours in Clinical Psychology from the University of Florence and is completing her postgraduate training in psychotherapy. Her clinical experience covers both private practice and services affiliated with the public healthcare system.

Psychodiagnostic assessment is the centre of her work, and it is worth explaining what that means, because it is not the same as therapy. Through clinical interviews and evidence-based instruments she evaluates emotional, cognitive, attentional and personality functioning: the aim is to produce an accurate picture of how a particular mind actually works, which then guides what kind of help makes sense.

She has specific experience in adult neurodivergence. She provides ADHD assessments and collaborates with specialised centres for Autism Spectrum evaluations. A large number of adults reach that question late, after years of being told they were careless, or too sensitive, or not applying themselves. Her work with neurodivergent adults is about understanding how their functioning actually works and recognising their strengths, not about listing what they fail to do.

Alongside assessment she works therapeutically with people going through life transitions and periods of distress. Her approach is Integrated Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: understanding how past experience, emotions and relational patterns feed into a present difficulty, while also working on practical ways to handle what is in front of you now. The two halves are meant to hold together, insight on one side and something usable on the other.

She works with Italian and international patients, and has particular experience in multicultural settings. Her own familiarity with English culture is not academic: her father and grandfather lived in England.

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. Gargani 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. Gargani 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.

Matilde Gargani 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: Matilde Gargani, 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. Gargani is registered with the Italian Order of Psychologists. She receives in Florence and works online with patients across Italy and abroad.

Further reading from Therapsy: how an adult ADHD assessment works, autism in women, and why it is missed.