Dr. Stéphane Courtois

Dr. Stéphane Courtois is a native French-speaking psychologist and psychotherapist based in Rimini, with over 25 years of practice. She receives patients in person in Rimini and works online with people living elsewhere in Italy and abroad, in French, English and Italian, with children, adolescents and adults.

French is her first language, not a second one learned for work. For a French speaker in Italy that is the difference between describing your inner life accurately and approximating it, and it is not easy to find here.

She holds certifications from both the Italian and the French professional boards, so her qualifications are recognised on both sides of the border. She graduated in Clinical Psychology from the University of Nanterre in 1998 and later specialised in Systemic-Relational Psychotherapy in Italy.

Systemic-relational work reads a difficulty inside the web of relationships it grows in. It is the reason her practice spans so many family configurations: she works with single-parent families, same-sex parents, adoption and children who are being adopted or already have been. These are situations where a family often has to explain itself before it can be helped, and where a therapist who already understands the structure saves a great deal.

She works across a broad range: depression, eating disorders, addictions including emotional dependency, work-related stress and corporate welfare situations, and LGBTQ+ and gender-related concerns. She also practises brief therapy where that is what a situation calls for, rather than treating length as a measure of seriousness.

Her stated aim is straightforward: to help people reduce suffering and navigate, or where possible overcome, what they are facing. She builds a safe and trusting space and is committed to keeping her practice current after twenty-five years, which is not a given.

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. Courtois 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. Courtois 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 Rimini where you can meet in person, not only online.

Stéphane Courtois 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: Stéphane Courtois, 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. Courtois is registered with the Italian Order of Psychologists and with the French professional board. She receives in Rimini and works online with patients across Italy and abroad.