A Relational Dialogue with Maurizio Andolfi: Master Family Therapist and Social Psychiatrist

Abstract

Maurizio Andolfi, MD, an internationally renowned Master Family Therapist and Social Psychiatrist, was recently awarded an Honorary Fellowship in the World Association of Social Psychiatry for his many contributions to child psychiatry, family psychotherapy, and social psychiatry. This article offers an overview of Dr. Andolfi’s origins, professional training, and career achievements and identifies the key themes and techniques he elaborated throughout his career as a child psychiatrist, family psychotherapist, and social psychiatrist. The heart of this encounter with Dr. Andolfi is based on a comprehensive interview which is presented as a relational dialogue, inspired by his approach to relational psychology and relational therapy. A relational dialogue is an exchange between interlocutors who alternate fluidly in the roles of active listening and speaking to each other respectfully. Dr. Andolfi’s responses to a dozen questions are edited into a narrative with numerous direct quotes, organized by thematic labels in his own words, from what motivated him to become a psychiatrist and family psychotherapist to how he sees the relationship between family work and social psychiatry, and finally, to how he sees the nature of change and transformation in psychotherapy and how he now experiences authenticity with maturity and the voice of experience.