Psychoeducational pathways for intellectual disability and atypical development
- INDIVIDUAL PATHWAYS
Psychoeducation in emotions, body, affectivity and sexuality
LoveLife’s individual pathways are aimed at people with intellectual disability and atypical development who manifest problems related to psychosexual development. Our therapeutic intervention uses clinically field-tested theoretical and practical models, which have enabled us to define a flexible protocol using effective techniques and tools that can be adapted to different situations.
We consider it essential to know who we are dealing with, their personal history, their strengths and weaknesses, their network of significant relationships, and what is needed to create an ad hoc design that enhances each specific situation, not only of the patient but also of the family.
At the end of the psychoeducational pathway, a written report is issued, with within it the history of the intervention carried out, the progress recorded, the results obtained, and the potential areas to go further to work on. Such a restitution is not only useful for the family, but also for the entire context of care and education that revolves around the user.
Typically, families come to us about problem-problem (maladaptive) behaviors of their daughters and sons, such as hypersexualized attitudes (undressing in public, touching other people in intimate areas, etc.) or overly reactive (such as having angry outbursts in front of a denied hug, etc.).
Other families have found it advisable to prevent possible discomfort in prepubescent daughters, through a course on knowledge of ongoing body changes and preparation for menarche and the menstrual cycle; or to make their children aware about unconscious erection and pollutions, with a specific course that teaches proper masturbation procedure, without incurring problematic and maladaptive behavior.
- RESIDENTIAL EXPERIENCES FOR GROUPS
Retreats for intensive individual and social learning
Loving Summer Camp
To summarize, it is a vacation full of moments of sharing and socialization, but above all of protected psychoeducational space that allow learning on different levels and in the most effective way: that of play and involvement.
Loving Summer Camp aims to provide a shared space that empowers girls and boys with intellectual disabilities and atypical development to engage in an experience of emotional and sentimental growth, increased autonomy in peer groups, facilitated and motivated by professionals in 1:1 rate.We do not possess a fixed agenda for the various editions of Loving Summer Camp, as an intervention such as ours, in order for it to be truly effective, must calibrate itself to the actual needs and interests of the group of participants and their families. But here is an indicative schedule:
• Day 1: Opening by virtue of getting to know each other and establishing rules, spaces and times for interaction and sharing.
• Day 2: We devote ourselves to proper knowledge of one’s body and how to interact with public and private parts in the appropriate context and manner (self, couple, family, friends, caregivers, acquaintances, strangers).
• Day 3: Activities arrive on requesting and expressing consent for physical contact (hugging) and how to reject and protect oneself from unwanted, unwanted and intrusive contact.
• Day 4: We work on emotions and how to express them sincerely and correctly with respect to the sphere of affection, small excursion.
• Day 5: we focus on artistic expression of one’s beauty and gratitude, involving those participants who like to paint as peer teachers.
• Day 6: focus on creating dissemination materials of learned good practices, such as producing mini-tutorials or short films, involving those participants with multimedia and videomaking talents; preparing final performance.
• Day 7: Self-assessment of one’s learning journey and evaluation of the campus, with a final exchange of thanks, affection and gratitude; followed by a show for parents, caregivers and other guests of the facility in which the products of our workshops are shown and explained.
- EXPERIENCES FOR FAMILIES
Workshops and retreats for parents and kids
The psychoeducational alliance, for any effective intervention with a daughter or son, cannot but involve the whole family, especially the parents, who should not only be simply informed of what we are doing, but should be fully involved, not exclusively for activities concerning their kids, but with pathways directed to parenting itself. Only in this way, really, we can do good for the son, the girl, the patient, the user, Anna, Marco. That’s why we do workshops and retreats for parents and kids, to work with them in parallel groups and all together.
For families we organize individual workshops, like the one on June 22, 2024 at the Arconi Library in Perugia, but also actual retreats, such as weekends dedicated to specific themes, like the Autumn Weekend 2024 in Giano dell’Umbria, dedicated to friendship. Similar weekend-long retreats are also organized in the spring. Finally, we hold other workshop days, to cultivate the community of families and continue to offer a service increasingly dedicated to their needs and interests.
- PATHS FOR GROUPS IN PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
The Peer-in-Love example
Peer-In-Love is a weekly or bi-weekly pathway of 8-10 meetings that we hold at psychoeducational, social-health or educational facilities housing children, youth or adults with intellectual and atypical developmental disabilities. The course can be calibrated for both “low” and “high” functioning through simplification and complication of activities that, basically, remain the same. The topics covered are: recognition of basic emotions and congruous modes of expression, how to properly act expressions of affection, consent to physical contact and prevention from inappropriate contact, anatomical knowledge of the female and male body, recognition of public and private parts, relational contexts with which actions related to affectivity and sexuality can or cannot be performed.
We implemented the 2023 edition of Peer-in-Love at La Semente in Spello (ANGSA day care center). Currently, the 2024 edition is underway and the 2025 edition is already planned.
- PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL PATHWAYS FOR PEOPLE WITH ENDOMETRIOSIS AND VULVODYNIA
Because for women with endometriosis and/or vulvodynia, chronic pain severely debilitates their sex lives, with consequences on the quality of affective and sexual relationships, we have developed two pathways for those patients who wish to address the two issues of pain and pleasure, with a multidisciplinary and psychoeducational LoveLife-style approach. These initiatives have been funded by the Marconi Foundation.
Anotomia della vulva – Intervento individuale – Cervia, 2024
Costruendo il corpo umano – Loving Summer Camp 2024
Gioco dell’oca delle emozioni – Loving Summer Camp 2024
Parti pubbliche, parti private – Peer-in-Love – Spello, 2023
Le sagome- Loving Summer Camp – Pinarella, 2023
Innamorarsi – Loving Summer Camp – Cervia, 2024
Condivisione aspettative genitoriali – Workshop per genitori e figli sull’affettività – 2023, Perugia
8 meetings for a total of 30 hours, to explore one’s relationship with pain and pleasure, made particularly complex due to the condition, which is characterized by chronic pelvic pain, libido-inhibiting drug treatments, and the recurrent comorbidity of anxiety, depression, or quality-of-life impairing consequences such as white relationships, separations, fertility, decreased self-esteem, etc.
The 8 women who participated in the project challenged themselves as individuals and as a group through psychotherapy, somatic-sexual empowerment, gynecological and nutritional counseling activities. The project was matched by academic research to validate the protocol, with a favorable opinion from the Regional Health Ethics Committee; the research, both quantitative and qualitative, flowed into an article that will soon appear in a journal and conference programs.
Intensive weekend-long program for women with endometriosis and/or vulvodynia, with input from psychotherapy, sexuality empowerment, a hands-on anti-inflammatory nutrition workshop, and consultation with a gynecologist and a physical therapist specializing in pelvic floor rehabilitation.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH EVENTS AND DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES
– Festival of Psychology 2023, 2024 – Sala dei Notari, Perugia
– World Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2023, 2024 – University of Perugia
– World Endometriosis Day March 28, 2024 – Biblioteca degli Arconi – Perugia
– World Disability Day December 3, 2024 – Rep. Di San Marino
– Workshop Sex, Love and Disability for users, parents, operators – March 9, 2024 – Rimini
Esprimere consenso con comunicazione alternativa aumentativa – Workshop per genitori e figli – Perugia, 2024
Come fare la nostra bandiera_ – Loving Summer Camp – Cervia, 2024
Vittoria Ferdinandi, Piero Labate, Stefano Federici – Tavola rotonda – Giornata mondiale dell’endometriosi – Perugia, 2024
Professionistə, pazienti e istituzioni parlano di endometriosi -Tavola rotonda – Giornata mondiale dell’endometriosi 2024
Il funzionamento psicosessuale dell’orgasmo – Dolore Piacere – Perugia, 2023
Amare, amarsi ed essere amatə – Conferenza LoveLife per Festival della Psicologia Umbria – Perugia, 2024JPG
Overture – Festival della Psicologia – Perugia, 2024
Co-costruzione di una vulva didattica – Vù Festival – Festival del benessere sessuale femminile – Perugia, 2024
Stefano Federici _non possiamo rifiutarci di rispondere alla domanda da dove nascono i bambini_ – Workshop Sesso Amore & Disabilità – Riccione, 2024
Insegnamo agli operatori di Angsa a usare le carte delle emozioni – Narni, 2024
Laboratorio esperienziale sulla sensorialità nella comunicazione – Dolore Piacere – Perugia, 2023
