DICONO DI LUI

Professor Francesco Palmirotta: Professional Relationships and his contributions to Humanistic Psychology

To Whom It May Concern:
It is with great pleasure that I write this letter in support of Professor Palmirotta’s work and significant contributions to the field of Ontosophy and Humanistic Psychology. I had the opportunity to meet with Professor Palmirotta in May 2005 at the Renaissance II Conference which he organized and held at Solinio and at the University of Bari. The conference made, in my view, a significant contribution to the growing and important field of Humanistic Psychology worldwide. As one of the few members of the Italian community who is pioneering this field, Professor Palmirotta deserves credit for his significant contributions to this field which have been recognized and applauded by psychologists in the United States and Canada among other countries. He is, in my view, a great asset to Italy for his far reaching vision and commitment to the health of Italian citizens.
Sincerely,

Nicodemo Arrizza MD
139 Boardwalk Drive
Toronto, Canada,
M4L 3X9
Web Site: http://www.telecoaching4u.com
Email: drnick@telecoaching4u.com
Phone: 416 690 2002

“Francesco Palmirotta is a PhD-level, qualified psychotherapist. He has pioneered new techniques involving music, art, and movement that have received acclaim from former patients. His theoretical work has introduced new concepts — based on the works of titans like Jung, Maslow, Rogers, and Rollo May — that support a wholistic approach to self-healing.”
January 24, 2010 (Paul Von Ward psychologist and well-known writer USA, former US Ambassador)

“Francesco Palmirotta has been an erudite and entertaining person with whom to be associated over the past 15 years, as I have been as editor of the AHP Perspective, as host to him in my community, and as guest and workshop leader in his community. His work with music therapy, his somatic/therapeutic/psychological educational institution called Ontosophy University in Bari, Italy and his extraordinary ecotourism community, Solinio Village, are all noteworthy contributions to the world. While his guest at Solinio Village I was honored to explore the long-term sustainability of their community with the residents in a series of workshop settings. While we had to overcome language differences, we did so with good humor and good results. It was a most fascinating respite. Alexandra Hart”

Over the past five years I have come to know, personally and as colleague, Francesco Palmirotta; his philosophical-theoretical and methodological work, developed under the term Psychosomatic Ontosophy, and the therapy center, Solinio, that he and his colleagues have created in the region Bari,
As best I understand this, Palmirotta’s thinking and work — from their base in Italy ? speak as unique and promising contributions to the humanistic psychology orientation that, under such pioneering founders as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, emerged in American psychology at mid-Twentieth century: an American-born orientation that, ironically in turn, draws much of its own inspiration from the Italian Renaissance and its sources in the wisdom literature of Antiquity.
What most basically joins Palmirotta and his work to humanistic psychology, in my view, is their stress on the fuller, more holistic, vision of psychological health ? what it means to be a full human being ? a vision sorely lacking in a psychology previously preoccupied with either reducing the human to an object of scientific explanation or to merely a by-product of infantile dynamics. The humanistic vision ? fully incorporated in Palmirotta’s theory and practice ? emphasizes the arts, philosophy (wisdom seeking) and creativity in both model of health and method of treatment.
Within this broader humanistic framework that grounds the best of the Western traditions, Palmirotta has discerned and developed specifics of application ? using the arts and a very particular kind of “talking cure” that serve to transpose in practice complaints of suffering and indications of pathology into creative strengths and deepening philosophical self understanding of the sort philosophers of both the Renaissance and antiquity found so essential to human being.
By taking up Freud’s term “talking cure” to both liken it to and differentiate it from Palmirotta’s approach to therapy I would add that this latter might be thought of as “resonating empathy”, in the musical sense ? and indeed using music as well as other arts ? to both “tune into” and “self-attune” the client: that is, to draw the therapist into attunement with the client and by so doing to draw the client to his or her full “symphonic” being, with all its unique and creative potential. The center, Solinio, provides the supportive ambiance for this therapeutic transposition.

Mike Arons, Ph.D
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
University of West Georgia

Division of Humanistic Psychology American PsychologicalAssociation
2004-2005

PRESIDENT

Scott D. Churchill
University of Dallas
1845 East Northgate Drive
Irving, Texas 75062-4736

To Whom It May Concern:

Last summer I visited Francesco Palmirotta at Solinio, his psychotherapy center in Puglia, which he and his colleagues have created in the vicinity of Bari (where I also visited his professional offices). I was most impressed with Dr. Palmirotta’s innovative and original work, insofar as it shares many fundamental assumptions of the American movement of humanistic psychology, as well as the European depth psychologies. It is also clear that Palmirotta also draws much of his inspiration from the recent advances in the scientific study of the impact of music and of music-making on the human psyche.

Palmirotta himself is a kind of “Renaissance Man”, insofar as he combines his love of philosophy and his own artistic and musical talents with his practice of psychology and the healing arts in general. At his offices in Bari, I observed his music therapy rooms, in which patients find a sheltering place within which to explore their passions as well as their inner conflicts. There he has established a formidable alternative to those recent and “trendy” prescription-oriented therapies that threaten the very core of what it means to be a psychological healer. I was impressed by his 25-year history of therapeutic success in the treatment of various mental illnesses.

In his vision for the healing arts, as expressed in his many fascinating writings, Palmirotta brings us back to the sources for healing that lie deep within ourselves, in the regions of the psyche that are accessible to direct as well as symbolic expression. The scientific as well as psychotherapeutic value of his continuing investigations merit the admiration of his peers, as well as support from his profession.

Through my own personal visits with Francesco, I have come to experience the value of his approach, and have witnessed the positive and curative effects of his practices on his former patients, who are now living together communally in a mutually supportive and nourishing environment. Francesco’s therapeutic village in Puglia has successfully demonstrated that patients seeking help for their psychological vulnerabilities can be well served when they are treated with mutual respect and allowed to take part in the course of their own “treatment.”

I encourage you to support Dr. Palmirotta’s programs so that he may continue to help others to help themselves, through his applications of psychological insight as well as his spiritual generosity.

Scott D. Churchill, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Professor and Director of Graduate Programs
University of Dallas

Dear Francesco,

Yesterday, the last role of film from my trip came back to me. Looking at the photos of you, Flora, and our good times together, brings back very nice memories. Again, I thank you and all of your community for such good care and warm hearts. Please share these photos with your kids and others.

I hope that my letter regarding the importance of translation was received with an open mind. My overall impression,of my visit with You was one of great warmth, and a deep appreciation for all that you are doing to further humanistic values, You are truly a pioneer. I know you struggle to have those ideas, accepted in Southern Italy. I Have been telling others about the wonderful experiences I had.

I have seen TV of the floods that Italy is going through. I hope your community on the hilltop is safe and that all of your loved ones are okay.

I hope to hear from you via email sometime soon.

Warm Wishes,

Natalie Rogers 1515 Riebli Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 USA