Luca Fiorilli

It seemed very clear to me then that the key to making art was not in surrendering your story, but in surrendering your desire to fight it." (Ann Patchett)

Why my story is relevant in all of this? Because stories, in life as much as in therapy, resonate with each other. Therapy is the place where two human beings dance in dialogue. I would like to invite you to feel if I might be the right person and that is why I offer these few lines about me.

I was born in a little village in the south of Italy. I have lived in Rome, Budapest and London. I have a strong interest in arts (I worked as an actor for few years while studying Anthropology and Politics in Rome). I moved to London 5 years ago and I am now pursuing a path in psychotherapy which feels like the best way to be present in the world. I love Greece, the blue sea and the white simple houses.

In my life I have been the child in love with everything and the enraged adolescent pushing against anyone.

I have experienced the raging pain of loss and bereavement and the stillness that happens when we can forgive all the curved balls life has thrown us. I have been angry thinking I would never forgive and then I have forgiven and found closure. 

As therapists, if we are honest, we can offer what we have. I hope that in this story you might have felt touched by something. I hope I can witness that even after all suffering something can be restored.  I wanted just to show you who I am and what I am i what I can offer. 

Either you come to see me with your sadness or anxiety, remember you must have a good reasons to feel like that.  Another paradox. I know. We need to understand  how what happened to you has made you feel what you feel today. This very feeling is the way you are coping with the pain in your story.

With this description I also wanted to show you  how I present myself. Open and honest about my story as well: this is what allows, I hope, to feel yours as well. Looking forward to hearing  and welcoming it.

Therapy ?

I believe that there is a time in life when we feel ready to start the therapeutic journey with somebody. This moment is called the "kairos", the appropriate time. Like sailors would not venture themselves in the inclement weather conditions, so shouldn't we. I can help you decide if this is your time. 

 I support therapy as an act of responsibility. By this I do not mean, culpability, blame or guilt. I mean the "the ability to respond" to ourselves and to other people or life events. We can't heal or fix everything, but we can relate and respond to what is making us suffer.   I am not particularly focused on a therapy based on "who have you been" as much as "who are you being and who may you be". Therapy is the place where we can still surprise ourselves, where the unexpected is yet to come.  

I have developed in the last few years a strong interest  in working with masculinity and spirituality.  

I do not practice CBT and I have a specific interest in an Integrative approach (Humanistic and Psychospiritual models) based always on the therapeutic relationship, how and what we do together in the sessions. I support anti-oppressive ideas and practice and I am very aware that therapy can be a space where shame and power dynamics can be triggered. I intend to create a very safe space where what needs to happen will happen. 

I believe that given the right conditions and support, we all sense and know what we need and are looking for. I trust that all we are and what we do is the best we can do given the conditions of our life. I am against a shaming model that implies that “we can always do better”. By being truly what we are, life might show us new options and ways of relating to each other.

I work creatively (also there is the possibility to use art materials for those who might want that, but it’s not a requirement) and do not expect me to ask you to lie on a couch or for me to be simply an interpreter of what you say. I believe that what you say is what you mean and I do not need to find any hidden meaning. I am against a therapy of suspicion and believe in a therapy of trust.

What do I work with?

Some of the themes that interest me are:

• general detachment and lack of interest for life
• relationships 
• ageing and illness
• spirituality 
• complex trauma
• sexuality 
• bereavement 
• masculinity
• LGBTQ+
• artists and creativity
• vegan clients 

Some of these themes are areas in which I also have personal experience.  But I am also looking forward to hearing what you need, the uniqueness of your feelings and problems.

I have a  specific interest in working with

-masculinity;

-mysticism and spirituality;

-monogamy

-community and isolation;

-expats and digital nomads

I trust your truth even when i might challenge it. So I will trust  what you can afford.

I am myself part of the LGBT community and I am very open to working with clients who need to address specific themes.

I only offer on-line therapy at the moment but I do organise, with long term clients, some specific retreats or ways to meet. At times this happens in the UK or in Budapest where I sometimes travel.

I offer therapy in English and Italian and I can also understand Spanish and French.