Maurizio Andolfi

Education and career


1961–72: Italy

Medical Doctor, University La Sapienza, Rome
Child Psychiatry, University La Sapienza, Rome


1970–1974: United States

Nathan Ackerman encounter in New York 

Maurizio Andolfi, during his residency in child psychiatry, visited  Nathan Ackerman in New York in 1970 and he was profoundly inspired by him and this encounter changed the direction of his life.

Fulbright fellowship in Social Community Psychiatry

Two years later, he left Italy to further his family studies in the United States. 
He lived in New York and Israel Zwerling the greatest social psychiatrist was his mentor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. 

Andolfi worked as a social community psychiatrist doing home visits with a crisis intervention team and conducted a field research on how to prevent pre-delinquent behaviour with black and Puerto Rican teenagers in a public school in the South Bronx.

 Studies and practice in Family Therapy:

  • Ackerman Institute for the family in New York with the supervision of Kitty LaPerriere and Peggy Papp
  • Child Guidance Clinic in Philadelphia, under the supervision of Salvador Minuchin and Jay Haley 
  • Murray Bowen Georgetown University in Washington
  • James Framo in Philadelphia
  • Carl Whitaker University in Madison, Wisconsin

All of them had been very influential too in the Andolfi’s development as a teacher and clinician. 

Karen Horney Psychoanalytic school in New York

Andolfi was a candidate, did his training and personal psychoanalysis with Helen De Rosis. 

During the years 1988-1991: Visiting Professor Hanheman Medical College – Dpt in Psychiatry, Dean Israel Zwerling.


1975: Back to Italy

Istituto di Terapia Familiare (I.T.F.), 1975-1992

Upon his return from the United States in 1975, Maurizio Andolfi founded and directed the Family Therapy Institute in Via Reno, Rome for several years, teaching family therapy with Carmine Saccu, who would become the Institute’s first teacher, and several other colleagues. 
These were very important years, in which Andolfi’ main ideas developed in Italy and many colleagues attended international Practicum and the work on professional handicaps was experimented. 

Full professor Dpt. Clinican Psychology, University La Sapienza, Rome till his retirement in 2012 

Andolfi has been teaching family development and family therapy for 40 years, taking care of  the education of thousands of students in clinical Psychology

Director Accademia di Psicoterapia della Famiglia since 1993

Editor in chief Italian Journal Terapia Familiare since 1977

Founder the Silvano Andolfi Foundation (1989)


2012: Australia

Distinguish Talent Title from The Australian Government

Visiting Fellow Cowen Edith University (Perth Wa)

Visiting Fellow Cook University (Cairns-Queelsland)

Director the Perth Circle – For the advancement of family therapy in Western Australia

Feel free to write to prof. Andolfi at m.andolfi@familytherapyacademy.com

Learn more: the Andolfi’s publications