Psychological Counseling services in Italian Universities: An overview on the state of the art

The University Psychological Counseling Services (SCPA) aim to promote the health, well-being and psychological adaptation of the academic students. In April 2022, within the CRUI Commission of Guidance Delegates, a working group composed by SCPA's Delegates and/or Coordinators was set up in order to investigate the state of the art of SCPAs in Italy. The 'Survey' subgroup was responsible for detecting the state of the art of SCPAs, to describe their characteristics and methods, with the aim of proposing guidelines for the provision of high quality services. The current paper aims to share the results of this survey. The results outlined the characteristics of the SCPA (as well as manager, location, and administrative management), of the consultants (qualification and internal/external job position), of the service's recipients (types and number), of the procedures (as well as provision methods and times, duration of the paths, follow up, and assessment), finally, of the post Counseling (subsequent request following the first acceptance and referrals to public and private territorial health services). Finally, the paper presented a list of organizational criteria of the SCPA, which derived from the integration of the shared reflection on the results obtained in the national survey, with the parameters present in the international recommendations, to encourage the adoption of adequate practices and methods in terms of effectiveness, continuity, and sustainability of the services provided.