ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicImplementing Mental Health Prevention and Promotion Programs: A Sustainable Approach - Volume IIIView all 6 articles
How do students configure the school psychologist? Ethnopsychology of the Italian school post-COVID and implications on well-being and health
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Padua, Padua, Italy
- 2Universita degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Filosofia Sociologia Pedagogia e Psicologia Applicata, Padua, Italy
- 3Institute of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Padova and Milano, Italy;, Padova, Italy
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The research project aims to explore the discourses and beliefs that students have towards the school psychologist. Recent historical and cultural events have brought to light existing difficulties and needs, due to the lack and inadequacy of resources, revealing a clear separation between the school context and that of daily life. The urgency and necessity of a coordinated psychological intervention that moves between the various levels of the school have been highlighted. The research involved 70 high school students from various institutions. Through Harré's discursive positioning analysis, it was possible to detect the configuration that students have regarding themselves and the school psychologist, and, above all, to understand the 2 dynamics of the school community, which are reflected in the interaction between actors, creating particular scenarios of reality. As a common background to the narratives, the image of the school psychologist emerged as a fundamental and necessary professional figure, whose constant presence in the school context is required. At the same time, various representations of the functions that the psychologist can assume emerged. The psychologist's intervention proves useful not only in emergency situations and difficulties where moments of impasse and suffering manifest, but especially in the moments and events of daily life that take place at school through the promotion of well-being and support for adolescents. This study is particularly important in the current context because by giving voice to students' experiences and needs, it is possible for the school system to address and manage them. The research directs its usefulness to professionals who intend to carry out their work in the school context, offering important information on how to build an adequate psychological service at school.
Keywords: school psychologist, Psychological service, School well-being, Health, Ethnopsychology
Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Iudici, Epifani and Belli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Antonio Iudici
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