What do Italian college students learn in the Faculty of Psychology?

Hello. My name is Honoka. Today I would like to introduce you to the Faculty of Psychology (DISCAB: Dipartimento di Scienze cliniche applicate e biotecnologiche, Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology) at the University of L’Aquila where I am enrolled. I hope that it will be helpful for those who are thinking of studying abroad in Italy or those who are enrolling in the Faculty of Psychology.

Faculty of Psychology

This department is mainly for students who want to become a psychologist (psicologo) or a psychotherapist (psicoterapeuta). In fact, many graduates go on to graduate school and then aim to become a psychotherapist after a year of practical training, or to study further and become a psychotherapist. I didn’t enroll in the Faculty of Psychology for that purpose, I just wanted to study psychology in the land of L’Aquila, but I’m very happy to be in this university!

Subjects that first graders learn

Italian university graduates in 3 years. Therefore, the curriculum is quite rich, and if you do not study incomparably with the Faculty of Psychology in Japan, you will not be able to graduate or even earn credits.
First-year students focus on areas around psychology. Therefore, I also study things that I do not generally think of when I hear “psychology”.

First semester

• General psychology
• biology
• Anatomy
• statistics
• information

The most difficult thing was statistics. A lot of mathematical formulas came out and it was quite difficult for me who is not good at math. People around me said the same thing, so it seems that I’m not the only one.

2nd semester

• General psychology
• English
• Neurology
• History and methods of psychology
• philosophy
• Social psychology

I never imagined studying English. However, if you pass an external certification exam (such as IELTS) or pass an exam held at a university, you will receive credit for this subject.

2nd year

In the second grade, you will learn psychology in earnest. You can learn about the depths of the so-called “psychology”.

First semester

• Personality Psychology (translation unknown)
• Developmental psychology
• Emotional psychology
• Physical Psychology (again, the translation is unknown)

2nd semester

• Educational psychology
• Cognitive-behavioral psychology
• Psychological Techniques and Exams (Exams are psychological tests, not the general “psychological tests”)
• Mechanical Psychology (I don’t know what is talking about, but Wikipedia says it has the translation “psychodynamics”)

3rd grade

In the final year, I am busy with graduation thesis and practical training, so there are not many lectures.

First semester

• Clinical psychology
• Neuropsychiatric care
• Psychopathology

2nd semester

• Pharmacy in the field of psychiatry
• Industrial psychology

All of these credits are compulsory subjects, so you are not free to choose or take other subjects. Compared to Japanese universities, Italian universities, where everyone takes the same classes, have less freedom, but it is easier to exchange information because they take the same classes as those around them.