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Meet Mario Colucci, a psychiatrist who has worked in a variety of roles in the Trieste system for over 30 years. He is currently the director of the Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment Service , which is linked to the general emergency room of the civil hospital in Udine, in the same region of Trieste.

I consider him “the psychiatrist’s philosopher” because of his keen intellect and how he effortlessly weaves philosophy into telling the story of Basaglia.

In this interview, we explore four themes:

• Philosophy – and how it impacted the thinking of Franco Basaglia in the 1960’s
• Education of psychiatrists – then and now
• Power dynamics between clinician and patient – and power-sharing
• The “total institution”

To provide some additional resource material to follow along in the conversation, the following links may be helpful.

General discussion of phenomenology.

Four influential books that coincidentally were published in 1961, the same year that Franco Basaglia was assigned to the asylum in Gorizia:

• Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. Michel Foucault (1961)
• Asylums. Erving Goffman. (1961)
• The Wretched of the Earth. Frantz Fanon. (1961)
• The Land of Remorse. Ernesto de Martino (1961)

Additionally, Dr. Colucci provided additional resources from his own research. In 2001, he and Pierangelo Di Vittorio wrote the first monograph on Basaglia. In 2024, they wrote a book and the links to the abstract and the book are provided below.

Franco Basaglia. Thought, Practices, Politics [abstract from a book written by Mario Colucci and Pierangelo Di Vittorio] 2001 by Edizioni Bruno Mondadori, Italy. 2005 by Éditions Érès, France; 2006 by Ediciones Nueva Visión, Argentina; 2020 by Edizioni Alpha Beta, Italy; 2024 by Meltemi Editore, Italy.

Franco Basaglia. Pensiero, pratiche, politica. Mario Colucci and Pierangelo Di Vittorio. 2024

Here is a link to an article, “The Issue of Violence in Psychiatry,” written by Colucci in April, 2025.

Foucault and Psychiatric Power after Madness and Civilization[Published in Alain Beaulieu and David Gabbard (eds.), Michel Foucault and Power Today:
International Multidisciplinary Studies in the History of the Present. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006.]

Medicalisation. Mario Colucci. SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies Journal of Science Communication ISSN 1824 – 2049 http://jcom.sissa.it/ JCOM 5 (1), March 2006

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Stefania Grimaldi works with the social cooperative La Collina in Trieste Italy. This particular social cooperative was formed in 1988 and employees 200 people, 35 percent of which are considered “disadvantaged.”

In this episode, we briefly explore the origins of the social cooperative network in Trieste – starting with the first one called the Basaglia SC, which was features recently in a movie called 50 Years of CLU.

We explore the two different types of social cooperatives – Type A and Type B. In particular, we are interested in the Type B social cooperative because e they train and employ people who fall int the disadvantaged sector – which can involve physical and mental disability, substance use addiction and past experience with incarceration.

What is interesting is how the social cooperative must operate like a business and coimpete in the market place to secure contracts to provide labor and services. La Collina will be competing with other private entities – and therefore their workforce must be up to the job. We explore their pathway to work which involves mentoring and internship before full employment status is achieved. The cost of the internship is underwritten by the health agency, ASUGI.

The take-aways for an American audience are threefold:

· Work is a human right, guaranteed by the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on Rights for Persons with Disabilities.

· So-called disadvantaged workers can achieve full employment and pursue their life aspirations

· The proper supports must be in place to ensure people are trained and prepared to pursue their employment goals

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Michele Sipala is a peer support worker at Recovery House, located in the heart of the city centre in Trieste. Recovery House provides a six-month transitional residential environment for six young people, age 18 – 35, to help give a “kick start” into more independent living. Recovery House was started in 2015 and over the past nine years, it has served 55 young people.

In this conversation, we discuss the unique needs of younger people in the mental health services in Trieste who are transitioning into the adult service sector – with changes to their clinical supports and all the stresses and challenges that can accompany an expectation of moving into adult life. He reiterates the three pillars of their mental health system: the importance of work, home and socialization.

Resources and publications mentioned in this conversation:

The Recovery House in Trieste: Rational, participants, intervention as the “work.” APA Psyc Net 2018

The Recovery House of Trieste. Journal of Recovery in Mental Health. 2018

Full article here.

Book that has had a great impact on Michele:

Tutto chiede salvezza (Italian)

Everything Calls for Salvation (English version)

And it is a Netflix series – with two seasons.