“The Relationship: Time/Space/Word”: Friday 21th November 2025 Hotel Coronado in Mendrisio (Via Francesco Borromini 10) will host the National Congress of the Swiss Society of Social Psychiatry (SO-PSY), an annual event that brings together professionals, scholars, and industry professionals to reflect on the transformations of collective living.

The theme chosen for this edition, “The Relationship: Time/Space/Word”, touches on one of the most essential—and today most fragile—dimensions of the human experience. In an era dominated by digitalization and a growing sense of isolation, relationships become not only an object of clinical study but also a privileged lens through which to interpret social change.

Relationship as the foundation of care and coexistence

In the conference's opening message, SO-PSY emphasizes how relationships represent a crucial point in therapeutic practice and daily life: a terrain where empathy, listening, and reciprocity intertwine.

Authentic contact with others - the organizers explain - is not simply a means of communicating, but a act of constructing meaning: a way to rethink care as a network of connections, rather than as an isolated intervention on a single individual.

This approach fits perfectly with the mandate of social psychiatry, which has always recognized community and relational dynamics as key elements for collective mental well-being.

The speakers: between science, literature and art

The scientific program of the congress is distinguished by the interdisciplinarity of its guests.

  • Prof. Andrea Raballo, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, teacher atUniversity of Italian Switzerland (USI) andCantonal Sociopsychiatric Organization (OSC), will open the proceedings with a speech on “Space and Time in Psychopathology”, addressing the theme of temporal and spatial perception in the mind and in illness.

  • Marco Rovelli, writer and musician, will offer a sociological and poetic look at the “mental distress in the society of individuals and performance”, analyzing how the pressure of efficiency and image has redefined contemporary fragility.

  • La Jungian psychotherapist Giulia Valerio will propose a reflection entitled "Hosting and encountering the Other between borders, bridges, walls, and boundaries", exploring the limits – geographical and symbolic – of human encounter.

  • Finally, Paolo Ruffini, actor and director, will bring an artistic contribution with “CHAIN ​​RELATIONSHIPS: Words that ignite, space that unites, time that transforms”, a journey through language, emotion, and creativity as tools for connection.

A program between theory and practice

The day will open at 8.00 with registration and introductory greetings, followed by the reports of the four main guests. After the standing lunch at 13.00pm, participants will be able to choose between different afternoon workshops, dedicated to the multiple aspects of relationships in therapeutic and social contexts.

Among the proposed workshops:

  • The relationship in work contexts, with Noellie Dünand,

  • Advance measures in psychiatry, Edited by Pascale Ferrari,

  • Relationships through an expressive workshop with photographic images, led by Raffaella Ortelli Spinedi,

  • The therapeutic relationship through the contribution of peers through experience (PEER), with Manuela Cattola and the PEER group.

Each participant may indicate two preferences at the time of registration, given the limited availability of places. Participants will be given: 7 SSPP credits.

Registration and information

Registration is now open. Who will pay? before the event you will be able to benefit from a reduced rate:

  • 120 CHF for participation with lunch included,

  • 100 CHF for students, SO-PSY members, OSC staff and AVS/AI beneficiaries,

  • 150 CHF for admission including annual membership to the association.

Payment can be made by bank transfer to the following account:
Swiss Society of Social Psychiatry, Vicolo Confalonieri 10, 6850 Mendrisio
IBAN: CH44 0024 7247 Q576 6338 0 (UBS AG)
Tale: 80-2-2

Registrations must be confirmed by email to info@sopsy-si.ch, also indicating your workshop preferences. Payment can also be made on-site on the day of the event, for a small surcharge.

The Hotel Coronado is easily accessible by public transport, making it convenient for participants from all over Switzerland and Northern Italy.

An invitation to discussion and reflection

Il SO-PSY National Congress It is not only presented as a moment of professional updating, but as an opportunity to rethink the centrality of the human bond in contemporary society.

As the president of the Ticino section recalls, Dr. med. Amos Miozzari, “in relationships the deepest challenge of every cure and every possible future is played out.”

In a world that often values ​​digital connection over physical presence, this meeting in Mendrisio promises to restore value to shared time, the space for listening, and the words that unite.