Preliminary findings from a brief psychodynamic counseling program for university staff: users’ psychological characteristics and implications for the program’s utility

Research on university staff mental health and intervention evaluation remains limited, especially in Italy. Brief psychodynamic counseling appears promising for reducing distress and improving emotion regulation. The present study aimed to explore the socio-demographic, occupational, and psychological characteristics of university staff members seeking support at a brief psychodynamic counseling service and to examine changes in psychological functioning and distress, symptomatology, and mentalized affectivity following the intervention. Forty-eight participants (mean age =46.16 years, SD=9.57) completed the counseling program, consisting of four weekly clinical sessions followed by a one-month follow-up session. Measures included: the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45), the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), the Brief Mentalized Affectivity Scale (BMAS), and the Defense Mechanism Rating Scales Self-Report 30 (DMRS-SR-30). Higher use of the counseling service among female staff (69%), with a fairly balanced distribution across employment stages, emerged. The main reason for seeking support was psychological difficulties (46%), while others reported work- or family-related issues. At baseline, 68% showed psychological functioning above the OQ-45 clinical cut-off. Pairedsamples t-tests revealed significant reductions in overall psychological functioning, distress, and symptomatology, alongside improvements in the processing dimension of mentalized affectivity. Participants also exhibited a moderate-to-good level of defensive functioning at baseline, indicating relatively adaptive capacities. Preliminary findings suggest that brief psychodynamic counseling may support improvements in functioning and symptomatology among university staff members, together with changes in emotional processing. Integrating defensive functioning and mentalized affectivity may contribute to clarifying the mechanisms of change, although further controlled longitudinal research is needed.