The volume that we have chosen and from which we have drawn the chapters of this Historical Archive was published in 1993, as a synthesis of the seminars of the first Interuniversity Cooperation Program (PIC) ‘Erasmus’ in Health Psychology, which we proposed and carried out in 1991 with the collaboration of Stan Maes and numerous colleagues from European universities.
The proposal of this Course was the natural product of a scientific work carried out in that area which we called “Medicine-Psychology Interface”[1], which began in the 80s at the Sapienza University of Rome, when L. Sibilia was a Confirmed Researcher at the Institute of Systematic Medical Therapy and S. Borgo was expert on the subject at the Chair of Clinical Toxicology.
It seemed particularly appropriate to choose this publication given that the current issue of Psychomed is focused on some important contributions of Psychology and Psychotherapy to well-being and health.
In 1987 (June 5-7), we participated in Rome at the meeting on “Health Psychology Perspectives in Europe, Analysis of the Situation and Proposals“, organized by SIOI, the Society for International Organizations. Here we presented our works and met Stan Maes, together with other European colleagues. This was a fortunate contingency, which gave rise to a long relationship, both as colleagues and as friends, which lasted almost thirty years and was prematurely interrupted by the worsening of his illness.
We quickly tuned in with Stan on the need for both Health Psychology, in which he was engaged, and Behavioral Medicine, in which we worked, to be firmly grounded in the experimental scientific methodology. Those were the years in which the EHPS (European Health Psychology Society) was founded, thanks to the initiative and support of Stan Maes, who had hosted the first expert meeting in this field in Tilburg (Holland) in 1986. Thus Lucio Sibilia received the invitation from him to join the EHPS and the honor of being appointed representative for Italy.
From 1988 onwards, annual conferences have been organized in Europe. Since then S. Borgo and L. Sibilia would have regularly participated in the congress and organizational activities of the EHPS: after the first Congress in Trier (1988), we participated in those of Utrecht (1989), Oxford (1990), Lausanne (1991), Leipzig (1992 ), Brussels (1993), Alicante (1994), Bergen (1995), Bordeaux (1997), Vienna (1998), Florence (1999), where we have often brought our scientific works, bringing back a notable heritage of knowledge and experience, not to mention the human contacts, which have greatly enriched our work.
In 1990, the idea arose of holding a two-week Erasmus Intensive Course in Health Psychology in English in Rome. Having obtained the funds from the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, in 1991 we hosted the first Interuniversity Cooperation Program (PIC) in Health Psychology, a program we coordinated and called “intensive” because it lasted only two weeks, the themes of which are reflected in the index of this book. The Erasmus course was repeated, with different variations, according to local contingencies and skills, the following year in Bilthoven (but organized by the University of Leiden, where Stan was a professor), and then in St. Andrews in Scotland (1993) and in Trier, Germany (1994).
Some of the topics of this Erasmus course were taken up in subsequent research projects. And it was also thanks to that previous experience that it was decided to establish in our Country (in Rome in 1997) a Society of Health Psychology (SIPSa), with professors from numerous Italian universities.
The acquaintance with Stan, who used to spend the summer holidays in Italy, continued also in the following years, each time getting great mutual satisfaction. His remarkable social skills, based both on his extroversion and on his special sense of humour, of responsibility towards young people, of friendship and of the group, which allowed him to aggregate people, let him obtain notable successes both professionally and humans. In addition to scientific interests, we also shared with him a passion for travel (Israel, the USA and many Italian and European destinations). We believe that having met Stan Maes on our journey, for the contribution he has given to both our professional and human growth, has been a great fortune. It was therefore a source of great pain to learn of the worsening of his illness and his death in 2019. In addition to his great professional competence, since then we have missed his friendship, his humor, his enthusiasm.
Stefania Borgo
Lucio Sibilia
[1]Borgo S. & Sibilia L., a cura di (1991). Thesaurus di Psicoterapia Comportamentale. Interfaccia Medicina-Psicologia. Studi e Ricerche (Thesaurus fo Behavioural Psychoterhapy. Medicine-Psychology Interface. Studies and Researches). Roma: CNR – S.T.I.B.No.T.
Stefania Borgo
