2002, December 16th: start of my hypnotherapy practice; first receipt to my first client. Notice that at that time hypnosis could be practiced only by psychotherapists, and only physicians and psychologists were allowed to become psychotherapists. Thus, at that time (2002) the only legal way to work at the light of the sun, in a complete respect of the Italian laws was to work with hypnosis only on physical and medical problems, and only under the strict supervision of a physician. Despite this extremely limited and sometimes unfairly controlled way of working, I had found an ethical and perfectly legal way to work (under written referral of physicians).
2004, February, 11th: the end of an injustice. This date is the date of approval of the European Directive COM(2002)119 (about professional qualifications and their validity within the EU). This made valid in all the EU (Italy included) my Hypnotherapy Practitioner Diploma. EU laws had made me free to work within the limits of my professional training (and, of course, always in conformity to Italian laws).
2004, September 26th: an afternoon with the famous Ernest L. Rossi. He made me fully aware of the true value of hypnosis and of the need to spread it.
2004, October 30th: a sound appreciation from my mentor Terence P. Watts has been the final and decisive push that I needed (in order to begin my professional hypnosis teaching). Terence formed me in every aspect, and not only hypnosis. He has been a constant example of ethic, motivation, and respect.
2004, November 4th: Italian APHP school adapted to Italy. I translated all the professional course in Italian (the course of the Essex Institute of Clinical Hypnosis, EICH). But this was certainly not enough. In fact, I also had to adapt it to the Italian situation, because now (2007) in Italy hypnotherapy is not regulated, but psychotherapy is strictly regulated and forbidden without a doctorate-level of academic education. Moreover, there is a very strict Italian law about privacy and personal data collection, so I had to add a special informative section about this point in the Italian version of the EICH course. In short, I have made a true Italian version of the EICH course, and not just a translation. Without these adaptations and warnings to my students, the original EICH course would have encountered many problems in Italy. After a lot of efforts and also legal consultations, the final product has become perfectly safe and legal for every student. This has paid well all my efforts and hard work of adaptation to Italian environment. I have also expanded the course in a way that now it covers all the material requested by the National Guild of Hypnotists (USA).
2005, February 19th: the very first professional hypnotherapy course in Italy, open also to lay people.
2006, June 21th: the APHP begins its growth in Italy. My first Italian student has completed successfully his training in professional hypnotism and has become an APHP member. My loneliness in the APHP listing of Italian professional was thus over.
2006, October 28th: proud and excited toward the future. Not only the attacks against me and my website has been extinguished (initially, in 2002-2003, I received even anonymous menaces on the phone). Now things are very different. Some physicians, psychologists, and even psychiatrists and psychotherapists are happy to refer to me clients, and they respect and appreciate me. Some of my past worst detractors are now my best friends and supporters. I have clients from every part of Italy, and now I have also students from the North, from the Center, and from the South. In short, the newborn Italian hypnotherapy has started to grow on the Italian ground, where the independent professional hypnotism NEVER existed and NEVER has been allowed to grow
2007, April 14th: for the first time in Italy, the professional supervision for hypnotherapists has begun. At the meeting there were present not only some APHP members, but also an Italian member of the British Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
2007-2008: launch of the continuous education courses (in Italian) for Italian professional hypnotherapists, valid for getting educational credits.