Benedetta Vai

I’m Benedetta – psychologist, psychotherapist, researcher, and Adjunct Professor at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan. I work across clinical practice, research, and teaching, which means my days tend to involve a rather ambitious mix of patients, papers, students, and deadlines.

In my research, I’m interested in how psychological and biological processes interact in mental health, particularly in mood and personality disorders, and in how computational neuroscience can help us understand this complexity. I have worked on the use of machine learning to identify clinically meaningful subgroups of patients with mood disorders, as well as on immunometabolic depression, including the characterization of symptom profiles associated with this condition. More broadly, I focus on emotion regulation, interpersonal functioning, and the mechanisms that may help explain why some patterns of distress become persistent and how treatment can support change.

In my clinical work and writing, I’m especially interested in relationships: how early experiences shape the way we understand ourselves and others, how these patterns can reappear in adult life, and how becoming aware of them can open up new possibilities for change. I like to bring research and clinical thinking together in a way that is useful not only for professionals, but also for anyone curious about how our minds work.