Roberta Farrugia Debono

My areas of expertise

I am a clinical psychologist and a family therapist. I work mostly with adults, couples and families with adolescents. I am also trained in personality assessments and have been doing assessments in the context of adoption, family court, the church tribunal and other settings for a number of years.

I believe that therapy is about helping people reconnect to themselves and to others. Often, our childhood experiences leave a mark on us that stays with us and impacts us as we navigate through our journey of life. Whilst I am predominately systemic in my approach, I use CBT techniques in supporting persons to manage their anxiety as well as draw upon other psychological theories such as psychodynamic theory to understand the human condition.

I am also a firm believer in professional development. I attend regular supervision myself and often attend professional development courses as well as attend seminars and conferences abroad. Furthermore, I have accumulated a number of years of experience as a trainer and supervisor both in psychology and family therapy. As such I offer supervision both to trainees and established professionals to support them through their own therapeutic journeys with clients.

My training and professional accreditations

I have completed my postgraduate training in clinical psychology in 2001. I have also achieved accreditation as a family therapist in 2004. I have completed a post-graduate diploma in Pastoral Psychology in 2010 and an Award in Clinical Supervision in 2021. I am now reading for a Ph.D with the Department of Child and Family Studies at the University of Malta. My area of research is Clinical Supervision.

I hold a warrant in Psychology (Clinical Psychologist) with the Malta Psychology Profession Board (MPPB Reg. 009). I also hold a warrant in Psychotherapy (Family Therapist) with the Psychotherapy Profession Board Malta (PPBM Reg. 189). I am an accredited supervisor with both the MPPB and the PPBM. I am also the holder of the European Certificate of Psychotherapy issued by the European Association of Psychotherapy.

On a professional level, I am the past president of the Malta Psychological Association and the Malta Chamber of Psychologists. I am also the past president of the Malta Federation of Professional Associations. I formed part of the Presidents’ Council of the European Federation of Psychological Associations, and I also chaired the General Assembly of this council in 2019. I am a member of the Malta Association of Family Therapy and Systemic Practice and of the European Federation of Family Therapy Associations.

I am also a visiting Senior Lecturer with the University of Malta. Since 2002, I have been teaching with the Department of Psychology, the Department of Child and Family Studies as well as the Department of Psychiatry and the Faculty of Law. I lecture both at undergraduate and Masters’ level as well as supervise Family Therapy trainees in their Masters’ level professional training.