A specialist in complex adult work.
Contracted delivery for multinational organisations. Prevention and treatment of functional burnout, response to managerial harm and workplace dysfunction, support through the structural pressures of corporate life, and lectures on topics including corporate parenting.
Dr Melania Duca
Founder of Biopsychoanalysis
Therapeutic work within the legal context, principally with people on bail awaiting investigation and trial, alongside wider forensic instruction in various capacities.
A small retained portfolio of private clients, opened occasionally to new long-term work. Working predominantly with complex presentations, I take complexity as the point of the work, not an obstacle to it.
Administering globally recognised, validated clinical instruments for psychiatric presentations and neurodivergence, followed by a full clinical evaluation and optional written report. The report is not a diagnosis; it is a way to understand where you sit on diagnostic scales and whether a formal assessment would be worthwhile.
Accredited supervision for practitioners working with complex cases. A space to think through difficulty, risk, and the emotional weight of the work. I am currently accepting supervisees.
“We are enfolded in the universe.”
Biopsychoanalysis is my own registered trademark: an integrative therapeutic modality that brings together the biological, psychological, social, spiritual and ecological dimensions of the human experience, rather than choosing between them. It emerged from clinical practice, not theory alone, and has since been internationally accredited by the IICT. The framework has been tested, refined and validated through thousands of hours of clinical practice.
The principles remain the same whether the work takes place within a multinational's employee assistance programme, in the period preceding a trial, or during a long-term private consultation. What changes is how that framework is tailored to the individual and the unique challenges they face, because no two people are the same.
My preferred ways of working include cognitive restructuring, dialectical interventions, somatic approaches, mindfulness and mindset shifting.
The wholeness of the human being is the common denominator, and my guiding star.
“I want to be there for people who feel they are too much, and for me they never will be.”
Seven years teaching psychology students in Italy, leading research projects, and serving on quality assurance and ethics committees. Published author, media contributor, and regular conference speaker and organiser.
“My journey began in philosophy because I wanted to understand how people think. It eventually led me to psychotherapy because understanding alone was never enough. I wanted to help people change. Biopsychoanalysis grew out of that same curiosity: the belief that no single discipline is sufficient to explain the complexity of being human.”
Training in gnoseology and epistemology taught me to examine how knowledge is formed, how the mind relates to reality, and how reasoning can both support and distort experience. It also taught me to recognise how experience shapes beliefs, behaviours and choices: a 360° process every counsellor must understand to meet the complexity of the human psyche. Years of university teaching sharpened critical thinking, clear communication, and intellectual rigour.
I left academia to join the National Council of Integrative Psychotherapists as a Fellow and member of its Ethics Committee. Changing one person's life mattered more to me than academic politics.
I completed an MSc in Clinical Psychiatry at the University of South Wales and expert witness accreditation for criminal law proceedings at Cardiff University. I continue to work within the legal system as a treating clinician, not a court expert, because that is where I can be most useful.
After directing my own company through the first years of practice, I went freelance following the pandemic. The flexibility lets me travel and deliver my work from anywhere in the world.
I am bilingual, working in Italian and English with agencies and clients across all continents. This has given me a broad understanding of the human mind across culture, gender, ethnicity, age and background. In the end, we all struggle, love, grieve, adapt and search for meaning in remarkably similar ways.
All appointments are online unless otherwise agreed. Fees are reviewed periodically, and existing clients will always be informed in advance of any changes.
£90
Per 50-minute session
Individual psychotherapy sessions, including long-term clinical work and complex presentations.
£125
Per 50-minute session
Joint sessions for couples, particularly mixed neurotypical and neurodivergent pairings who are struggling to communicate, connect and love each other optimally.
£90
Per 50-minute session
Accredited clinical supervision for practitioners working with complex cases.
£100
Per assessment
Includes administration, scoring and clinical review. A detailed written report is available at an additional fee.
By agreement
Tailored quote
Forensic or specialist work requiring preparation, such as reading legal documentation, is priced according to the time and complexity involved.
Bespoke
Agency arrangements
Special arrangements made directly with the agency or corporation that hires me.
I no longer provide family therapy, group therapy, or critical incident response work.