The name of the centre reflects a specific orientation: Applied Psychology Competence Centre. The decision not to speak simply of psychology reflects the vocation of SUPSI, which dialogues, interacts and plans its activities with and within the territory. Putting the qualifier "applied" next to the disciplinary area, immediately invites a view that is not only theoretical and speculative but also strongly committed to speaking the language of everyday life and concrete things.
Historically, applied psychology is in fact psychology placed at the service of real life: oriented towards tackling the problems that can develop from it. In line with its vocation to decline in this sense, applied psychology is divided into various branches ranging from health psychology to the psychology of organisations, from clinical psychology to environmental, forensic or traffic psychology.

The APC focuses on the various facets of psychology in the areas of daily life, care and teaching, as well as research, and in particular, develops specific in-depth studies on traffic psychology.
As it meets the federal requirements, the Centre is officially authorised by the Cantonal authorities to assess psychological fitness to drive, both on the character and cognitive fronts, thanks also to suitable psychometric instruments specifically dedicated to this type of analysis.

The Competence Centre also runs a Counselling and psychological support service for SUPSI students and collaborators in order to promote their psychological well-being and to where they can turn to in periods of personal, interpersonal, emotional and relational difficulties related to the university and/or the professional field.

Full information about the Centre can be found at:
www.supsi.ch/centro-psicologia (website in Italian).