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Due to the government restrictions on Covid-19 there has been a total change on the daily family routine. Suddenly, parents found themselves experiencing a con-crete and fully immersion role on the care and education over the full day, having to deal with the imposed lockdown restrictions and, at the same time, with the reinforcement and support within the family itself. In this familiar’s foreshortening the emergency psychologists have found themselves in situations where they had to receive and support the fragility of some fathers who, even before the coronavi-rus escalation, were mostly focused on the working aspects rather than the family routine.For these fathers a small handbook has been created to help reinforcing their par-enthood as well as dealing with the everyday family challenges.

This article presents a reflection about the emergency psychologist at Covid-19 time, where he/she is a reliever and a victim to be rescued at the same time. This reflection starts from the experiences in the call service, offered by the Psicologi per i Popoli – Trentino ODV association from 17/3/2020 to 29/05/2020. Starting from the collaboration with the l’Assessorato alle Politiche Sociali della Provincia di Trento, an analysis of local needs, and the association’s need to not expose its collaborators to the risks of contagion, we share all the activities of the associa-tion in the quarantine period: the operation of the call service, the drafting of a vademecum addressed to the various sections of the population, thus describing the activity of the emergency psychologist within this pandemic. Furthermore, the paper shifts from doing to being, presenting the emotional experiences of emer-gency psychologists during the operations: hopes, expectations, emotions, and thoughts shared with colleagues, especially during debriefings, which allowed to overcome “the challenging ford of the quarantine”. Group work and team strength are then emphasized: they have been an “opportunity of meaning” for the emer-gency psychologist within a pandemic that leads him/her to be a helper and a victim to be helped at the same time.

The Covid-19 emergency involved a reorganisation within the local facilities for fragile people, such as the homeless. Both the facilities – which were only de-signed for overnight use – and the operators found themselves reorganising their activities and accommodating people in a completely innovative way. This led to many challenges in daily life, which have been overcome and seen as opportuni-ties for renewal thanks to networking, in which the psychologist volunteers of the “listening service” – mobilised by the Associazione Psicologi per i Popoli - Trentino ODV in agreement with the Protezione Civile di Trento, within the Servizio Politiche Sociali’s project “#Resta a casa, passo io” – have also been involved. This work involved some reflection, which resulted in a vademecum for operators who dealt with the homeless during the lockdown period.

In a maxi-emergency like an earthquake, the emergency psychologist can facili-tate the dialogue within institutions and communities (Giacomozzi et al., 2017). Difficulty of communication between institutions and population can create a frac-ture: therefore, it becomes important to weave a dialogue that enhances media-tion processes as well as the construction of an adaptive system – which can be built through the integration between the natural system (population) and the ex-pert system (rescuers). Following the concept of “Caring Niche” (Axia et al., 2004), we share our experiences during the maxi-emergency of the 2016’s earthquake in Amatrice. On the 24th of August 2016, the activation of our association, Psicologi per i Popoli – Trentino ODV, took place differently than usual: our involvement was inside a “technical field”, where different professional groups – such as brigades of the fire, engineers, territorial technicians, psychologists – alternated and coop-erated (see Sphere, 2018). After an initial phase of scouting within the camp, our work expanded outside the camp, mainly on three fronts: with school (parents, students, teachers, managers and representatives of Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca / MIUR), with the population directly affected by the earthquake and finally with Civil Protection technicians and volunteers. The emer-gency psychologist became a facilitator of communication between the needs of the population and those of the rescue systems (Giacomozzi et al., 2017; Anton-ello e Viejo, 2013).

The Covid-19 emergency has led to a reorganisation within families, especially those where children and young people with disabilities are present. Parents have been called upon - without any specific preparation - to guide their children along the path necessary for their adaptation. The emergency psychologist has there-fore "stood by" the parents, supporting and listening to the challenges of everyday life. This support led to the creation of a vademecum to ensure that parents with children and young people with disabilities did not feel alone and continued the valuable work they had already done in their homes during the first weeks of lock-down.

When emergency psychologists are involved in maxi-emergencies, such as an earthquake or a flood, they can promote beneficial dialogue between institutions (i.e. the municipalities, the province, the region, the Civil Protection, the health agency and services, etc.), communities and populations affected by the calamitous event. During an emergency, the difficulties in communication between institutions and the affected population can preclude a proper analysis of the population’s needs (see IASC Guidelines, 2007; Maslow, 1943). When this occurs, a conflictual context can suddenly emerge. Therefore, it becomes necessary to focus on the ways in which the dialogue takes place in order to weave constructive and cooperative modalities of communication (Axia, 2006). In emergency contexts, the psychologist becomes a facilitator of dialogue - among the many roles and tasks that he/she has to take forward. As a facilitator, the psychologist fosters the emergence of diversity of perspectives and of opinions (see Santinello and Vieno, 2013). This study analyses our experiences in two maxi-emergencies: Central Italy earthquake 2016 (Sant’Elpidio, Marche) and the Vaia storm and flood 2018 (Dimaro, Trentino-Alto Adige). In conclusion, the involvement of psychologists within multidisciplinary and multi-professional teams can promote the population and rescuers’ capabilities: to cope adaptively with catastrophic events; to pay attention to communication modalities; to manage emotions and conflicts; and to promote a sense of belonging (Giacomozzi et al., 2017).

In this paper, the authors present their field experiences as volunteers of the association “Psicologi per i Popoli − Trentino” in the aftermath of the 24th August 2016 earthquake, which struck especially Amatrice and the neighbouring municipalities. From those experiences, the whish emerged to share an “operational model” concerning the psychologist’s role when collaborating with the technical team responsible for habitability assessment (engineers, architects, surveyors and fire fighters), and helping people to collect their personal belongings from their houses. Hence the need arises to promote an approach towards the integration of the various professional roles which preserves their specificity. A reflective approach would represent a collaborative way of working, a different intervention perspective, and would allow a constructive self-positioning in the situation and context in which everyone operates. Through some reports from the field experience, both with people and technical teams, this paper will underline the importance of an integrated work among professionals involved in the emergency situations with different roles. Some reflections for the future will be provided, particularly about the prevention of burn-out and the training of the technical teams involved in the maxi-emergency context. Thanks to this “operational model”, the inclusion of psychologists in multidisciplinary teams will help in keeping the focus on the fundamental elements of well-being for all the people involved in the different emergency phases.