"The Therapeutic Being": The First Issue of Roots and Horizons, The Developmental Library's Journal, Is Out Now
Updated: Oct 25
The Developmental Library, a community-led space dedicated to understanding human development across the lifespan, presents the first issue of its annual journal, Roots and Horizons, titled "The Therapeutic Being – Presence, Humanity and Relationship in Care." Released in October 2026 to celebrate the page's "birthday," the issue marks the start of an editorial project designed to endure over time: an annual journal that aims to become, issue after issue, a living archive of the dialogue between research and clinical practice.
A stated mission: making psychological knowledge accessible and applicable
The Developmental Library was founded as an open community for psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, researchers, and students — anyone interested in human development across the lifespan. Its stated mission is to make psychological knowledge accessible, insightful, and applicable to research, teaching, and real-world practice. Roots and Horizons translates this mission into a structured editorial format, addressing not only professionals in the field but anyone interested in questioning how human beings develop and what care means in its deepest sense.
The theme of the issue: The Self That Heals
At the center of this first issue is what the editorial team calls the "Self That Heals": an exploration of how therapeutic practice is born at the meeting point of scientific knowledge and subjective experience, of evidence-based technique and authentic presence, of theoretical knowledge and lived relationship. In her opening letter, founder Diletta describes the choice of theme as a response to a specific need: at a moment when psychology is questioning its relationship with technology and the efficiency of its tools, the issue chooses to return to a fundamental question — that of the therapist as a human being, not only as a trained professional, but as an embodied presence, a subject in relationship, who carries their own history, body and sensitivity into the encounter with another person's humanity.
A structure designed to hold different registers
The issue is organized into seven sections, each designed to hold a different register and language, so that scientific rigor and clinical sensitivity can coexist within the same editorial space without hierarchy:
Theoretical Reflections — essays exploring innovative theoretical perspectives at the intersection of human development, psychodynamics, neuroscience and cultural psychology. Contributions include an in-depth examination of the neurobiological foundations of chronic stress and trauma — tracing the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, amygdaloid and prefrontal circuits, and the epigenetic mechanisms of trauma transmission — alongside a reflection on gender pedagogy between critical theory and practices of emancipation.
Research in Perspective — syntheses and critical readings of recent research, including a narrative review of conversational, predictive, and adaptive systems applied to dual diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, and a contribution on relationship as an integral part of neuropsychological assessment.
From Theory to Practice — a bridge between theoretical models and concrete clinical applications, with texts addressing identity maintenance in the care of people with cognitive disorders, the caring relationship in contexts of cultural suffering, and the intersection of brain and digital plasticity in clinical and educational practice.
Community Voices — a participatory space dedicated to the direct experiences of The Developmental Library's members, including an international prenatal education project for early childhood centers and a collective piece on the presence that heals, built through diverse voices from the community.
Dialogues — open conversations between professionals, educators, students, and researchers, including a dialogue dedicated to the journey of becoming a psychologist, exploring presence, humanity, and relationship as the foundation of care.
Resources and Tools — a curated selection of readings for cultivating bodily awareness and authenticity in the therapy room, alongside resources for professional growth across the lifespan.
Creativity and Culture — the issue's artistic space, approaching the theme through non-academic languages: from a reading of The Starry Night as a map of the therapeutic being, to the use of metaphor in clinical practice, to autobiographical writing as a tool for introspection and sharing, culminating in a collective journey through books, films, paintings and songs that speak of relationship.
Contributors and voices involved
The issue brings together the work of numerous authors: psychologists, psychotherapists, educators, neuropsychologists, counselors, trainers and members of The Developmental Library community, each invited to bring their own professional and personal perspective on the theme. Some contributions are signed, others were published anonymously — a reflection of an editorial project that chose to prioritize content over visibility of the author's name. The diversity of profiles involved — from neuroscientific research to daily clinical practice, from pedagogy to autobiographical writing — mirrors the journal's deliberately interdisciplinary approach.
An editorial project built to last
Curated as an annual project, Roots and Horizons is not conceived as a simple container for occasional publications, but as a space for ongoing dialogue: an archive that, issue after issue, weaves together scientific rigor, critical reflection and clinical sensitivity. The fixed seven-section structure, designed to be maintained across future issues with different themes, aims to give the project continuity and recognizability, while active community participation — solicited through open calls for contributions — seeks to ensure that the journal remains, over time, a collective expression rather than the product of a closed editorial board.
The first issue of Roots and Horizons is available here: https://online.anyflip.com/pvcdg/ugmq/mobile/index.html
Comments