The care of relationships

On 11 March 2026, the second manual on PEFs®, Family Enrichment Pathways, was presented . Promoting generative bonds, written by professors Raffaella Iafrate, Rosa Rosnati, Anna Bertoni and Sonia Ranieri.

Family Enrichment Paths (PEFs®) are an intervention, born about twenty years ago thanks to the work of a team from our University Center, aimed at couples and/or parents who want to dedicate time to their relationship as a couple or to that with their children, so that these relationships can improve and to be able to be "the best version of themselves" in these bonds. These are interventions aimed at those who belong to a relationship that works, but we know that even relationships that "work" are still tiring and complex and we also know that relationships that are poorly cared for, that are neglected, risk breaking up or making the people involved suffer. We believe that every family bond deserves a professional space where people can be accompanied to take care of themselves and their ties so that these can be maintained over time in a satisfactory and generative way for the people involved; in fact, PEFs® are also defined as preventive interventions, precisely because they intend to prevent destructive and painful outcomes and drifts of the relationships on which they work (for example couple separation).

PEFs® are based on a precise method, the PEF® Method, which involves group work conducted by two trainers accredited by Università Cattolica. In May of this year, the tenth edition of the Trainers Course will start , which allows professionals to have the title of PEF® Conductors. The course will take place in 4 modules of 3 days (from Thursday to Saturday) from May to November. Registrations are still open subject to availability.

From 2024, PEFs® are also offered within our University for Technical and Administrative Staff and Professors, who participated as parents of young children or adolescents or as family caregivers in the various campuses in Milan, Piacenza, Brescia and Rome.

The University's attention to PEFs® underlines both the quality and effectiveness of the intervention itself as well as the need of every single professional of our University to be considered not only as a worker, but also as a person belonging to family relationships full of challenges and needs.

The words of some of the participants in the PEF® at the University were significant for understanding the real impact of this experience on everyone's life. One of them says that the "opportunity to work in a group was very interesting because it allowed me, a father, to see what mothers' perception of fathers is and to better understand the challenges that mothers experience in this path of our lives"; Another participant points out that among the most important aspects are "the time I was able to dedicate to myself as a parent to deal with issues related to parenting" and "the exchange of ideas and experiences", aspects that generated "wealth"; "The quality of the handlers" and "the concrete opportunity to understand how to reconcile my professional role and my role as a mother" were also appreciated.

From the words of the participants, the size of the group emerges as particularly appreciated, which creates the conditions for non-judgmental and enriching sharing among peers, and the possibility of dedicating quality time to reflection on the experience of parenthood.