Season 2, Episode 10: Feeling Like an Outsider, Identity and Stress Burnout – Giovanni Felice Pace
This episode discusses identity, belonging, cultural difference, career expectations, stress, and burnout.
Michaela and Dipti meet psychotherapist, supervisor and teacher Giovanni Felice Pace for an honest conversation about growing up feeling like an outsider, choosing a different path to the one expected of you, and what it can cost when work pressure becomes too much.
Giovanni shares how, as a child in Southern Italy, he struggled to communicate with his peers and began to feel on the outside. He talks about his early fascination with therapy, his determination to study Psychology despite family pressure, and later moving to the UK to train as a therapist. Giovanni also reflects on life in London, how it helped him understand his roots, and a serious health scare when stress left him temporarily blind in one eye, prompting a major re-evaluation of his life and work. He now works in Brighton with individuals, couples and groups.
In this episode, Giovanni shares:
- Feeling like an outsider at primary school and struggling to communicate
- Early interest in therapy (reading Freud at 11)
- Family expectations and choosing Psychology anyway
- Moving from Italy to the UK to train as a therapist
- Finding belonging in London and understanding his roots
- The pressure of private practice and the toll of stress
- Temporarily losing sight in one eye due to stress
- Re-evaluating life and work after a health scare
- Moving to Brighton and his work with individuals, couples and groups
Key Topics Discussed:
- Identity, belonging and feeling like an outsider
- Cultural difference and finding your place
- Family pressure and career choices
- Migration, roots and self-understanding
- Stress, burnout and health warnings
- Building a sustainable life in therapy work
Learn more about Giovanni Felice Pace
