Before JCU she taught psychology at American College of Rome, University of Maryland and Framingham State College.
She is a practicing psychoanalyst and psychotherapist, licensed by the Italian State licensing board of Psychotherapists, the Ordine degli Psicoterapeuti. She is a member of the ISIPSÉ (Institute for the Specialization in Psychoanalytic Self Psychology and Relational Psychoanalysis), teaches in the Psychoanalytic Institute of ISIPSÉ, and is a founding member of its Post-graduate Psychotherapy School, where she teaches and is a clinical supervisor. She is a member of the scientific committee of many of the international conferences of the ISIPSÉ, and was instrumental in bringing these conferences to JCU. She is also a member of the executive committee of the ISIPSÉ.
Elaine is a member of the International Association of Relational Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis, the International Association of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, the Guild of Psychotherapists and is also licensed through the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.
She has an intensive private practice as a psychotherapist and her clinical research interests center primarily on the study of dissociation and dissociated states in traumatized individuals, the recognition and treatment of these states and the importance of dissociation in healthy individuals. She investigates innovative ways of working with dissociated states.
She also investigates the application of the findings of Intersubjective Infant Research (attunement, timing, response to facial expression, etc.) to the therapeutic process with adults; the application of the therapist’s personal experience of psychotherapy as a patient to his work with patients; and ways of more effectively working with patients in shorter-term therapy when they are part of a mobile population.
Elaine has presented original papers at international conferences:
Edited the Italian translation of the book The Abyss of Madness by George Atwood, (L'abisso della follia) and organized the presentation of the translation at John Cabot in May 2016
- Presented the paper "A warm blanket: using email during frequent critical bulimic episodes to reach and maintain contact with parts of the self that are not often present in therapy" at the conference of the International Association of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology in Boston, October 2016.
- “The use of email in an ongoing psychotherapy: reaching dissociated states” in the ISIPSE conference “La formazione dei nuovi psicoanalisti” Rome, John Cabot University, 14 Feb, 2009. Revised version to be presented in Oct. 2010 in Antalia, Turkey, at the Conference of the International Association of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology
- “Seeing Double- The advantages of working with a patient’s dissociated states with another therapist” written with Elisabeth Konda and presented at the International Conference of Relational Psychoanalysis held in Athens in July of 2007
- “Brief Psychotherapy” discussion of Havneskold’s “Focused self-psychologically based psychotherapy” in the 4th European Conference of Self Psychology, Rome, May, 2006
- “Errors in analysis” at the ISIPSe’ conference La nostra e l’altrui vergogna held in Rome at John Cabot in February of 2005
- “Looking back: what we learned when we were patients” written with Carmine Schettini M.D. presented in the original papers and workshops session at the International Conference of the Psychology of the Self held in San Diego in October of 2004
- “The experience of supervision”, at a panel in the first ISIPSe’ international congress, L’emergere del se’ dell’analista: empatia, mutualita’, autenticita’ nella formazione psicoanalitica, held in Rome at John Cabot University, May, 2003
Since 2014 Professor Luti has been writing a monthly column in the online magazine The American Mag on psychological and educational issues for the general public.
Besides her field of study, Elaine has many interests including writing fiction and poetry, classical singing, calligraphy, painting, and cooking. She is married with two children and two grandchildren.
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