Prof. Dr. Angelika Groterath, Psychologist and Social Scientist
Residences in Germany (Saarlouis) and Italy (Rome)
Work Experience
Since 10/2020: retired as a professor, continuing self-employment in Germany and Italy
3/2006 – 09/2020
Professor of Psychology in Darmstadt, Germany. Focus on Social Psychology, International Activities and Organizations, and Clinical Psychology/Psychodrama
- Developed an international study program in social work.
- Designed International projects (Ukraine, Türkiye, Italy, France, Sweden, Ghana, Jordan, Brazil, Paraguay, USA) including fundraising.
- Introduced psychodrama into the canon of methods of social work.
- Member of the Senate Commission on Equality, temporarily also a member of the Senate.
- Publications in German, English and Italian.
7/1990 – 2/2006
Independent International Consultant, based in Rome, activities initially on behalf of an International NGO (CeIS ) with consultative status at ECOSOC/the United Nations, from 1997 onwards also independently.
- Psychodrama (training and therapy) and other capacity building in drug facilities in Italy, Slovenia and in partner organizations of CeIS in Latin America, the EU and Egypt.
- Project evaluation in drug demand reduction and HIV/AIDS for UNODC and UNAIDS in the MENA region (Middle East Northern Africa) and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Expert for the European Commission in Benghazi, Libya, 2005/2006; the case of the HIV infection of hundreds of newborns at Benghazi Hospital and of Bulgarian nurses considered guilty and sentenced to death. Psychodrama training of young female psychologists as an element of a large EU project.
- Emergency psychologist, treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and acute emergencies in the Gaza Strip in 2001, including September 11, during the Second Intifada (for Médecins Sans Frontières France, Paris) and in Baghdad and Amman in 2003 after the attack on the United Nations (for UNSECOORD, New York, and UNDP Jordan).
- Member of a commission appointed by the Italian Prime Minister that defined the guidelines for psychological first aid for the Italian Civil Protection.
- Teaching in Master courses in clinical and emergency psychology at the Catholic University of Milan, Department of Psychology, and at the University of Roma III, Department of Political Science.
11/1984 – 6/1990
Scientific Director, Moreno Institute Stuttgart (Psychodrama Training Institute).
11/1980 – 10/1984
Counseling and training in educational institutions (BFW) of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). First psychologist at the BFW and the DGB ever.
Education
12/1986
Giessen, Germany, PhD in Social Sciences.
11/1979
Marburg, Germany, Diploma (MSc) in Psychology
Further qualifications
- Psychological psychotherapist (1999) and psychodramatist
- Advanced training in organizational development and management with Juan Corelli, CeIS, Rome, and Harold Bridger, Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, London. (1991-2006)
- Master’s degree in Peacekeeping and Security Studies, Università Roma III, Faculty of Political Science – a one-year university-level continuing education program for officers of the Italian Army and civilians with experience in peacekeeping missions (2000).
- Psycho-oncologist (2021).
Personal
Languages: German – native speaker, very good Italian and English, good French, moderate Spanish, basic knowledge of Portuguese, Slovenian and Arabic.
Committed, resilient and a person of faith – and a sense of humor!
Recent publications (sample):
Misunderstanding is the norm, understanding like a serious accident, sociodrama between cultural relativism and cultural colonialism, forthcoming in German and in English 2026, in Sociodrama Volume 1, Wittinger and Zammt , eds., Springer Verlag GmbH Berlin
A commentary on the article by Karl Haller, Ulrike Dinger, and Johannes C. Ehrental in PTJ 4/2025. Title of the article: Structure-Oriented Work in Psycho-Oncology, Forthcoming in Psychotherapeutenjournal 1/2026
Flight and Migration from Africa to Europe. Contributions of Psychology and Social Work. A. Groterath, V. Langher, G. Marinelli. 2020. Barbara Budrich Publishers, Opladen & Farmington Hills. Leverkusen.
Migration and Refugees: Global Patterns and Local Contexts. D. Leitch, A. Groterath, K. Habtemichael, Ed.: 2018: nova science publishers, Hauppauge NY, USA. .
Beijing +20 – The impact of The Fourth World Conference of Women in Beijing 1995 as seen 20 years later by international women. – Lia Calvelo; Ronald Lutz; Alexander Stauss (eds.), 2016. Development and Social Work. Social Work of the South, Vol. VI. Oldenburg, Paolo Freire Verlag.