May 8-10, 2018 - A Presentation at Sapienza University, A Theft, and The Griners Go Home

Mark here.  After we got back from our whirlwind tour of Italy with the Griners, they spent a few more days with us in Rome.  We were able to do a little sightseeing, but the main focus for Derek and me was a professional presentation at Sapienza University.  Having been established in 1303 A.D. and with an enrollment of over 100,000, it is one of the oldest and largest universities in the world. 

Derek and I are on a research group at BYU that has been collaborating with a team of researchers that is investigating the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) in a group therapy context.  One member of that team is Nicola (Nico) Petrocchi, who is a professor at John Cabot University in Rome.  Derek and I were speaking with Nico many months ago and talked with him about the possibility of presenting the results of the CFT group research our team has been doing at BYU as well as other group research we have been doing for several years.  Nico expressed significant interest in such a presentation and said that his friend and colleague at Sapienza University, Roberto Baiocco, would also be interested.  

After some discussion about how to make the presentation happen, it made the most sense to present at Sapienza University because more students and faculty would be in attendance on the days we were available to present.  We agreed to present on May 10th.  

I was able to go to dinner with Nico a month or so before in Rome.  It was great to get to know him and to discuss some possible research collaboration in the future.  On May 10th, Derek and I took most of the morning to present on the results of the CFT research and on using measures in group psychotherapy to evaluate process and outcome.  The presentation went extremely well.  We had a lot of participation from the audience (despite the fact that we spoke almost exclusively in English), and they seemed to really enjoy the information we gave them.  

After the presentation, we were able to talk more with Nico and Roberto.  They were incredibly welcoming, and it was really interesting to hear about the things they are doing.  We were able to discuss some possible collaboration in the future.  They asked to take us to dinner with our wives and Hannah that night.  

We met them at a nearby pizzeria, and we were having a great time getting to know each other.  After about 15-20 minutes, Roberto, who had come to meet us directly after work, noticed that his backpack that he had left on the floor by his side and a little behind him was missing.  At that point, Hannah and a few others at the table noted that a couple had come and sat behind him and had left quite suddenly.  Hannah noted that she had thought it was weird that the man in the couple had repeatedly turned to look at us.  The restaurant staff then related that the couple had left before even ordering and that they had to stop them to get them to pay for the bottled water they had had.  

Nico and Roberto rushed out of the restaurant and drove around on their scooter trying to find them.  Derek and I also went out and walked around to search (even possibly for a discarded backpack after any valuables had been removed).  As would be expected, there was no sign of them.  It was really disheartening as the backpack had been an expensive gift.  Inside the backpack, he had over $600 in cash from his private practice payments, a thumb drive with all of his recent writing on it, his planner with his schedule for the next few weeks, and several other things that were important to him.  It really was sad and frustrating.  

We repeatedly suggested that we cancel the evening so that Roberto could make a police report and deal with the situation or just so that he could go home; however, he strongly insisted that we still have dinner and that we go to gelato afterward.  We marveled at the way he treated us and dealt with the situation.  Both he and Nico were extremely generous and kind, and we thoroughly enjoyed being with them.


Nico has the curly hair and Roberto is bald.


The Griners left for home early then next morning.  It was wonderful to have them visit, and we miss having them with us.

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