Claudette Portelli has followed her studies in Psychology at the University of Malta. After winning a scholarship, she continued her dottorato at The University of Bologna, Italy, to become a qualified Clinical Psychologist.

Eager to further her studies in human perception and behaviour,  she decided to carry out her specialisation in Brief Strategic Therapy at School of Specialisation at the Centro di Terapia Strategica (CTS) of Arezzo, founded by Paul Watzlawick and Giorgio Nardone.  At that point, the Centro di Terapia Strategica (CTS) was still a young yet effervescent institute which was further developing the breakingthrough revolutionary work of the Mental Research Institute (MRI) at The School of Palo Alto, California.

While completing her specialisation, she was asked to collaborate in various projects  carried out by the Centro di Terapia Strategica (CTS) of Arezzo, directed by Prof Nardone. At present she is a senior collaborator at CTS  where she is directly involved in research, clinical practice and training. In 2004, she was appointed ordinary lecturer at the Post-Graduate School of Brief Strategic Therapy (recognised by the M.I.U.R)

Dott.ssa Portelli also carries out private practice in her native country, Malta, where she is responsible of the Brief Strategic Therapy Centre of Malta and also in Ancona (Italy).

Since 2005 she has been appointed a regular visting lecturer at The University of Malta, at the Gestalt Institute in Barcelona, Spain and at the Gregory Bateson Institute, Paris, France. 

Dott.ssa Portelli has participated to various international conferences and has published various articles, especially on obsessive-compulsive disorders. She co-authored with Prof Nardone the text book of advanced brief strategic therapy: Knowing through Changing: The Evolution of Brief Strategic Therapy  Crown Publishing House, UK (2005).