Mission
Why do some people develop severe mental disorders and others don’t? How can treatments be refined, more personalized, and thus lead to better outcomes? What are individual and social risk but also resilience factors for mental health? How can we use innovative (neuro)technologies (digital interventions, virtual reality, neuromodulation) to improve early identification as well as prevention and intervention efforts?
Our team aims at answering these questions by investigating the underlying mechanisms of mental health and disease. We do so by adopting a transdiagnostic perspective and applying rigorous research designs in the lab and in the field. Our team is especially equipped with expertise in the most frequent mental disorders, namely addiction, anxiety, depression, and antisocial behavior.
Research
We believe that scientific rigor is at the core of impactful research in clinical psychology. Our research methods range from fundamental lab-based experiments and longitudinal designs to observational studies in the field and (digital) intervention studies. Our methods include psychophysiological measures (skin conductance, heart rate, startle reflex), neuroimaging and neurostimulation (EEG, fMRI, tDCS, TMS, tVNS), behavioural measures (eye movements, approach-avoidance), Virtual Reality, online experiments, questionnaires and qualitative research methods, ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and process-oriented (digital) interventions (attentional bias modification, extinction learning, EMDR, emotion regulation). We use these methods not only in our lab but also in real life in accordance with the research vision “From lab to Society”.
Click on a research topic to learn more about our research:
- Intimate relationships, love and sexuality
- Erasmus SYNC Lab
- Youth and family
- Personality disorders
- Mental health of the youth
- Nudging healthy behaviours (BRICS lab)
- Digital innovations for wellbeing education
- Emotional disorders
- Forensic and legal psychology
- Addictions
- Vital cities and citizens
- Applied Research Methods and Statistics
- Measuring daily life
Education
Our team contributes to the Bachelor Psychology and coordinates four different Master programs which cover about 70% of all Psychology master students at the EUR: Forensic and Legal Psychology (International), Health Psychology & Digital Interventions (International), Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (Dutch), and Clinical Psychology (Dutch and International)
We aim to bring our expertise to the classroom and educate the science-practitioners and scientists of tomorrow. Our team places a strong emphasis on education, aiming to equip our students with practical skills that are relevant to the evolving landscape of clinical psychology. We offer comprehensive courses that cover a wide array of relevant domains, including developmental psychology, clinical psychopathology, forensic and legal psychology, and innovative methods like e-health. Our educational approach not only prepares students for clinical practice but also equips them for roles beyond clinical settings.
Impact
Impact is grounded in excellent science, that’s why we emphasize scientific rigor first. Although our research is often rather fundamental, the knowledge is useful for models of mental health and disease and future (personalized) treatments. Our theories, methods and results are used worldwide by researchers, treatment providers and policymakers. We actively develop and participate in outreach activities such as in involvement of young people (YoungXperts, schools, Frontiers for YPung Minds), co-creative approaches in our research, impact-driven research initiatives such as the Student Wellbeing Program of the EUR, the Qualitative Research Collective, the Pilot of the GZ Master (together RINO and clinical organizations).