Our mission is to advance the understanding of mental health of individuals with a history of stress and/or trauma through rigorous interdisciplinary research, integrating insights from clinical psychology, neurobiology, and social sciences. We are committed to translating our findings into innovative therapeutic interventions that enhance well-being and resilience across the lifespan. By bridging the gap between science and clinical practice, we strive to improve the quality of life for individuals with a history of stress and/or trauma. To tackle this, we use experimental and observational studies and interventions:

1. Empirical studies.

ur approaches include observational and experimental studies on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other stress-related disorders, such as anxiety, depression or borderline personality disorder, with a specific focus on the intergenerational transmission of trauma, for example by investigating parent-child interactions and the impact of childhood trauma.

• The 3-generation study: Stress and emotion in a family context
• RE-PAIR study: Unravelling the impact of emotional maltreatment 
• Cognitive and Behavioral Emotion Regulation after traumatic life events

2. Interventions

In addition, we focus on experimental intervention studies and clinical trials to investigate how the effectivity of trauma-focussed interventions for PTSD can be improved, for example by testing treatment innovations in Prolonged Exposure therapy.

• IMPACT study: Improving PTSD treatment for adults with childhood trauma 

Links

Our research is strongly connected with bachelor and master courses on stress and trauma. Moreover, part of our academic staff is also appointed at the academic mental health care center LUBEC, where we focus on innovating and improving trauma-focused interventions for individuals with complex trauma-related psychological problems. We also have strategic alliances with several other regional mental health partners, including LUMC, PsyQ Psychotrauma and Riverduinen, Arkin, and are part of large-scale, interdisciplinary research initiatives such as NESDA and the New Science of Mental Disorders Gravitation consortium.