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Psychology Research Institute Psychology Research Institute

Clinical Psychology

Psychology Research Institute / PsyRes

The mission of the Clinical Psychology programme group is to develop, improve and test effective evidence-based interventions that promote mental health & wellbeing and treat a broad range of psychopathologies, including (but not limited to) anxiety and personality disorders.
Programme group Clinical Psychology

Bridge between research and innovative therapy

Based on our belief that insight into the psychological and neurobiological underpinnings of psychopathology can inform assessment and treatment, our programme bridges fundamental research into learning & memory and clinical research into innovative psychotherapies (including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Schema Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), that capitalises on close collaboration with clinical practice.

Research topics

Specific current research topics include: emotional memory and treatment of anxiety disorders, an individual differences perspective on clinical assessment and treatment, forensic psychology, habit-based interventions, medical psychology, post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep, psychosis, self-injury, atypical development, and mindfulness.

Projects
  • Understanding the Dynamics of Suicide: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach to Inform Intervention Strategies in an Urban Context
    • Valeria Epelbaum, Valeria Krzhizhanovskaya, Denny Borsboom, Derek de Beurs
    • 2025-2028

    ‘Suicide is a complex phenomena. In our project, we will develop computational models to explore the complexities of suicidal behaviour and transitions from thoughts to attempts. By formalizing existing psychological theories, we aim to simulate real-world scenarios and test the impact of interventions. These simulations can suggest more effective suicide prevention strategies, tailored to different urban environments and personal circumstances.

    Funded by Urban Mental Health grant.

  • New Science of Mental Disorders
    • Prof. dr. Merel Kindt, Dr. Renée Visser, Dr. Tessa Blanken, Dr. Marie Deserno (Clinical Psychology)
    • 2020 - 2030

    We share a new perspective on mental disorders that goes beyond the categories of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is by far the most widely used diagnostic tool for mental disorders. The DSM follows the medical model that assumes a deeper cause that could explain all the symptoms of a mental disorder. According to our model, the various symptoms that a person has constitute the actual disorder. By mapping these symptoms, as well as identifying how they interact with each other (influenced by behaviour, thoughts, brain activity and social relationships), we think we can develop better treatments. We believe that the network of symptoms that a person has is often transdiagnostic in nature, meaning that it usually does not necessarily fit within one particular diagnosis as it is currently defined in the DSM. Treatment should target this transdiagnostic network of symptoms, and this network is different for each individual. The ultimate goal of NSMD is to improve treatment of mental disorders.

    Funded by NWO.