Kathleen Vandenberghe

Biography

I started as a lecturer on the MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice in 2018. Prior to taking up this role at LJMU I have worked as a counsellor, supervisor, teacher and team coordinator in hospices since 1991, initially in Belgium and since 1999 in the U.K.

Both as a lecturer, researcher and practitioner I feel passionate about preserving ‘humanity’ at the core of health care and health care organisations.

I am working on a Professional Doctorate (DProf) in Health and Social Care at Bournemouth University which I aim to finalise in the coming year. In this doctoral research I explore the psychological experience of cancer survivorship from a perspective of embodied cognition and hermeneutic phenomenology. Special attention is given to the dissemination process. By using art (painting) as a means of expressing and taking forward the findings I aim to increase the chance for the findings to become ‘actionable knowledge’ for practitioners and cancer survivors. This ‘art-iculation’ is also an exercise in integrating academic and non-academic interpretations.

Languages

Dutch; Flemish

Degrees

1993, Ghent University, Belgium, MA in Humanistic Counseling
1983, Vives University College, Belgium, BSc in Applied Psychology

Academic appointments

Lecturer in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice, Liverpool John Moores University, 2018 - present

Postgraduate training

PGCert in Counselling Supervision, U.K., Chester University, 2009 - 2010
PGDip in Teaching and Didactics, Belgium, Ghent University, 1993 - 1994