Dr 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 completed a Professional Doctorate (DProf) in Health and Social Care at Bournemouth University in 2020. In this doctoral research I explore the psychological experience of cancer survivorship from a perspective of enactive 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

2020, Bournemouth University, U.K., DProf - Thinking self after bowel cancer: an embodied interpretation and art-iculation.
1993, Ghent University, Belgium, MA in Humanistic Counselling
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