Biography
MSc – Clinical Psychology
Promotors: prof. Liesbet Goubert, prof. Kim Beernaert, prof. Lesley Verhofstadt
Marthe obtained her Master of Science in Clinical Psychology in 2020 at Ghent University. Her interest in the field of health psychology roots from the beginning of her studies, but deepened during working on her master’s thesis under supervision of prof. dr. Liesbet Goubert and prof. dr. Eline Van Hoecke. In this project they evaluated an intervention tackling pediatric pain and fear in the context of ambulatory surgery. During her internship at the department for pediatric medical psychology in Ghent University Hospital, Marthe was dedicated to support children and their families confronted with medical conditions and chronic pain. After graduating, she first did a student job at the pediatric oncology department, in Ghent University Hospital. In January 2021, she started working as a clinical psychologist in a group practice until July 2022.
In 2021, Marthe joined the Ghent Health Psychology lab (UGent) and the End-of-Life Care Research Group (UGent-VUB) as a PhD student. Her doctoral research, supervised by prof. dr. Liesbet Goubert and co-supervised by prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt (Family Lab) and prof. dr. Kim Beernaert (End-of-Life Care Research Group), focusses on support needs and experiences of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who are confronted with parental (incurable) cancer. In this project, qualitative and quantitative methods are combined to gain further insight in how AYAs could be supported by their own network (e.g. peers) and healthcare professionals, starting from the AYAs own experiences and needs.