Overview
Background
Dr Marjolein Kammers is a research psychologist, with a background spanning both fundamental cognitive neuroscience and clinical translational research. She is also an AHPRA-registered psychologist and actively works with clients in clinical practice.
Her research spans four distinct research lines, applying both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Her PhD and postdoctoral research (completed in part at UCL in London) was in the field of cognitive neuroscience: understanding the interactions between neural body representations and pain. Using a range of bodily illusions, such as the now well-known Rubber Hand Illusion, she investigated how bodily experiences interact with basic sensory processing and physiological responses.
More recently, she led the clinical translation project M-HELP: Mental Health and Early Loss of Pregnancy. This project aimed to improve the mental health care provided to women and partners who experience early pregnancy loss (i.e. miscarriage). The project developed and delivered Australia's first evidence-based, empirically-tested intervention program, and Dr Kammers went on to show that it significantly improves both the mental health outcomes of bereaved parents as well as the confidence and competence of healthcare providers.
In a third research line, she works together with the UQ Parenting and Family Support Centre to investigate parent identity -- the way in which someone identifies with their parenting role and/or defines themselves as a parent, including how important this role is to them, and how it influences their values and beliefs.
In her final research line, Dr Kammers investigates ways to support individuals and families with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and ASD. Combining her clinical experience as a registered psychologist with her research background, she investigates how best to provide post-diagnosis support.
Availability
- Dr Marjolein Kammers is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy of Neuropsychology, Utrecht University
Research interests
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Improving emotional care around pregnancy loss
Women and partners who experience pregnancy loss frequently report feeling disappointed by the emotional care they received from healthcare providers. We have recently completed a research project (M-HELP: Mental Health and Early Loss of Pregnancy) that developed Australia's first evidence-based intervention to empower healthcare providers and improve the mental health outcomes of women and partners. This project was completed in a private maternity hospital setting, and my ambition is to expand and tailor the intervention to additional settings, including public hospitals, primary care (i.e. GPs), and emergency departments - allowing us to reach as many bereaved women and partners as possible.
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Post-diagnosis support after diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition
In my clinical practice, I work a lot with clients who have been diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition (such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorder; ASD). In addition to the functional impact of the condition itself, such a diagnosis can affect the client more broadly, including self-image, family dynamics, and parenting strategies. My research interests in this field center around how to optimise mental health outcomes after neuropsychological diagnosis. We need to understand post-assessment support needs, and develop and empirically evaluate post-assessment targeted support to ensure clients maximally benefit from receiving a diagnosis.
Research impacts
The M-HELP research project was funded by the Ramsay Hospital Research Foundation and carried out together with the University of Melbourne, aiming to improve the emotional care provided to women and partners who experience miscarriage. This project developed an Australian-first integrated evidence-based intervention program that the team showed was successful at both improving the mental health outcomes of women and partners, and at improving the confidence and competence of the healthcare providers involved in their care.
Three of the program's key points of innovation include:
- The program is integrated, comprising both an online training module for healthcare providers, as well as written support booklet for bereaved parents.
- The program is co-designed: the content of both the training module as well as the support booklet were developed with direct input from both healthcare providers and bereaved parents.
- The program is evidence-based: we have been able to directly show that the M-HELP intervention program (1) improves the confidence and competence of healthcare providers, and (2) ultimately improves the mental health outcomes of women and partners who experience miscarriage.
M-HELP is the first scientifically-evidenced intervention in Australia for improving emotional care around miscarriage. It is already implemented in seven hospitals across three states, and the ambition is to continue to develop this intervention to benefit as many bereaved women and partners as possible.
Works
Search Professor Marjolein Kammers’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Journal Article
TikTok says I have ADHD – now what?
Kammers, Marjolein (2025). TikTok says I have ADHD – now what?. Contact Magazine.
2025
Journal Article
What good emotional care for miscarriage looks like: A mixed-methods investigation in an Australian private hospital setting
Lee, Lysha, Gerber, Katrin and Kammers, Marjolein P.M. (2025). What good emotional care for miscarriage looks like: A mixed-methods investigation in an Australian private hospital setting. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 65 (2), 203-211. doi: 10.1111/ajo.13881
2025
Journal Article
Providing emotional care for early pregnancy loss: Development and evaluation of a new training module for healthcare providers
Lee, Lysha, Gerber, Katrin and Kammers, Marjolein P.M. (2025). Providing emotional care for early pregnancy loss: Development and evaluation of a new training module for healthcare providers. Midwifery, 140 104233, 104233-140. doi: 10.1016/j.midw.2024.104233
2023
Journal Article
Toward Optimal Emotional Care During the Experience of Miscarriage: An Integrative Review of the Perspectives of Women, Partners, and Health Care Providers
Lee, Lysha, Ma, Winn, Davies, Sidney and Kammers, Marjolein (2023). Toward Optimal Emotional Care During the Experience of Miscarriage: An Integrative Review of the Perspectives of Women, Partners, and Health Care Providers. Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health, 68 (1), 52-61. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.13414
2021
Journal Article
The rubber hand illusion in children: what are we measuring?
Lee, Lysha, Ma, Winn and Kammers, Marjolein (2021). The rubber hand illusion in children: what are we measuring?. Behavior Research Methods, 53 (6), 2615-2630. doi: 10.3758/s13428-021-01600-x
2019
Journal Article
Talking to teens about pain: a modified Delphi study of adolescent pain science education
Leake, Hayley B., Heathcote, Lauren C., Simons, Laura E., Stinson, Jennifer, Kamper, Steven J., Williams, Christopher M., Burgoyne, Laura L., Craigie, Meredith, Kammers, Marjolein, Moen, David, Pate, Joshua W., Szeto, Kimberley and Moseley, G. Lorimer (2019). Talking to teens about pain: a modified Delphi study of adolescent pain science education. Canadian Journal of Pain, 3 (1), 200-208. doi: 10.1080/24740527.2019.1682934
2015
Journal Article
Self-touch modulates the somatosensory evoked P100
Hogendoorn, Hinze, Kammers, Marjolein, Haggard, Patrick and Verstraten, Frans (2015). Self-touch modulates the somatosensory evoked P100. Experimental Brain Research, 233 (10), 2845-2858. doi: 10.1007/s00221-015-4355-0
2011
Journal Article
Feeling numb: Temperature, but not thermal pain, modulates feeling of body ownership
Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Rose, Katy and Haggard, Patrick (2011). Feeling numb: Temperature, but not thermal pain, modulates feeling of body ownership. Neuropsychologia, 49 (5), 1316-1321. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.02.039
2011
Journal Article
Visual distortion of body size modulates pain perception
Mancini, Flavia, Longo, Matthew R., Kammers, Marjolein P.M. and Haggard, Patrick (2011). Visual distortion of body size modulates pain perception. Psychological Science, 22 (3), 325-330. doi: 10.1177/0956797611398496
2010
Journal Article
Cooling the thermal grill illusion through self-touch
Kammers, Marjolein P.M., De Vignemont, Frédérique and Haggard, Patrick (2010). Cooling the thermal grill illusion through self-touch. Current Biology, 20 (20), 1819-1822. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.08.038
2010
Conference Publication
The weight of representing the body: Addressing the potentially indefinite number of body representations in healthy individuals
Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Mulder, Joris, De Vignemont, Frédérique and Chris Dijkerman, H. (2010). The weight of representing the body: Addressing the potentially indefinite number of body representations in healthy individuals. doi: 10.1007/s00221-009-2009-9
2010
Journal Article
How many motoric body representations can we grasp?
Kammers, Marjolein P. M., Kootker, Joyce A., Hogendoorn, Hinze and Dijkerman, H. Chris (2010). How many motoric body representations can we grasp?. Experimental Brain Research, 202 (1), 203-212. doi: 10.1007/s00221-009-2124-7
2009
Journal Article
Being in the dark about your hand: Resolution of visuo-proprioceptive conflict by disowning visible limbs
Hogendoorn, Hinze, Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Carlson, Thomas A. and Verstraten, Frans A.J. (2009). Being in the dark about your hand: Resolution of visuo-proprioceptive conflict by disowning visible limbs. Neuropsychologia, 47 (13), 2698-2703. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2009.05.014
2009
Journal Article
Self awareness and the body image
Longo, Matthew R., Schüür, Friederike, Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Tsakiris, Manos and Haggard, Patrick (2009). Self awareness and the body image. Acta Psychologica, 132 (2), 166-172. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2009.02.003
2009
Journal Article
Contraction of body representation induced by proprioceptive conflict
Longo, Matthew R., Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Gomi, Hiroaki, Tsakiris, Manos and Haggard, Patrick (2009). Contraction of body representation induced by proprioceptive conflict. Current Biology, 19 (17). doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.024
2009
Journal Article
Is this hand for real? Attenuation of the rubber hand illusion by transcranial magnetic stimulation over the inferior parietal lobule
Kammers, Marjolein P. M., Verhagen, Lennart, Dijkerman, H. Chris, Hogendoorn, Hinze, De Vignemont, Frederique and Schutter, Dennis J. L. G. (2009). Is this hand for real? Attenuation of the rubber hand illusion by transcranial magnetic stimulation over the inferior parietal lobule. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21 (7), 1311-1320. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21095
2009
Journal Article
The rubber hand illusion in action
Kammers, M. P.M., de Vignemont, F., Verhagen, L. and Dijkerman, H. C. (2009). The rubber hand illusion in action. Neuropsychologia, 47 (1), 204-211. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2008.07.028
2009
Journal Article
Specificity and coherence of body representations
Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Longo, Matthew R., Tsakiris, Manos, Chris Dijkerman, H. and Haggard, Patrick (2009). Specificity and coherence of body representations. Perception, 38 (12), 1804-1820. doi: 10.1068/p6389
2008
Journal Article
What is embodiment? A psychometric approach
Longo, Matthew R., Schüür, Friederike, Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Tsakiris, Manos and Haggard, Patrick (2008). What is embodiment? A psychometric approach. Cognition, 107 (3), 978-998. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2007.12.004
2006
Journal Article
A case of illusory own-body perceptions after transcranial magnetic stimulation of the cerebellum
Schutter, Dennis J. L. G., Kammers, Marjolein P. M., Enter, Dorien and Van Honk, Jack (2006). A case of illusory own-body perceptions after transcranial magnetic stimulation of the cerebellum. Cerebellum, 5 (3), 238-240. doi: 10.1080/14734220600791469
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Marjolein Kammers is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Marjolein Kammers directly for media enquiries about:
- Early pregnancy loss support
- importance of psychoeducation in clinical interventions
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