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
2006
Journal Article
Dissociating body representations in healthy individuals: Differential effects of a kinaesthetic illusion on perception and action
Kammers, M. P.M., van der Ham, I. J.M. and Dijkerman, H. C. (2006). Dissociating body representations in healthy individuals: Differential effects of a kinaesthetic illusion on perception and action. Neuropsychologia, 44 (12), 2430-2436. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2006.04.009
2006
Journal Article
Perception of emotional facial expressions at different intensities in early-symptomatic Huntington's disease
Montagne, Barbara, Kessels, Roy P.C., Kammers, Marjolein P.M., Kingma, Elselijn, De Haan, Edward H.F., Roos, Raymund A.C. and Middelkoop, Huub A.M. (2006). Perception of emotional facial expressions at different intensities in early-symptomatic Huntington's disease. European Neurology, 55 (3), 151-154. doi: 10.1159/000093215
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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