Lesley Verhofstadt is the Family Lab director and head of Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology. She developed research programs on:
1. Behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dyadic processes underlying couple(dys)functioning, including:
emotion regulation
empathic accuracy
psychological needs frustration
support provision
conflict management
2. Couples and families under stress. Research is currently conducted within couples/ families confronted with:
pediatric cancer
advanced cancer
sexual violence
perinatal depression
professional burn-out
parental burn-out
COVID-19
Strongly committed to foster evidence-based couple and family therapy, Lesley Verhofstadt takes editorial roles in scientific as well as professional journals, serves as board member of research as well as professional organizations and committees, both at a national and international level. She is involved in multiple multi-nation and cross-cultural studies within her research field. She teaches Bachelor & Master courses on Couple & Family Psychology, Couple & Family Therapy, Clinical Psychology, and Counseling Skills at Ghent University. She is a certified Couple & Family Therapist, and staff member/trainer within the Postgraduate Training Program in Couple, Family, and Systemic Psychotherapy at Ghent University. She furthermore is an active trainer in several psychotherapy training programs in Belgium and abroad.
Ann Buysse was the former head of the Family Lab and is currently dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at Ghent University. Her research focuses on mechanisms underlying the process of influence in families in topics such as adoption, blended families, families with children with disabilities, donor families, divorce, mediation, family therapy, sexual health, communication, family support, family solidarity, attachment, blue psychology, etc. Projects are carried out in close collaboration with various stakeholders, with a focus on generating real world impact and societal innovations. Her teaching assignment has long included family studies, systems therapy, and mediation, and more recently primary care. She held various positions at both the faculty and scientific, policy or social organizations.
Alexis Dewaele is a Familylab Faculty member and associate professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at Ghent University. He is senior lecturer in qualitative research methods in clinical psychology as well as coordinator of PSYNC. PSYNC is a Ghent University interdisciplinary consortium dedicated to improving the mental health of all citizens and running research projects in close collaboration with diverse stakeholders. Throughout his career, he build up elaborate research experience in the study of sexual minorities (LGBT+ communities). He was and is involved in diverse European funded projects (e.g., Erasmus+, Cost Actions) on the topics of sexual- and mental health, co-creation and research impact.
Expertise and Research Interests:
Sexual orientation, gender identity, and minority stress
Sexual health
Qualitative and quantitative research methods
Societal impact and co-creation as related to research within Social Sciences and Humanities
Laura Sels is an assistant professor (tenure track) at the Family Lab. She studies the dynamic emotional processes that unfold in interpersonal and intimate relationships, using dyadic experience sampling, laboratory and observational studies, and longitudinal designs.
Her work extends to clinical applications, methodological innovations, and translational research. She has organized international workshops and is editing a special issue on contextual factors in emotional processes in close relationships.
In recognition of her contributions to the field, she received the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science (2025).
Laura teaches bachelor’s and master’s courses in psychology and orthopedagogy and coordinates a master’s clinical psychology course. Passionate about relationships, she also sees a limited number of couples in clinical practice and actively engages in science communication and outreach.
Luc Van den Berge is as guest professor at Ghent University involved in courses on clinical psychology and couple and family psychology/therapy. He has a PhD in educational sciences and is a systemic and narrative psychotherapist. He is an accredited trainer and supervisor within the BVRGS and works in a child- and adolescent mental health service in Ghent (CGG Adentro). He is also an associated trainer at the Interactie-Academie (Antwerp) and works in a private group practice De Luwte, as a supervisor. He is also working as a voluntary research assistant at KULeuven. He is interested in (the history of) concepts that constitute and inform the broad research and clinical field of interpersonal models in psychology. He published on parenting support and different aspects of systemic therapy.
Dr. Dagmar Stockman works as a part-time doctor-assistant in the Familylab. She is involved in clinical courses related to family and couple therapy.
Dagmar completed her PhD on sexual violence, examining how experiences of sexual violence affect not only survivors themselves, but also their romantic partners and the dynamics of their intimate relationships.
Pauline Verhelst is a BOF funded PhD student working on interpersonal emotion regulation strategies (IERS) within couples facing perinatal depression. More specifically, she examines:
which types of IERS couples facing perinatal depression use
which types of IERS are adaptive within couples facing perinatal depression
how IERS relate to other psychological risk factors for perinatal depression
Pauline works under the supervision of prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt, dr. Laura Sels, & prof. dr. Gilbert Lemmens.
Nikki Taelemans is a PhD student working on empathic accuracy, referring to how accurate people can estimate others’ thoughts and feelings while interacting. She is especially interested in the trainability of empathic accuracy. Nikki works under the supervision of prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt and dr. Laura Sels. Alongside conducting research, she is also a teaching assistant, involved in the courses Assessment Interpersonal Processes and Systemic Therapy.
Sophie Van Hoyweghen’s PhD research is FWO funded and focuses on the psychosocial dynamics of genetic testing for cancer predisposition syndromes (CPSs) in children. Her work is embedded in the multidisciplinary “DHECIPR” project . She examines:
the decision making process regarding genetic testing
the psychosocial consequences of CPSs among children and their family members
the need for professional psychosocial support in the genetic testing process
the knowledge about genetics among families with a CPS and how this affects the advice given, uptake of and experience with regular surveillance for CPS
Sophie works under the supervision of prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt, prof. dr. Kathleen Claes, dr. Sabine Hellemans, & dr. Robin De Putter.
Vincent Ronse De Craene works as a PhD student investigating topics regarding LGBTQ+-experiences and family functioning. He works under the supervision of prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt and prof. dr. Alexis Dewaele.
Alongside teaching within clinical courses provided by the Family Lab and conducting research Vincent also works as a systemic psychotherapist at a group practice for psychotherapy in Ghent. He works with individuals, couples, parents, and families that are confronted with a range of complex circumstances or experiencing multiple psychosocial problems.
Davide Pirrone is a PhD student working on an IBOF funded project under the supervision of prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt & prof. dr. Batja Gomes De Mesquita (KULeuven). His work focuses on understanding emotion dynamics in intimate relationships from a relationship goals perspective.
Lilly Scharmer is a PhD student working on an IBOF funded project. She is especially interested in the predictive validity of emotion dynamics for individual and relational well-being across cultures. Lilly’s work is supervised by prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt, prof. dr. Eva Ceulemans (KULeuven), and prof. dr. Batja Gomes De Mesquita (KULeuven).
Paul is a PhD candidate working on a VLAIO funded project on burn-out, supervised by prof. dr. Lesley Verhofstadt & prof. dr. Peter Kuppens (KULeuven). The key goal of his PhD research is to develop and validate the IPPS assessment tool and intervention protocol for burn-out treatment which is characterized by a focus on interpersonal processes and value (in)congruency in particular. The following questions are examined:
What information does the IPPS data convey about burn-out and related interpersonal processes?
What is the therapeutic effectiveness of the IPPS intervention protocol?
What are the therapeutic mechanisms involved in the IPPS intervention protocol?
Paul furthermore works as a staff member and systemic therapist/supervisor at the Interactie-Academie (Antwerp).
Lore Remmerie is a PhD researcher studying the concept of sexual well-being in young people through participatory methods. The project aims to advance the cross-cultural understanding of sexual well-being, as well as improve strategies for meaningful youth participation in research on sensitive topics like sexuality. Lore works under the supervision of Prof. dr. Kristien Michielsen (KU Leuven), Prof. dr. Alexis Dewaele (Ghent University), and Prof. dr. Joseph Tucker (The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).
Nina Szyf
Description
Nina Szyf is a PhD student at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University (joint PhD) within the FWO-SBO project on the relationship between pornography consumption, perception of pornographic material, sexual functioning, and well-being in various minority groups. Her PhD is supervised by Prof. Dr. Gily Coene (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Prof. Dr. Alexis Dewaele (Ghent University). With a background in Communication Sciences, her research focuses on the societal impact of digital phenomena, particularly in the field of sexuality and media.
Before starting her PhD, Nina conducted research on the legal and social dimensions of deepnudes (pornographic deepfakes) at Ghent University, which earned her a nomination in the finals of the 'Vlaamse Scriptieprijs' (top 5). She later collaborated as an external researcher at the University of Antwerp on projects related to deepnudes, digital partner violence, and online safety, working with institutions such as the Institute for the Equality of Women and Men and Child Focus.
Her work aims to bridge academic insights with practical applications to foster a more inclusive and informed understanding of sexuality in the digital age.
Edwin is a PhD researcher focusing on the relationship between identity development and mental wellbeing among young adults in the age of social media. Through an innovative qualitative methodological framework that integrates different data collection and analysis methods the aim is to arrive at a holistic and contextualised in-depth understanding of the way young adults relate to themselves, the society around them and how this pertains to their mental wellbeing.
The project is interdisciplinary in nature and supervised by Prof. Dr. Reitske Meganck (Department of Psychoanalysis and Clinical Consulting), Prof. Dr. Alexis Dewaele (Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology), and Prof. Dr. Peter Stevens (Department of Sociology) with Dr. Melissa Ceuterick (Department of Sociology) involved as Postdoctoral researcher.
Helena Van der Jeught is a PhD student funded by a BOF-project on “A context-sensitive, dynamic interpersonal approach for understanding how partners regulate each other’s emotional distress”.
Her main research focuses on interpersonal emotion regulation within romantic couples: How do partners try to deal with each other’s emotions? She investigates for instance how interpersonal emotion regulation develops and changes over time (just as its consequences) and across important life transitions (for instance, when becoming parents for the first time).
Helena works under the main supervision of Prof. Dr. Laura Sels.
Katty Kochman is a teaching assistant for courses on qualitative data analysis. She is interested in data analysis and instructional design. She has worked on several interdisciplinary research projects involving topics of motivation, gamification, and process analysis. She also has an active interest in socio-cultural programs and their optimization. Before her Phd, she worked as a supervisor within the LAUSD for children with behavioral intervention needs.
Lies Pauwels works as solution-focused systemic psychotherapist in Therapeutisch Zorgpunt N Gent with individuals, couples and families. She combines this with a job as a primary care psychologist at WGC Watersportbaan and is freelance trainer for Sensoa (Expertise centre for sexual health). As a member of the Family Lab’s teaching staff she is involved in assessment as well as intervention courses in the domain of couple and family therapy.
Melissa Schaessens is a clinical psychologist and systemic therapist. She works as a therapist at Therapeutisch Zorgpunt N (Ghent) with individuals, couples, and families. Common themes in the therapeutic processes she guides include dealing with divorce, infidelity, changes within partner relationships, phases in the family life cycle, building new relationships with stepfamilies, and so on. As a member of the Family Lab teaching staff, she is involved in practical training on assessment and interventions in the field of couple and family therapy.
Gaia Van Cauwenberg is a clinical psychologist who works at the Centre of Sexology and Gender at the University Hospital Ghent (UZ Gent). Here she assesses, guides and gives therapy to gender variant children, adolescents and young adults. Since these young people are still surrounded by their caregivers she also focuses on the family communication and dynamics, and on the coping abilities of the parents and siblings. Part of her job at the hospital involves training caregivers throughout Flanders in how to counsel gender variant young people and their families. Before this, Gaia worked at the Transgender Infopunt (TIP) where her (research) projects focused on the wellbeing of trans children, trans adolescents and their parents. At the Family Lab, she is a teacher assistant for the course Gender studies and Sexology.
Michelle Deceuninck
Description
Michelle Deceuninck is a clinical psychologist and a systemic psychotherapist. She has her own independent practice in which she mainly works with individuals and couples. In addition, Michelle is active as an intervisor within "Netwerk Kwadraat", which is the conventioned psychologists group in the Central West Flanders region. Furthermore she has additional training within primary care psychology and trauma. As a member of the Family Lab’s teaching staff, Michelle is involved as a practical assistant for the courses primary care - short-term intervention and mediation.
Maaike Afschrift
Description
Maaike Afschrift is a clinical psychologist (1997) and client-centered and experiential psychotherapist (2001), specialised in Focusing and Focusing Oriented Therapy (2015). She's a certifying coordinator of The International Focusing Institute (New York). She started her career in CGG Noord-West-Vlaanderen, Bruges, where she worked for fifteen years with adults (individuals and groups). From 2008 to 2018 she was involved in different education and training programs for mental health care professionals. Today she has a private practice with psychotherapy, supervision, and training & education in Focusing and FOT as main activities. Since 2019, she has also been editor of Tijdschrift Persoonsgerichte Experiëntiële Psychotherapie. She published several articles on focusing oriented therapy, and loves writing and talking from and about human experiential processes.
As a teaching assistant for the Family lab, she's involved in the course Case studies - intervention; she is also a member of the teaching staff of the HEALinG lab, for the course Clinical psychological skills and diagnostics/KPVD.
Arielle Petitjean
Description
Arielle Petitjean is a clinical psychologist and systemic psychotherapist. She works in a Sexual Assault Refferal Centre with victims and their support figures, where she combines systemic work and trauma therapy. Previously, she worked in forensic psychiatry, dealing with perpetrators and their networks. As a member of the Family Lab teaching staff, she is involved in practical training on assessment and interventions in the field of couple and family therapy.
Scientific Staff
Elke Denayer
Description
Elke Denayer is the Project Coordinator for CH@T-YOUTH Belgium, an Erasmus+-project in collaboration with the Finnish Youth Research Society, La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary). Together with prof. Dr. Alexis Dewaele and prof. Dr. Lien Goossens, she builds a network of chat-related stakeholders and is organizing Community of Practice meetings and webinars for the network. She also works as a practical assistant for courses regarding qualitative data analysis. Apart from her work at the university, she works as a clinical psychologist at Universitair Centrum Kind & Adolescent with children, teenagers and their families
