Drs. C.R.M. (Carolijn) de Beer, MSc

My name is Carolijn, and I work as a senior researcher and psychologist at outpatient clinic for youth at LUMC Curium. In 2017, I obtained my bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences at Leiden University College, followed by a master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Leiden University.

I am currently in the final phase of my PhD research, where I conduct practice-oriented research on how youth peer support workers (young adults with lived experience of mental health challenges) can add value and be structurally integrated into child and adolescent mental health services. In the coming years, I will continue to focus on this topic. Additionally, I am researching how medical doctors experience mental health challenges and treatment, and how these experiences impact their professional identity and practice.

Recently, my colleagues and I received a grant from the Regional Expertise Network for Youth South Holland (BREN) to create a partnership between several youth mental health services, including LUMC Curium, Rivierduinen, iHUB, Cardea, and various peer support networks. The goal of this project and partnership is to build a strong pool of (youth) peer support workers over the next few years, so that young people with lived experience, as well as the lived experience of parents and caregivers, can be systematically involved in supporting youth and families in mental health services. In addition, I contribute to the “Qualitative Research in Health” course, where I apply my expertise in qualitative research to support fellow researchers conducting qualitative research.

Within the LUMC Curium research group, I actively apply my expertise in integrating lived experience and experiential knowledge into both youth mental health care and scientific research.