Prof. G.P.J. Keijsers (Ger)

I am a professor of psychotherapy at the Department of Clinical Psychology and Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University. I have always been interested in how people change through psychotherapy and in what 'therapeutic change' actually is. This means that I am investigating (the evidence of) the effects of psychotherapy and psychological treatments, short-term treatment effects, rapid or slow treatment effects, long-term effects, relapse after successful treatment, effective therapeutic techniques such as exposure and self-control interventions, and also non-specific factors such as motivation, outcome expectations and the quality of the therapeutic relationship.

The topics in my current research are the following: the use of imagery techniques in cognitive behaviour therapy, the effects of the first treatment session, schema therapy in difficult-to-treat depressive patients, self-control procedures in people with eating disorders, pathological hair pulling and skin picking, the chronicity of embitterment, and synchrony in the therapeutic relationship.

I chair one of the largest master's programs at Radboud University, the master's GZP (mental health care psychology), and until recently, I chaired (hoofdopleider) the post-master's program of clinical psychologists at RINO-Zuid, so I also devote a substantial part of my time to education and developing the profession of health care psychologists.
In addition, I am a BIG-licensed and practising clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, working at the Expert Centre of Depression of Pro Persona, and lastly, I am the chief editor of a successful book series on evidence-based psychological treatments for mental disorders.