Aimee Nelen is a PhD candidate at the Department of Clinical Psychology. She researches the mechanisms of rupture and repair events in psychotherapy sessions, the therapeutic alliance, Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), and psychotherapy training.

More information about Aimee Nelen

Aimee Nelen is a PhD candidate at the Department of Clinical Psychology. She researches the mechanisms of rupture and repair events in psychotherapy sessions, the therapeutic alliance, Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), and psychotherapy training.

Her PhD project is called the CRAFT study: Confidence, Responsiveness, and Alliance-building in Focused Therapy Training. The project focusses on the mechanisms of in-session alliance in EFT treatment, as well as fostering new strategies to enhance self-efficacy, responsiveness, and alliance-building skills in therapists and their ability to apply EFT interventions in their therapeutic work through online psychotherapy training.

The PhD project is supervised by co-promotor Dr. Anna Babl, co-promotor Dr. Kim de Jong, and promotor Prof. Dr. Bernet Elzinga.

Short cv

Aimee Nelen completed her Bachelor of Psychology and Bachelor of Philosophy at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. In January 2023, she graduated cum laude from Leiden University on a research master's degree in Clinical and Health Psychology. Before starting her PhD at the Department of Clinical Psychology at Leiden University in April 2025, she worked as a psychologist at a GGZ department for patients with anxiety and/or obsessive-compulsive disorders.