Summary

Manja Koenders is assistant professor at the Department of Clinical Psychology. Further she works as a research coordinator of the Bipolar Netherlands Cohort (BINCO) Study. Besides working at the section of Clinical Psychology, she works  a GZ-psychologist at LUBEC Leiden doing her post-doctoral training to become a Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist. She is an active member in the field of bipolar disorders in the Netherlands. She holds a position in the board of advice of Dutch Society of Bipolar Disorders. Previously she was a member of the taskforce of the workgroup of the Dutch Bipolar Disorder Standard of Care. Currently, she is vice-chair of the guideline committee to revise the Dutch Guideline Bipolar Disorders and chair of the international taskforce Psychological Interventions of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders (ISBD).

Research

My research focuses on psychological mechanisms and treatment of bipolar disorder. My PhD research (finished in 2016, title: Tangled up in Mood: predicting the bipolar disease course) focused on psychosocial predictors of the bipolar disease course, such as stress and social support. My current interest is specifically focused on the role of emotion regulation problems and personality factors in bipolar disorders. Within a large multicenter cohort study (BINCO) we will collect data on these psychological factors and we will study its effects on the disease course and aim to identify targets for new psychological interventions for patients with bipolar disorder. Additionally, we are developing an emotion regulation therapy for patients with bipolar disorder. Further within the PhD project of Roanne Glas we study psychological mechanisms of manic mood dysregulation. 

PhD supervision

• Rahele Mesbah – Psychological and neurobiological vulnerabilities in bipolar disorder patients (2016-2023)
• Roanne Glas – Psychological mechanisms in bipolar disorder (2020-2026)

Teaching

Course coordinator of the course Psychopathology and Therapeutic Skills.

Ancillary positions

• GZ-Psycholoog i.o.t. specialist LUBEC
• Lecturer RINO postdoctoral education – course bipolar disorders
• Member of the board of advice of the Dutch Society of Bipolar Disorders (KENBIS)
• Vice-chair of the guideline committee to revise the Dutch Guideline Bipolar Disorders
• Chair of the international taskforce Psychological Interventions of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders (ISBD). 

• 2016-2017: Member of the workgroup  ‘Standard of Care Bipolar Disorders’ - Trimbos
• 2020-2023: Board member of the board of the Dutch Society of Bipolar Disorders (KENBIS).

Publications