PhD: Freeze-Fight-Flight Dynamics in Mental Health Care

When people feel threatened, they react by fight, flight, or freeze. Strikingly, freeze is often overlooked in therapy, although it is strongly linked to poor recovery from mental health conditions. Moreover, little is known about how fight–flight–freeze reactions unfold over time. This project maps how patients with personality disorders move between defensive reactions in daily life and treatment, identifies maladaptive patterns, and examines key underlying mechanisms.

Your job
As a PhD candidate you are responsible for the clinical part of this project. You will design studies, coordinate data collection at Altrecht Center for Personality Disorders, and analyse longitudinal EMA data collected both during psychotherapy sessions and in daily life. You will collaborate with therapists and patients through focus groups to define meaningful indicators of defensive states and to ensure clinical relevance throughout the project. You will test proof-of-principle freeze-targeted interventions and contribute to the development of state-specific clinical guidelines. You will also write scientific articles and contribute to dissemination activities. Throughout the project, you will work in close collaboration with a PhD candidate at the Methods and Statistics department, for example on complex data analysis, and the development of personalised visualisations for use by clinicians and patients.

You also contribute to teaching activities within the Department of Clinical Psychology (approximately 10% of your appointment).