Researcher

Stefaan Van Damme

Research disciplines
  • Social sciences
    • Health psychology
    • Counseling psychology
    • Clinical and counseling psychology not elsewhere classified
    • Cognitive processes
    • Motivation and emotion
    • Sensory processes and perception
    • Human experimental psychology not elsewhere classified
    • Psychological assessment
    • Psychometrics
Expertise
pain attention motivation self-regulation coping chronic illness bodily sensations fatigue
Bio
Stefaan Van Damme is Associate Professor in the Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology at Ghent University, Belgium. He obtained his PhD in 2004 studying attentional processes related to pain, under the supervision of Geert Crombez. He is a researcher in the field of clinical health and medical psychology and focuses on the psychology of physical illness. He coordinates experimental and clinically applied research on the cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes triggered by aversive bodily sensations and (chronic) illness, and their potential role in functioning and quality of life. He focuses on the development of integrative theoretical models of symptom perception, attention, motivation, motor processes, and coping, that are grounded within a functional perspective built around the guiding power and dynamic nature of goals and self-regulation. His research is characterized by a multi-method approach integrating self-report, behavioral, and cortical measures. At Ghent University, Stefaan also teaches courses on various topics within the domain of clinical health and medical psychology. He is active in various Bachelor and Master programs including clinical psychology, health promotion, rehabilitation sciences and physiotherapy, and pharmaceutical care. One of the central topics in his teaching is motivational interviewing. In this context, he developed a blended learning approach including video annotation to support skills training and feedback.