Nicole Vliegen

Nicole Vliegen is a Professor at the KU Leuven Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, specializing in clinical psychology and developmental psychopathology. She actively contributes to research on parental reflective functioning, mentalizing, and trauma-informed care for children and adolescents.

• Current projects include studies on perinatal depression, parental stress in adoptive families, and trauma recovery in non-kinship care settings.
• Her research integrates longitudinal studies, experimental designs, and qualitative methodologies to explore mechanisms linking parental mentalizing, stress, and child development.
• Recent publications focus on parental reflective functioning, complex trauma interventions, and family identity dynamics in foster care systems.