Maité Van Alboom

Maité is a postdoctoral researcher at the Health Equity Advancement Lab in Ghent, where she contributes to research on racial, gender/sex, and socioeconomic disparities in pain care, as well as stigma surrounding mental health problems and treatment. Recently, she broadened her research scope to include later life and initiated research dedicated to aging. Her work aims at exploring ageism, existential concerns, and mental well-being among older adults, with a particular focus on suicidal ideation—reflecting her longstanding passion to understanding aging and its psychosocial and existential dimensions.

She obtained her Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Ghent University in 2018, where her interest in Health Psychology began. Her master’s dissertation explored the role of fear-avoidance and pain acceptance in recovery from surgery among adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. Maité was awarded a personal FWO fellowship allowing her to pursue a PhD on stigma and social networks in chronic pain, which she completed in November 2024 under the supervision of Prof. dr. L. Goubert and Prof. dr. P. Bracke.

Alongside her research, Maité works as a clinical psychologist at PRAKTIJK50 and Praktijk Meersen, supporting individuals with diverse mental health challenges, including older adults. Her therapeutic approach is grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and enriched by an existential and experiential perspective, fostering meaning-making and personal growth in the face of life’s challenges.