Emotional development and clinical intervention in adults with ID

Description

The concept of emotional development covers different aspects of emotional functioning (e.g. interaction with emotionally significant people, interaction with peers, object permanence, regulation of aggression…). In a typical developmental trajectory, different skills related to emotional development will be acquired in a social context in parallel with an individual maturation trajectory.

The understanding of these dimensions in developmental delay situations allows us to consider clinical situations in relation to emotional needs, motivations and coping strategies/resources, which will influence a person’s ability to adapt to their environment.
In this sense, the emotional development approach provides a framework for the assessment of people with neurodevelopmental disorders, but also allows to consider support responses in the light of these aspects, with a view to improving psychological well-being and quality of life, adjusting intervention options, etc.

The doctoral/post-doctoral candidate will be part of the department’s research on understanding/assessing individual and inter-individual mechanisms of emotional development in the context of supporting adults with intellectual disabilities and studying intervention processes in this context.

The candidate should have a master’s degree or doctorate in psychological sciences with a focus on disability psychology, developmental psychology or cognitive psychology. He/she must be able to demonstrate a high capacity for synthesis, argumentation and scientific writing, experience in the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, as well as a strong interest in teamwork and interdisciplinary approaches.

The candidate must be fluent in French (C2) and have a good command of written and spoken English (B2-C1).

The Clinical Orthopedagogy Department (https://web.umons.ac.be/seoc/) conducts research and teaching on the psychological and psycho-educational aspects of disability situations. Our team is particularly interested in people with neurodevelopmental disorders (intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, etc.) throughout their lives (from infancy to adulthood, up to the stages of ageing, with specific attention paid to so-called transition periods), and within different contexts (e.g. early childhood care, out-of-school care, inclusive school environments, support services, residential environments, etc.)