Bart Verkuil Email & Phone Number

After graduating as a psychologist in 2002 (Clinical and Health Psychology), I started working as a clinician (RIAGG/PsyQ) and a PhD student. I obtained my PhD in 2010 with a thesis entitled "Perseverative Cognition: The impact of worry on health"​ (https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/handle/1887/14618). In this thesis I report on several studies demonstrating the adverse effects of worrying on somatic health complaints (eg. headache, back pain) and cardiac activity (heart rate variability). Bottom line: it's not so much the experience of stressful events that might be detrimental for our health, but the prolonged worrying about these events. In 2014 I received a VENI grant to study the effects of noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation on worrying. The aim is to test whether this stimulation can provide insight into new treatment options for people suffering from chronic, treatment-resistant anxiety and depression.Besides working at Leiden University I also work as a clinician. It's inspiring to combine my academic activities with practical experience. This also resulted in the publication of books on worrying (De gelukkige piekeraar; at Ambo|Anthos), and stress and burnout (Omgaan met stress en burnout; at BSL)

Listed skills include Psychology, Research, Stress, Teaching, and 5 others.