Marlie Stegeman

Our fifth alumni presented in this series of Alumni of Psychology is Marlie Stegeman. She graduated from her master Mental Health Promotion (now Positive Psychology & Technology) in 2014. She works as a psychologist at Mindfit in Almelo, a mental health institution of the Dimence Group which focuses on mild psychiatric disorders in basic mental health care (Basis GGZ). 

How long did it take to find your first job?

It took me a while to find a job. Back in 2014, there were little jobs available and I wasn't lucky enough to get a job at the organization where I did my internship. Before my master I finished a bachelor in Social Work, so I started working with that degree. I've worked at Roessingh Revalidatie as a social worker, I was a teacher at Saxion University of Applied Sciences and I worked as a remedial educationalist (Orthopedagoog) in a general hospital. More than 180 application letters later I finally found a job at a specialized mental health institution in Enschede. I loved my work there, I had great colleagues, but after 1,5 years I needed a new challenge.

What are your tasks and responsibilities?

That's why I'm currently working at Mindfit in Almelo. This is a company where we only treat people in the basic mental health care. I treat people with methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). We use e-health as well and it’s a good support for the treatment. I spent most of my time on treatments, but I also do intakes and psychodiagnostics to diagnose Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We are a self-managing team, which means I’m also responsible for screening new patients, human resources and peer-to-peer coaching.

What have you taken along your study which you now profit from?

I mostly learned from the classes CBT and a lot from my internships. I really loved the classes about bio-neuro sciences, psychopathology and personality, the classes gave me a theoretical background which I can use in practice.

 What do you hope to achieve in your career?

I hope to start the study to become a healthcare (GZ-) psychologist to educate myself more widely. In specific, I would like to eventually be an EMDR-practitioner. Another treatment that has my interest is Acceptance and commitment theory (ACT), I just started a training for this method.

 If you think about your study time, which memory comes to mind?

If I look back at my college time, the first thing that comes to mind is my time at the sports association. I loved my study, but to be a good student and to have fun studying, it helped me to do gymnastics twice a week and more so the fun we had with it. I did a lot for the association, I was chairman of the board, organized a lustrum, activities and other sorts.

 Which tips and tricks would you like to give to current students?

My tips and tricks: study hard, play even harder. Have fun, make the most of it and learn the most of it. Get an incredible interesting internship where you can learn a lot. Maybe do some extracurricular activities, extra internships or begin a member of a board.

Marlie graduated writing a master thesis. Aim of the study was to examine the relation between different forms of physical health, knowing the diagnosed condition, self-rated health, health limitations, care consumption and life style, and emotional, social and psychological wellbeing. 

 Any questions to Marlie?

This alumni has given the opportunity to answer questions about his/her work. If you have a question you are invited to mail this questions to amygdala@utwente.nl. Our moderator will bring you in touch with the alumni, who will answer your questions. For direct career opportunities you are advised to get in touch with the Human Resources department of the employer.

 Get in touch!

Do you know someone who has a nice job, has an inspiring career of otherwise is interesting to join the Humans of Psychology series? Please get them in touch with us. To be able to keep this series going more alumni are needed.

 Published: October 25th, 2018