Research

Research & Academic Work

Dr Alicia Landbeck’s research is grounded in clinical psychology and psychopathology and is closely connected to clinical practice and field-based research.

Her work focuses on how psychological suffering develops, is expressed and can be understood and supported within different relational, family, institutional and cultural contexts.

A substantial part of her research has been conducted in Cambodia with children and families, with particular attention to vulnerability, psychological trauma, cultural representations of mental health and the adaptation of psychological care to local contexts.

Her work primarily draws on qualitative and clinical methodologies, including interviews, field observation, case studies, focus groups and action research.

Research Areas

Child Clinical Psychology, Early Trauma & Therapeutic Processes

A first area of research focuses on the psychological effects of early trauma, affective and relational deprivation, disruptions in caregiving relationships and experiences of maltreatment in childhood.

This work also examines the conditions that may support the development of a therapeutic process when traumatic experiences are difficult to access through verbal expression alone.

Particular attention is given to therapeutic mediations, processes of symbolisation, containment and the ways in which the therapeutic setting can be adapted to the child’s needs.

This area is rooted in Dr Landbeck’s doctoral research conducted with children in Cambodia.

Family Dynamics, Vulnerability & Child Mental Health

A second research area concerns family dynamics surrounding children’s psychological, behavioural or developmental difficulties.

The research examines how families understand their child’s difficulties, the resources they mobilise, the needs they identify and the relational or organisational changes that may occur within the family.

Particular attention is paid to families living in situations of severe socioeconomic vulnerability, as well as to the role of the social, educational and institutional environment in supporting the child.

The PENADO-KH and FOCUS-FAMILLE projects are primarily situated within this research area.

Culture, Diagnosis & Mental Health Care in Cambodia

A third area examines the encounter between diagnostic categories derived from Western psychiatry and psychology and local representations of psychological suffering.

Research conducted in Cambodia explores the language used to describe psychological difficulties, parental representations, cultural resources mobilised by families and the ways in which a diagnosis may be understood, appropriated or come into tension with other explanatory systems.

This work contributes to reflection on the cultural relevance of psychological assessment, support and mental health care.

More broadly, it examines how care can be adapted to local contexts without reducing individual clinical experience to a diagnostic category.

Clinical Practices, Therapeutic Settings & Institutional Contexts

A fourth research area examines how psychological practices are shaped within particular institutional contexts.

This includes questions related to the therapeutic setting, the role of the psychologist, institutional constraints, relationships with multidisciplinary teams and the adaptations required when clinical work takes place in complex environments.

Research conducted within the D-PSYREA programme on psychology practice in intensive care units is part of this area, as are studies examining the development and evaluation of therapeutic settings in intercultural or humanitarian contexts.

Interested in discussing these research areas?

For research collaboration, academic projects, university teaching, professional training or other enquiries related to these areas, you can contact Dr Alicia Landbeck directly.

Email Dr Landbeck

alicia.landbeck@univ-fcomte.fr

Please briefly indicate the purpose of your enquiry in your message.

Current & Recent Research

PENADO-KH

Relational and Organisational Dynamics in Highly Vulnerable Families

PENADO-KH is an exploratory research project conducted in Cambodia with families experiencing severe socioeconomic vulnerability and whose children present psychological difficulties.

The project examines how children’s difficulties are embedded within family organisation, relationships between family members and the broader social constraints affecting the family.

The research draws on family follow-up, home-based clinical interviews, field observations and in-depth qualitative analysis.

Beyond describing difficulties, the project also explores the resources mobilised by families and the meanings they give to the child’s psychological manifestations.

Main research area: Family Dynamics, Vulnerability & Child Mental Health

FOCUS-FAMILLE

Family Representations, Resources and Needs in Relation to Children’s Psychological and Developmental Difficulties

FOCUS-FAMILLE examines how parents in Cambodia understand and describe their children’s psychological, behavioural or developmental difficulties.

Using focus groups with families, the project explores parental representations, family resources, expressed needs and different ways of understanding what is happening to the child.

Particular attention is given to diagnosis and its cultural relevance: what does receiving a diagnosis mean in the Cambodian context? How does it interact with family, social and cultural representations of the child and their difficulties?

The project aims to contribute to recommendations that are more closely adapted to families’ needs and to the local context.

Main research areas: Family Dynamics, Vulnerability & Child Mental Health • Culture, Diagnosis & Mental Health Care in Cambodia

D-PSYREA

Psychology Practice in Intensive Care

D-PSYREA research focuses on the practice of psychologists within medical and surgical intensive care units in France.

It examines the psychologist’s role in an environment characterised by medical urgency, critical illness, death and continuous interaction with patients, relatives and healthcare teams.

Dr Alicia Landbeck contributes to qualitative data analysis and to the development of recommendations concerning psychological practice in intensive care.

Main research area: Clinical Practices, Therapeutic Settings & Institutional Contexts

Doctoral Research

Therapeutic Work with Children Exposed to Early Trauma in Cambodia

Dr Alicia Landbeck’s doctoral research focused on the development and evaluation of a therapeutic setting for children exposed to early trauma, affective and relational deprivation and experiences of maltreatment in Cambodia.

The research examined processes of symbolisation and the ways in which therapeutic mediations — including storytelling and drawing — may support therapeutic work when traumatic experiences are difficult to verbalise.

It also explored containment, psychic envelopes, intersubjective processes and the adaptations required within the therapeutic setting in an intercultural context.

The Cambodian field context led to particular attention being paid to cultural representations of psychological suffering and the ways in which these may contribute to processes of psychological elaboration.

Main research areas: Child Clinical Psychology, Early Trauma & Therapeutic Processes • Culture & Intercultural Clinical Practice

A Clinical and Field-Based Research Approach

Dr Alicia Landbeck favours research approaches developed as closely as possible to clinical situations and to the contexts in which they occur.

Her work uses:

clinical research interviews
field observation
case studies
focus groups
thematic and content analysis
action research

Particular attention is given to the conditions in which knowledge is produced, ethical issues, the researcher’s position in the field and collaboration with professionals, families and local partners.

Academic Affiliations

Psy-DREPI
Psychology Laboratory UR3188 — Université Marie et Louis Pasteur, Besançon
National University of Battambang (NUBB) — Cambodia

Teaching & Academic Activities

Alongside her clinical and research activities, Dr Alicia Landbeck has experience in university teaching in psychology in both France and Cambodia.

She has taught at undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as within postgraduate professional programmes. Her teaching has included clinical psychology, psychopathology, child and adolescent psychology, research methodology and clinical supervision.

Her university teaching has included:

Clinical Psychology & Psychopathology
Child, Adolescent & Adult Psychopathology
Child & Adolescent Clinical Psychology
Research Methodology in Psychology
Epistemology and Qualitative, Quantitative & Mixed Research Approaches
Clinical Case Study Methodology
Early Psychological Development & Relational Processes
Psychological Trauma & Bereavement
Therapeutic Mediations
Family Clinical Psychology
Intercultural Approaches to Psychological Care
Clinical Supervision & Reflective Practice
Research Ethics & Academic Methodology

In France, Dr Alicia Landbeck has taught at the Université de Franche-Comté / Besançon, including undergraduate and Master's-level teaching in clinical psychology, psychopathology and research methodology.

She has also taught at the National University of Battambang (NUBB) in Cambodia.

At NUBB, her teaching has included psychological terminology and concepts, with particular attention to the translation and discussion of clinical and social psychology concepts in relation to the Khmer language and local cultural representations.

Dr Alicia Landbeck has also contributed to postgraduate teaching within the University Diploma in Psychological Trauma and Care Settings, including teaching on early relational trauma, psychological trauma in children, international and intercultural contexts, therapeutic mediations, interpretation in clinical settings and psychological care settings.

In addition to university teaching, she has delivered professional training and workshops for practitioners working in social, clinical and community settings, particularly on child development, family clinical psychology, psychological trauma, intercultural practice and psychological work with vulnerable populations.

Contact for Teaching & Academic Collaboration

Scientific & Professional Collaboration

Dr Alicia Landbeck welcomes collaboration around research, university teaching, professional training and projects related to mental health care, particularly in the fields of clinical psychology, child and family mental health, psychological trauma and intercultural approaches.

Discuss a Collaboration Professional & Organisational Services