Online Alumni Perspectives February 2025
Online Alumni Perspectives February 2025

MEET OUR FPN ALUMNI

 

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Ola Deltan

Master in  Neuropsychology
Academic Year: 2018/2019

Neuropsychologist at NTC (Neurologisches Therapiezentrum, Cologne
Full-time since July 2020

At NTC I work as a neuropsychologist within an interdisciplinary team, providing rehablitation for patients with various neurological conditions. My main tasks include:

  • Neuropsychological assessments and diagnostics (e.g. cognitive testing, eligibility for driving)
  • Leading individual and group therapy sessions, including relaxations techniques, attention, memory,and support groups.
  • Providing psychoeducation on topics like stress management, paing management, and driving with neurological conditions
  • Conducting assessments for geriatric patiens at an affiliated hospital focusing on early cognitive changes related to dementia.


External PhD Position at Maastricht University

Phd Candidate, Brain Cognition Team
Since beginning of this year.

In addition to my work at NTC, I'm pursuing a PhD at Maastricht University in collaboration with the Brain Cognition Team. My research focuses on using tDCS (transcranial Direct Current Stimulation) as a therapeutic tool for patients with neglect. This project is carried out in collaboration with a company in Denmark that develops portable tDCS devices.

I combine my research with clinical practice at NTC, where I stimulate patients to explore the potential benefits of tDCS alongside traditional therapies, aiming to improve attention and spatial awareness in neglect patients.

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Erik Kikas

Erik was born and raised in Estonia before he made the decision to move to the Netherlands to pursue his BSc in Psychology and Neuroscience at UM. Following his graduation in 2019, he took a year off to work on a project that involved transitioning to Canvas. In 2021, Erik completed hs MSc degree in Neuropsychology where he expored the use of Virtual Reality (VR) glasses in measuring pupil dilation as part of this research internship. This project sparked his interest in the collaboration of technology and psychology, which he continues to explore in his work and personal life.

Currently, Erik is working as a Student & Career Counsellor and Project Lead at the School of Business and Economics, which is a faculty of UM. He is passionate about helping students achieve their goals and engages in daily discussions on various topics, including motivation, study skills, time-management, (mental) illness, and personal circumstances. Erik is also involved in leading projects such as the development of an online platform for blended counselling.

Aside from his professional interests, Erik is an avid enthusiast of technology and loves being outdoors. He also enjoys building things - two of his favourite projects have been building a camper van and an electronic longboard.

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Ilona de Kooter 

Ilona completed her bachelor degree in Liberal arts and sciences in 2014 at the University in Tilburg. In 2015 she obtained her first master degree, Health and Social Psychology, at Maastricht University. This degree was followed up with a second master degree, Mental Health, which she obtained in 2017. After finishing this degree she started working as a psychologist in training at HSK. HSK is a mental health organization geared towards ading people with mental health complaints such as depresseion, anxiety, compulsions, and trauma. In 2021 she completed a 2-year training to become a fully licensed CBT-therapist and in 2024 she completed the 2-year postgraduate to become a GZ-psychologist. As part of her training to become a GZ-psychologist she has worked at a different mental health care institute for a year. This institute specialized in autism and comorbidity.

 

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Isabelle Maussen

Isabelle holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Neuroscience and a Master's degree in Health and Social Psychology from Maastricht University. After her studies, she gained research experience as a research assistant and later as a junior researcher. During the latter role, she worked on an interregional project that combined research with practical applications such as providing training sessions. This experience inspired her passion for roles with societal impact and meaningful connections with people.

Isabelle is an Environmental Health Advisor at GGD (public health service), where she works on protecting and promoting healthy living environment. Our environment could influence our health, both the environment indoors (e.g. mold, asbestos, low frequency sound) and outside (e.g. air or noise pollution, climate etc.) Her role involves directly engaging with citizens to address their questions and giving them advise as well to advise the municipalities. In addition, she works on broader initiatives that aim to protect and improve public health.

At GGD she combines her academic background with a desire to contribute to a healthier and more sustainable environment for all.

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Luisa Teuteberg

Luisa is an example of how career paths are not always straightforward and can take unexpected turns. Born and raised in Germany, she kicked off her acemic journey by studying Law at the University of Bielefeld. Although fascinated by the complexity of the legal world, she realized that this was not the right path for her and quit after three years without obtaining a degree in this field.
 
Instead she decided to pursue a Bachelor's in Sociology, which se successfully completed in 2018. Also in 2018, Luisa moved to Maastricht and began her professional career at Mercedes-Benz as a Technical Service Representative. During this time, Luisa discovered her passion for personal development and coaching. She started educating herself in the areas of NLP, Life Coaching, Psychology and Health Behaviour. It was the latter that inspired her to apply for the master's Programme in Health and Social Psychology at University of Maastricht, which seh pursued alongside her work at Mercedes-Benz.
 
Luisa graduated successfully in 2021 and was promoted to Deputy Operations Manager, overseeing a diverse, multicultural team of 15 employees. In this role, she leveraged her passion for teamwork, exceptional organizational abilities and psychological expertise to inspire and lead her team effectively. After five years with Mercedes, Luisa sought new challenges and transistioned to Lynk&CO, a dynamic startup/scale-up in the automative sector. There, she assumed the role of Team Lead for the German market, managing a remote team of 15 employees.
 

In 2023, her department was outsourced, prompting Luisa to join Bayer as s Team Lead Backoffice. This transistion marked a pivotal moment in her career, as she succesfully adapted to a new business domain, demonstrating her ability to evolve as a leader while aplying and further developing her leadership capabilities.

After seven years in the corporate world, Luisa launched her entrepreneurial coaching business. She now empowers students and corporate professionals to achieve their career goals, enhance work-life balance and adopt more effective, health-focused habits for long-term success.

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Bart Zuidberg

Police work is often about human behavior, their thoughts, decisions and emotions. Psychological knowlegdge is therefore relevant in a large part of police work. Bart Zuidberg works as an investigative Psychologist for the Duthch police. Investigative psychologists apply their knowledge in the police operation. Practical examples are interrogation advice, risk assessment, assessment of reliability of statements and evaluate behavior on a crime scene.

 

2003 - 2007 bachelor Cognitive Psychology
                   - Maastricht University

2007 - 2008 master Psychology and Law (Legal Psychology)
                   - Maastricht University 

2008 - 2012 master of Criminal Investigation
                   - Dutch Police Academy

2012 - 2016 Detective in multiple criminal investigations
                   - Dutch Police

2018 - 2019 Postmaster education investigative psychologist
                   - RINO group

2016 -  now Investigative psychologist
                   - Dutch Police

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