Parenting, child development and family mental health
Isabelle Roskam
Professor of Psychology • Researcher • Clinician • Author • Trainer
Through my research, consultations, training and writing, I pursue a single goal: to better understand contemporary parental realities in order to support families with rigour, nuance and humanity.
As a Professor of Developmental Psychology at UCLouvain, researcher, clinician and author, I focus on child development, parenting and parental mental health. My work focuses in particular on children’s challenging behaviours, parental burnout and parental regret.
I chair the Psychological Sciences Research Institute (IPSY), co-lead the International Investigation of Parental Burnout (IIPB), and head the Specialised Psychological Consultations at UCLouvain. Committed to making scientific knowledge useful for families and professionals, I also develop training, resources and reference works in these fields.
Photo: © UCLouvain / Aurore Delsoir
Dignity is having a dream—a strong dream that gives you a vision, a world where you have a place, where your participation, however small, will change something.
— Dreams of Women, Fatima Mernissi
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Research lies at the heart of my professional commitment. It helps us better understand child development, parental realities, and the many complex challenges families face, in order to contribute tangibly to their well-being.
Sharing knowledge
Understanding parental realities, child development or psychological vulnerabilities is not enough: this knowledge must also be made accessible, useful and actionable for those who need it in everyday life.
Support
For me, providing support means combining rigor, humanity, and responsibility, with the conviction that appropriate care always begins with a nuanced understanding of the individual, their developmental environment, and their history.