Sylvie de Kubber

Profile

Sylvie de Kubber, M.A. is a humanistic chaplain, researcher, and educator based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. She works in psychiatry, focusing on addiction care and art-based interventions. In psychiatry she cocreates a practice of ‘swarming’, which is a method of dancing outside with employees and clients as a flock of birds with portable speakers and live music. 

Sylvie is currently pursuing a PhD within the care ethics chair group at the University of Humanistic Studies (UvH) exploring swarming as an artistic and ritual practice, asking how this method can foster more inclusive, embodied and equitable care practices within psychiatric settings. Her PhD is supervised by dr. Louis van den Hengel, dr. Andries Hiskes and dr. Carmen Schumann. In her further teachings and research at the UvH she specializes in ritual design, spiritual care, interfaith dialogue, ethics, and grief. She is strongly committed to the significance of art and imagination in the recovery processes within mental health care, a conviction grounded in both professional practice and lived experience, particularly regarding the role of dance and music.